PORTLAND, Maine - In recent days, there's been a lot of reflection in the media about the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, which he announced 40 years ago today, with the threat of impeachment and possible prosecution hanging over him following the Watergate scandal. Key to Nixon's downfall was the discovery of the so-called "Nixon Tapes," which contained evidence linking the White House with that infamous break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters two years earlier in 1972.
Tape of President Nixon: "We just feel this would be very detrimental to have this thing going any further, this involves Cubans and a lot of hanky panky we had nothing to do with ourselves."
Back in 1977, University of Southern Maine Adjunct Instructor of History Christopher Beam, a Vietnam combat veteran, was working at the National Archives in Washington, where he spent more than four years transcribing the Nixon tapes.
"There are about 3,700 hours of conversation - that's what the Natinoal Archines estimates," Beam says, "and I've listened to about 1,500 hours of tape.
Tom Porter: "Forty years ago when Nixon resigned - this was before you started going through the tapes - can you remember what your thoughts were in August of '74 when you heard that speech?"
Christopher Beam: "Well, I was in graduate school. I had followed the Nixon presidency very closely. I have to say I was not a fan of Richard Nixon's, so I was glad he was gone. But I never expected to be working on the tapes, and of course the taping system caught my interest because I was a graduate student in American history. It was really by chance that I got to work on those tapes."
Tom Porter: "As an historian it must have been tremendously exciting to get your hands on them."
Christopher Beam: "It was because both as an historian and as an archivist I was able to listen in on the conversations at the heart of the American political system, and in a sense get a very deep understanding of a period that I'd watched and lived through quite intensely."
Tom Porter: "Did your experience of listening to these tapes affect your opinion of the president? You say you weren't a fan - were you even less of a fan by the end of it?"
Christopher Beam: "I can't say I was less of a fan. I think what happened was that I came to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the Nixon presidency, and what was going on the in the larger American political culture. Now, when I say 'understanding' that doesn't mean I necessarily liked him any better, but I think I have a better understanding of what made him tick."
Tom Porter: "Do you think Nixon would have survived if these tapes hadn't come to light?"
Christopher Beam: "Oh, I'm convinced he would have survived. The Watergate query was at an impasse. By the beginning of July in 1973 there had been serious allegations against him by former White House counsel John Dean, but at that time it was Nixon's word against Dean's word, and so when the tapes came out that would provide incontrovertible evidence about what the president knew, and when did he know it. And of course the tapes did contain incriminating evidence."
Tom Porter: "Interesting to note that the taping system was set up on the orders of Nixon himself - it seemed like he was talking away without realizing, maybe forgetting, that he was going on tape."
Christopher Beam: "Well, that's true. That's a characteristic of the system. What Nixon did was he ordered his chief of staff, H.R Haldeman, to have a system set up because Nixon was a physically awkward person. Haldeman ordered the Secret Service to set up a system that would turn on, turn off automatically, so Nixon never turned on a recording or turned it off. So he was aware that things were being recorded, I don't think he was aware of the extent of the taping system, and I think it went into the back of his mind. That's why he can say a lot of things that he probably never would have said in public."
Tom Porter: "Christopher Beam, adjunct history professor at USM, thanks for sharing your recollections with us."
Christopher Beam: "I'm glad to do it, Tom. Thank you very much."