The 55 Times Richard Nixon Was on the Cover of TIME

2 minute read

Correction appended: Jan. 23, 2017

In early August of 1974, 40 years ago this week, the news was all Nixon. On Aug. 5, the “Smoking Gun” tapes were released, revealing to the public that he had known about Watergate. On Aug. 8, he became the first and only U.S. President to announce his resignation. But Nixon already had a long history in the news, and it didn’t end in 1974. In fact, no other individual has been featured on the cover of TIME more frequently, with 55 appearances to his name.

The irony in all that? None of those covers are from precisely 40 years ago. The week leading up to the resignation, the cover featured Rep. Peter Rodino of the House Judiciary Committee; two weeks later, when the resignation itself made the cover, newly-inaugurated President Gerald Ford was featured. The issue in between—the issue that would have appeared right around the same time as the tapes went public — went a different direction: Jack Nicholson.

Read Henry Kissinger’s 1982 take on the “Smoking Gun” of Watergate here, in TIME’s archives

Correction: The original version of this gallery mistakenly included two incorrect covers within the list of 55 times Richard Nixon has been on the cover of TIME. He was depicted on the cover on June 18, 1973, and April 1, 1974.

Aug. 25, 1952TIME
Nov. 10, 1952TIME
Jan. 18, 1954TIME
Oct. 10, 1955TIME
Nov. 5, 1956
The Nov. 5, 1956, issue of TIMEBoris Chaliapin
Nov. 12, 1956TIME
Dec. 9, 1957TIME
Aug. 3, 1959TIME
Aug. 1, 1960TIME
Oct. 31, 1960TIME
April 14, 1967TIME
Mar. 8, 1968TIME
Aug. 16, 1968TIME
Nov. 15, 1968TIME
Jan. 24, 1969TIME
Feb. 28, 1969TIME
Aug. 15, 1969TIME
Oct. 24, 1969TIME
Nov. 21, 1969TIME
April 20, 1970TIME
June 8, 1970TIME
Oct. 5, 1970TIME
Oct. 26, 1970TIME
July 26, 1971TIME
Aug. 30, 1971TIME
Jan. 3, 1972TIME
Mar. 6, 1972TIME
May 1, 1972Time Magazine
June 5, 1972TIME
Aug. 28, 1972TIME
Oct. 2, 1972TIME
Nov. 20, 1972TIME
Jan. 1, 1973TIME
Jan. 29, 1973TIME
Apr. 30, 1973TIME
May 14, 1973TIME
Jun. 4, 1973TIME
June 18, 1973
June 18, 1973TIME
July 9, 1973TIME
July 30, 1973TIME
Aug. 20, 1973TIME
Aug. 27, 1973TIME
Oct. 29, 1973TIME
Nov. 5, 1973TIME
Apr. 1, 1974
Apr. 1, 1974TIME
April 15, 1974TIME
May 13, 1974TIME
May 20, 1974TIME
June 24, 1974TIME
July 1, 1974TIME
July 22, 1974TIME
Sept. 16, 1974TIME
May 9, 1977TIME
May 2, 1990TIME
TIME

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