The presidency of Richard Nixon began on January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States, and ended on August 9, 1974, when, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, he resigned the presidency (the first U.S. president ever to do so). 1969 1970 1971 1972 January 2 – President Nixon explains his ordering of bombing within North Vietnam was due to a violation of a 1968 understanding that ceased bombing by the US during a nationally televised interview. January 3 – Jack Anderson claims that United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger complained about President Nixon giving him "hell every half hour" in regards to the India-Pakistan conflict and that Kissinger said this during a December 3, 1971 strategy session. January 4 – President Nixon pledges the US will become the leading maritime country in the world while speaking at a shipbuilding yard in San Diego, California. January 11 – President Nixon signs an executive order alongside issuing a memoranda setting ordering pay increases to over 118,000 federal blue collar workers. January 13 – President Nixon announces the withdrawal of 70,000 American troops over the course of the next three months in a statement during the White House press briefing. January 20 – President Nixon delivers the 1972 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. January 28 – President Nixon announces the creation of an Office of Drug Law Enforcement within the Justice Department for the overseeing of jailing of illicit drug dealers. January 29 – A White House source discloses that President Nixon was known as "Quarterback" in messages sent to Secretary of State Kissinger during negotiations with North Vietnam. January 30 – United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird says a draft call will not take place until at least April during a televised interview. February 21 – 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China May 22 – President Nixon visits the Soviet Union. October 18 – Clean Water Act November 7 – President Nixon wins re-election against Senator George McGovern from South Dakota, the Democratic candidate. December 1 – The White House discloses that Treasury Secretary Schultz will remain in his position during the second term of President Nixon with expanded responsibilities. December 2 – Interior Secretary Morton strips the supervision rights of the three men involved in Indian affairs alongside