Faced with the near-certain prospect of impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation on this day in 1974 and was succeeded by Gerald Ford the following day.

TODAY’S PATRIOT

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) – As the commanding general of the Union Army, Ulysses S. Grant led the North to victory in the Civil War. His relentless campaigns and coordination with Lincoln helped bring the conflict to a close. As the 18th President, Grant worked to protect the civil rights of freed slaves and crushed the Ku Klux Klan through federal enforcement. Though criticized for scandals in his administration, Grant’s leadership was crucial to rebuilding the Union. His memoirs, written while dying of cancer, are considered one of the best by a U.S. president.

In the final year of his life, financially ruined by a fraudulent investment scheme, Grant turned to writing to provide for his family. Despite excruciating pain from throat cancer, he worked every day, often propped up in bed, completing his two-volume memoir just days before his death. Published by Mark Twain’s firm, the book earned over $400,000 for his family—an enormous sum at the time—and received critical acclaim. Twain later called the memoir “a literary masterpiece,” and it remains a model of presidential candor and clarity.