5, 1974 cruise aboard the Sequoia during which he learned a Court had ordered him to release - the transcript of a tape recording that showed he approved the cover-up of the Watergate break-in. Ford Administration Following President Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, Gerald Ford assumed the presidency. Ford used Sequoia less than Nixon. In May 1975, Ford was the first known president to host a Cabinet meeting aboard the vessel. Lasting four hours, the President and his cabinet discussed wide-ranging issues facing the United States, including a discussion regarding Congressional relations, confronting the issue of Vietnamese refugees, and the status of the U.S. Energy program in light of the 1973 oil crisis. Later that summer, Happy Rockefeller, wife of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, entertained Takeo Miki (wife of the Prime Minister of Japan) on a cruise along the Potomac during a state visit. Similarly, in October, 1975, the yacht would cruise along the Potomac to entertain Emperor Hirohito and the accompanying delegation from Japan. Another notable visitor aboard the Sequoia during the Ford years was the prime minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, who in 1976, had a working dinner with the President aboard Sequoia. President Ford celebrated his 62nd birthday on the Sequoia shortly after a surprise party given by White House staff. In 1975, Susan Ford hosted a pre-prom party aboard the yacht with a group of friends, and then celebrated her 19th birthday aboard the Sequoia the following year. First Lady Betty Ford hosted a June 9, 1976 Sequoia cruise in celebration of Happy Rockefeller's 50th birthday. Carter Administration After 46 years of government service, citing cost concerns – the Sequoia cost taxpayers an estimated $800,000 annually – President Jimmy Carter ordered the Sequoia be sold at auction. Carter would later recall selling the yacht as a mistake. In a conversation with broadcaster Ray Suarez, Carter said: “People thought I was not being reverent enough to the office I was holding, that I was too much of a peanut farmer, not enough of an aristocrat, or something like that. So I think that shows that the American people want something of, an element of, image of monarchy in the White House.” In his 2015 autobiography "A Full Life: Reflections at 90", President Carter wrote of selling Sequoia, "I was determined to be strict on expenditures for the nation, and to set an example in my personal