--- description: In 1990, the former President spoke to TIME about his past title: President Richard M. Nixon on Watergate Impeachment Resignation image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cf850284282b3e7/69869e69cd68489b07095eef/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What Nixon Thought About His Resignation  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 8, 2014 11:00 AM CUT  William Coupon—TIME  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 8, 2014 11:00 AM CUT Flip through [the gallery of Richard Nixon’s appearances on the cover of TIME](http://time.com/3080127/nixons-time-magazine-covers/ "undefined"), and you may notice a gap: the covers chart his political rise, his presidency, his work in China, his reelection, his fight during Watergate and, finally, 40 years ago this week, his resignation. Then there’s his pardon and, a few years later, his famous interview with David Frost, which was later inspiration for the play and film _Frost/Nixon_. Then there’s a gap. More than a decade goes by without any Nixon. The two times he appears after the ’70s are on the occasion of his death in 1994 and, in 1990, when TIME published an excerpt from his memoirs. In conjunction with that excerpt, the magazine also took the chance to ask him a few questions. In an interview that covers such diverse topics as the winding down of the Cold War and Nixon’s thoughts on Reagan (“we had different approaches”) and George H.W. Bush (“I ought to leave it in football terms—he’s the Joe Montana. The short, sure pass”), the only U.S. President ever to step down discussed his feelings about making that choice. There’s life after disgrace, he reminded readers: --- > “” --- [_Read the full interview in TIME’s archives_](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,969732-1,00.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/"},"headline":"Here's What Nixon Thought About His Resignation","datePublished":"2014-08-08T11:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:29:36.006Z","description":"In 1990, the former President spoke to TIME about his past","url":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/","keywords":["White House","politics","Richard Nixon","anniversary","nixon","Impeachment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cf850284282b3e7/69869e69cd68489b07095eef/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cf850284282b3e7/69869e69cd68489b07095eef/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1990 Nixon Cover","caption":"1990 Nixon Cover","creditText":"William Coupon—TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/","name":"Here's What Nixon Thought About His Resignation"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: The Rise and Fall of Richard Nixon in TIME Covers","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3GFNMs2U/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-06T14:47:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3GFNMs2U.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3079809/richard-nixon-on-watergate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```