In accordance with his statement of resignation the previous
evening, Richard M. Nixon officially ended his term as the 37th
president of the United States at noon on August 9, 1974. Before departing with his family in a helicopter from the White House
lawn, he smiled farewell and enigmatically raised his arms in a
victory or peace salute (above). The helicopter door was then
closed, and the Nixon family began their journey home to San
Clemente, California. Richard Nixon was the first U.S. president
to resign from office.

Minutes later, Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the
38th president of the United States in the East Room of the White
House. After taking the oath of office, President Ford spoke to the
nation in a television address (below) declaring, “My fellow
Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”

SANDY KOZEL

English lead singer and one of the founding members of  the
Rolling Stones, Sir Michael Philip Jagger is 78 today.

In 1989, Jagger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the
Rolling Stones.

ED DANAHUE

CARLATA BRADLEY

On July 18, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who first took office
in 1933 as America’s 32nd president, was nominated for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelt, a Democrat, would
eventually be elected to a record four terms in office, the
only U.S. president to serve more than two terms.