LaPoint 1

Jared LaPoint
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
10 February 2016
Richard Nixon the Caring Quitter
Richard Nixon, former President of the United States gave a speech to the
American public. On August 8th 1974, President Nixon resigned from presidential office. Nixons
speech explains his reasoning behind his resignation, while insuring that the nation is now in
good hands with Vice President Gerald Ford. Pathos, logos, and fallacy in Richard Nixons
resignation speech emphasizes that even though he made mistakes in office, he is trying to keep
the nation safe by placing the nation before himself, and he believes for that to happen it starts
with assigning Vice President Ford as active President in office.
President Nixon uses pathos in order to gain trust with his audience. Nixon claims that
The interest of the nation must always come before any personal considerations (par.3). By
acknowledging this statement, he is showing his audience that he cares about them and does not
want something that he personally did get in the way. His mistakes were his own and not the
countries and wanted to make sure that he discusses about it so the nation knows that they are
safe. Nixon is putting in effort to make sure that he is placing the nation before himself. Another
illustration of pathos Nixon utilizes, is in the ninth paragraph when he states that Vice President
Ford will take office. When he mentions Ford, he ends it with assuring that the nation that they
will be left in suitable hands. Altogether the pathos used in Nixons speech shows how even
though he is abruptly leaving office, he wants to emphasize that the nation will still move
forward within the hands of Vice President Ford in office.

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Logos is another way Nixon shows how he is placing the public at a higher level than
himself during this time of crisis. In the sixteenth paragraph Nixon remarks crucial plans and
breakthroughs he has made with the Soviet Union. Nixon has made the right choice to leave
office when he did, because if he were to stay in office, he could have tremendously affected the
new relationship he has created with the Soviet Union. Thus, leading the nation into serious
trouble which could have resulted in leading the nation into what would have evolved into a new
war. Even though he stated he was leaving office, Nixon wanted to emphasize that, We must
continue to develop and expand that new relationship, so that the two strongest nations of the
world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation (par.16). For this statement to
be true, it has to start with Vice President Ford taking control of these matters. An additional way
Nixon uses logos by stating, in the seventeenth paragraph, what the nation needs to do in the
future with different countries around the world. Nixon expresses that millions of people around
the world live in poverty, and that as a nation we need to not focus so much on the construction
of wars and focus on growing our creation of peace throughout the world. By stating this, he
shows that not only does he want America to be better off when he leaves, he also wants other
countries to be helped as well. With these examples, it is demonstrated how Nixon ties logos into
his speech to portray how he wants the nation to be better off without him as active President.
An additional component that helped Nixon persuade his audience to make himself
portray the stance of doing what is best for his country is the use of a fallacy. I have never been
a quitter (par.4) Nixon claims in his fourth paragraph. By suggesting this he is tricking the
emotions of his audience, he is then able to hide the real reasons behind why he is actually
resigning from office. If the public were to know the real reasons for why he was actually
resigning at this hour they would see him as a coward or, in Nixons words, a quitter. Also, by

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doing this he is only pointing out the positives, so that he can hide the negatives. He does this
because he cares about the American people. If the public knew what was actually going on
behind their backs, there would be an absolute outbreak in the nation. Another fallacy that is used
in Nixons speech is in the tenth paragraph when he starts talking about how he is passing the
torch to Vice President Ford. He explains how much weight is being dropped on his shoulders,
and then points out that if the nation wants to be secure America first needs to give Vice
President Ford some time. Thus, to continue as a growing nation, the first steps need to be
patience. These uses of this fallacy in Nixons speech references back to how he is putting the
nation before himself, and to do just that, he needs to resign and have Ford step into office.
By talking about all of these matters in his speech, he is able to gain the nations trust
about his rash decisions and simply go along with him, trusting that everything he does is from
his good intentions. When Nixon leaves, all he wants is to make sure that the nation stands tall
and keeps progressing for the best. By Nixon stepping down from office and allowing Ford to
take his place, Nixon shows how he is placing the nation before himself and portrays this by
using the components of pathos, logos, and fallacies in his resignation speech.

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Works Cited
Nixon, Richard M. Resignation Address to the Nation. American Rhetoric.com.
AmericanRhetoric. N.D. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.