The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is revising a label in its presidential portraits exhibit after a letter from the Richard Nixon Foundation flagged what it called a “significant” error in how the 37th president’s exit from office was described.
According to the letter, the display text accompanying a portrait of Richard Nixon stated: “However, investigations into a break-in at the Watergate complex and the subsequent cover-up resulted in Nixon’s impeachment on the charges of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. In 1974, he became the first president to resign.”
The foundation said that this wording is inaccurate because Nixon was never impeached by the full House of Representatives.
Although the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment during the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974, before a full House vote could take place.
A spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery said the institution is now updating the display.
“We are revising the label to clarify the end of Nixon’s time in office,” a spokesperson told Newsweek.
The issue came to light after a visitor noticed the wording and contacted the Nixon Foundation, prompting the organization to formally raise the concern with the Smithsonian.
Joe Lopez, chief operating officer of the Richard Nixon Foundation, said the group viewed the language as misleading given the exhibit’s prominence.
“A visitor to the gallery spotted this and got in touch with us. We sent the letter because this error is significant,” Lopez told Newsweek. “We haven’t heard back from the Smithsonian yet. The Presidential Portraits gallery draws many visitors and we’d like to see the record set straight as soon as possible.”
The presidential gallery is one of the Smithsonian’s most visited exhibits, with more than 1,700 portraits of U.S. presidents, and historians emphasize that distinctions between impeachment, resignation and removal are central to understanding U.S. constitutional history.
Nixon remains the only U.S. president to resign from office. While impeachment proceedings were underway, they were not completed before his resignation.
How Many Presidents Have Been Impeached?
Only three U.S. presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump twice in 2019 and 2021. Notably, no president has ever been removed from office as a result of impeachment as all were later acquitted by the Senate.
Nixon is often associated with impeachment because of the Watergate investigation, but he stepped down before a full House vote, meaning he was never formally impeached.
It is not clear when the revised label will be installed, but the Smithsonian will be updating the wording following the foundation’s complaint.
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