Introducing a new docuseries, from the team that brought you CAPTURED: Shot Down In Vietnam, that reimagines the course of history. Using newly-released archival materials, expert interviews and historical analysis, this podcast takes a deep-dive to explore what could have been if President Nixon continued the success of his 1972 landslide election victory to complete his second term and fulfill his bold vision of peace and prosperity for a new American century.
“Therefore, I should resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.” When President Richard Nixon somberly delivered those words on August 8, 1974, as millions of Americans watched on primetime TV, he made history. For many, that’s one of the few things they know about the 37th president. But that same president less than two years earlier won one of the biggest landslide victories in the history of US presidential elections.
In his second inaugural address, President Nixon laid out a bold vision for his second term stating, “Let us pledge together to make these next four years the best four years in America’s history, so that on its 200th birthday American will be as young and as vital as when it began, and as bright a beacon of hope for all the world.”
This six-part series envisions how world history could have been altered with a completed second-term of Nixon’s presidency including: a different outcome in Vietnam, a reshaping of Middle East alliances, the creation of a big tent Republican party, an ambitious reduction of the federal bureaucracy and an expansion of visionary domestic programs in areas including healthcare and energy.
Fifty years after President Nixon’s historical resignation, it’s time to challenge assumptions about the past, explore what could have been and contemplate how the ripples of history shape the future.
Coming this Fall ...
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[00:00:00] A quick note, this is a 10-part chronological docu-series. We recommend starting at chapter one.
[00:00:06] And for the best immersive listening experience, headphones are suggested.
[00:00:11] In the 1972 election, Richard Nixon was re-elected in the largest landslide in modern American history.
[00:00:19] He went into his second term with the overwhelming support of the American people,
[00:00:23] Republicans and Democrats and independents, and with an ambitious, bold, second-term agenda.
[00:00:28] To make these next four years the best four years in America's history.
[00:00:34] Only two years later, President Nixon would resign the presidency as a result of the most famous scandal in American history.
[00:00:41] I feel a great sadness that I will not be here in this office working on your behalf
[00:00:47] to achieve those hopes in the next two and a half years.
[00:00:52] In this audio documentary, on the 50th anniversary of Richard Nixon's historic resignation from office,
[00:00:57] we asked the question, what would Richard Nixon's four-year complete second term have looked like
[00:01:03] if he had achieved even half of what he had set out to between 1972 and 1976?
[00:01:10] What if Nixon stayed?
[00:01:15] You know, of course, historians are not supposed to be concerned with hypotheticals or what-if questions.
[00:01:20] But I think it is worth considering what would have happened had it been just Nixon for those two full terms.
[00:01:26] Nixon always wanted a charger to ride. He wanted a stallion to get up on and go for the battle.
[00:01:32] These experts and historians believe that we can draw logical conclusions about Nixon's second term
[00:01:38] based on specific plans that he spoke about, goals that he wrote about,
[00:01:41] and programs he articulated to present what we call a counterfactual history.
[00:01:47] If I had been able to stay in office, that first I would have done something in order to prevent what eventually happened.
[00:01:55] We will explore how Nixon would have dealt with North Vietnam after the Paris Peace Accords.
[00:02:01] To the leaders of North Vietnam, reciprocity was needed to end the war.
[00:02:05] So too will it be needed to build and strengthen the peace.
[00:02:10] Nixon's plan to reorganize the entire federal government.
[00:02:13] Tonight I shall present to the Congress six great goals.
[00:02:16] I shall ask to change the framework of government itself.
[00:02:20] What Nixon proposed in the second term would have really been nothing short of revolutionary
[00:02:25] in terms of the political system.
[00:02:27] How Nixon intended to maintain relations with what was then America's crucial Middle Eastern ally, Iran.
[00:02:33] I think certainly he would have continued on the front of reconciling
[00:02:38] the Arab world.
[00:02:40] Nixon's future of the Republican Party.
[00:02:42] Even though this is still at the end of his first term,
[00:02:45] he's already thinking about a movement that goes beyond the second term.
[00:02:49] And more.
[00:02:49] He was a man of government.
[00:02:52] He believed that government was supposed to do things to help people.
[00:02:57] From the Richard Nixon Foundation and the team that brought you Captured, Shot Down in Vietnam,
[00:03:01] comes our most ambitious audio project to date.
[00:03:05] If Nixon stayed.
[00:03:07] Coming this fall.
Related Episodes
"If Nixon Stayed" Episode 1 - When Nixon Left
The first episode of a new show from the CAPTURED team. August 8th, 1974 marked the end of Richard Nixon’s presidency, but what if it didn’t? In this series premiere, we revisit the emotional final hours of Nixon’s administration and imagine what might’ve happened if he had fought to stay in office....
If Nixon Stayed - Coming April 10
From the team that brought you CAPTURED comes a new series that explores the concept of Richard Nixon staying in office for his full second-term: If Nixon Stayed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bonus Episode | An Interview w/ Sid Stockdale
Recorded live at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum's 50th-Anniversary Reunion for former Vietnam War POWs in May 2023, Sid Stockdale, one of Vice Admiral Jim and League of Wives co-founder Sybil Stockdale's four sons, joins Tyler to discuss what he remembers of his parents' critical ...