"I am not guilty of any offense under the Constitution that is called an impeachable offense."
So said Richard Nixon last week as both he and the U.S. Congress dug in for a long and fierce struggle over whether the President should be removed from office. At the White House, Nixon told Conservative Columnist James J. Kilpatrick in a rare interview that after "long thought," he had resolved not to resign "under any circumstances."
Moreover, he ruled out "the rather fatuous suggestion that I take the 25th Amendment and just step out and have Vice President Ford step in for a while."
If impeached by the House, Nixon said he would "accept the verdict in good grace." But he promised a vigorous defense during the Senate trial that would follow. He explained: "I would do it for the reasons that are not—what do you call it—those of the toreador in the ring trying to prove himself; but I would do it because I have given long thought to what is best for the country, our system of Government and the constitutional process." Nixon believes that the removal of an innocent President through either "resignation or impeachment would have the traumatic effect of destroying [the nation's] sense of stability and leadership ... I will not be a party under any circumstances to any action which would set that kind of precedent."
Resignation Benefits. The interview, which was requested by Nixon, was the first he has permitted in his second term as President (see story page 16).
The unusual way that he chose to declare his determination signified the urgency he placed on stilling the rumors of his imminent resignation. They have whirled about the White House since he released edited transcripts of 46 tape-recorded Watergate conversations with his aides.
Similarly, on Capitol Hill last week, Democratic and Republican leaders alike tried to quell rank-and-file congressional demands that Nixon step down and save the nation the trauma of impeachment and trial. Senate Democratic Whip Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia warned that a forced resignation would polarize the nation. "A significant portion of our citizens would feel that the President had been driven from office by his political enemies," he said. "The question of guilt or innocence would never be fully resolved." Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield declared that "resignation is not the answer." House Speaker Carl Albert advised that it was preferable "for the constitutional process to run its course."