He chose not to present any defense.[268] In early 1978, he visited the United Kingdom; there, he was shunned by American diplomats, most ministers of the James Callaghan government, and two former prime ministers, Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath. He was welcomed, however, by the Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, as well as by former prime ministers Lord Home and Sir Harold Wilson. Nixon addressed the Oxford Union regarding Watergate:

[Some people] felt that on this matter that I had not handled it properly, and they were right. I screwed it up and I paid the price.[269][270]
Author and elder statesman
President Ronald Reagan meets with his three immediate predecessors, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Nixon, at the White House, October 1981; the three former presidents would represent the United States at the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
In 1978, Nixon published his memoirs, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, the first of ten books he was to author in his retirement.[250] The book was a bestseller and attracted a generally positive critical response.[271] Nixon visited the White House in 1979, invited by Carter for the state dinner for Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping. 