Twenty-five years ago, Richard M. Nixon resigned as President of the United States. This unprecedented event was sad for the nation and decidedly sad for the president and his family. It was also a poignant time for Congressman Peter W. Rodino Jr., who, as chairman of the Congressional Committee responsible for the impeachment process, helped to develop the facts which led to President Nixon's resignation. I was privileged to know both men on a personal level and I have a deep respect for each.

Beginning in the late '70s and into the '80s, I had the opportunity to join the "Chairman" for private dinners on many occasions. There were always meals with the philosophical menu taking a higher place than the food on the table¬though, I must admit that the food was often very good.

Against this backdrop, I had the opportunity to talk to Peter Rodino a few years ago about some of the events from those agonizing days in 1974. It was a little after 7 p.m. on July 27, 1974 when the House Impeachment Panel recommended the removal of President Nixon. Right after the vote, Peter Rodino left the Chair and went to his office behind the hearing room. He asked his staff assistants to leave and made a call to his wife. They talked briefly about the vote and its consequences. As he completed the call, all of the emotion of the moment and the tension of the previous several months overcame him. "I broke down and cried," Mr. Rodino told me. That mark of compassion best describes who Peter Rodino is today, and who he was at the time of the impeachment hearings.

He continued his discussion about President Nixon's resignation with sensitivity. "I've always regarded that as a sad part of our history. To fall in such a way is sad, and it had to be sad for Nixon." Mr. Rodino's words reached back to that period with empathy for both President Nixon and the nation. However, Mr. Rodino felt strongly that President Nixon could have stopped the process very early if he had only brought out all the facts.

In spite of Chairman Rodino's clear criticism, he expressed some positive feelings for the Nixon Presidency. "President Nixon," Mr. Rodino firmly stated, "was a good diplomat and a good politician. His opening to China was outstanding. He is to be lauded for that. There were many issues he was responsible for bringing to the fore." When I asked for specifics beyond China, Mr. Rodino said, "He was also responsible for the Legal Service Program; and while I didn't agree philosophically, he was good on many social issues."

There is no doubt that Richard Nixon had a positive impact on the nation in many ways. The opening to China, while even today fragile and tenuous, created the opportunity for some democratic expression. The China move also gave the United States the opportunity for a balancing of power vis-a-vis, the Soviet Union during the Cold War. For many, those achievements have tended to outweigh the events following "Watergate." For others, "Watergate" will always be a dominant memory from the Nixon presidency.