Nixon Resigns

The mailboat brought the Chicago Tribune to Elgin Club everyday when we would take family vacations to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. On Friday August 9, 1974 when the papers came off the boat the headline font was much larger than usual. Two words filled the width of the page: Nixon Resigns. I was nine years old. It was hard for me to believe that the only president I'd known, whose picture was displayed at school, whose image appeared nightly on TV had been forced to leave office.

But then, I was told what happened. Nixon had lied. Then everything made sense. Lying is evil. No one, not even a president should get away with a lie. Not even a president should be above the law. Even as a child I remember being awed by the awareness that there was accountability for even one of the most powerful man in the world. I learned that there were principles that were more important than power and wealth. The principles of honesty and fairness are what is most important. I abhorred the deceptions and crimes that Nixon had committed, but I respected him for resigning. What else could he do? There were no honorable alternatives.

The Associated Press reported on July 19, 2005 that 1,771 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war. ( A look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq ) Ninety-two percent of those deaths have occurred after Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003 in front of a banner that read "Mission Accomplished". There are 13,559 U.S. servicemembers that have been wounded since the beginning of the Iraq War.

The human cost of the war is high and will continue to grow. And what about the rationale? Why did the president claim that Iraq was seeking refined uranium from Niger? Where are the weapons of Mass Destruction? The Downing Street Memo reminds the public of the truth.