Pardoning Richard M. Nixon -- Gerald Rudolph Ford
Address to the Nation Pardoning Richard M.
向国家赦免理查德·M.
Nixon
尼克松
delivered on September 8, 1974, Washington D.C.
1974 年 9 月 8 日交付于华盛顿特区
Audio mp3 of Address Your browser does not support the audio element.
地址的音频 mp3 您的浏览器不支持音频元素。
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.
[真实性认证：以下文本版本直接从音频转录。
(2)]
(2)]
* Ladies and gentlemen: I have come to a decision which I felt I should tell you and all of my fellow American citizens, as soon as I was certain in my own mind and in my own conscience that it is the right thing to do.
*女士们、先生们：我已经做出了一项决定，我觉得我应该告诉你们和我所有的美国公民同胞，只要我在自己的头脑和良心中确信这是正确的事情。
* I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions always come to this desk.
* 我在这个办公室已经了解到，困难的决定总是来到这张桌子上。
I must admit that many of them do not look at all the same as the hypothetical questions that I have answered freely and perhaps too fast on previous occasions.
我必须承认，其中许多问题看起来与我以前自由回答过的假设性问题完全不同，而且可能回答得太快了。
My customary policy is to try and get all the facts and to consider the opinions of my countrymen and to take counsel with my most valued friends.
我的惯常政策是努力了解所有事实，考虑同胞的意见，并向我最重要的朋友征求意见。
But these seldom agree, and in the end, the decision is mine.
但这些人很少达成一致，最终的决定是我的。
To procrastinate, to agonize, and to wait for a more favorable turn of events that may never come or more compelling external pressures that may as well be wrong as right, is itself a decision of sorts and a weak and potentially dangerous course for a President to follow.
拖延、苦恼、等待可能永远不会到来的更有利的事态发展，或者等待更引人注目的、可能是错误的、也可能是正确的外部压力，这本身就是一种决定，也是总统所采取的软弱且潜在危险的做法。
I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.
我承诺维护宪法，做上帝赋予我的正义之事，并为美国尽我所能。
I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became President but many times since.
我不仅在就任总统时，而且此后多次请求你们的帮助和祈祷。
The Constitution is the supreme law of our land, and it governs our actions as citizens.
宪法是我们国家的最高法律，它规范我们作为公民的行为。
Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it.
只有支配我们良心的上帝的律法才高于它。
As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God.
由于我们是上帝统治下的国家，所以我发誓在上帝的帮助下维护我们的法律。
And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family.
我寻求这样的指导，并特别勤奋地扪心自问，以确定我应该对我的前任理查德·尼克松以及他忠诚的妻子和家人做正确的事情。
Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all -- all have played a part.
他们的悲剧是一场美国悲剧，我们所有人都参与其中。
It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it.
它可以一直持续下去，或者必须有人给它写下结局。
I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.
我得出的结论是，只有我能做到这一点，如果我能做到，我就必须这样做。
There are no historic or legal precedents to which I can turn in this matter, none that precisely fit the circumstances of a private citizen who has resigned the Presidency of the United States.
在这个问题上，我没有可以参考的历史或法律先例，也没有一个完全适合辞去美国总统职务的普通公民的情况。
But it is common knowledge that serious allegations and accusations hang like a sword over our former President's head, threatening his health as he tries to reshape his life, a great part of which was spent in the service of this country and by the mandate of its people.
但众所周知，严重的指控和指控就像一把剑悬在我们前总统的头上，在他试图重塑自己的生活时威胁着他的健康，而他的生活的很大一部分是为了服务这个国家并履行其人民的委托而度过的。
After years of bitter controversy and divisive national debate, I have been advised, and I am compelled to conclude that many months and perhaps more years will have to pass before Richard Nixon could obtain a fair trial by jury in any jurisdiction of the United States under governing decisions of the Supreme Court.
经过多年的激烈争议和分裂的全国性辩论，我得到的建议是，我不得不得出结论，理查德·尼克松要在美国任何司法管辖区根据最高法院的裁决获得陪审团的公正审判，还需要几个月甚至更多年的时间。
I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station.
我坚信所有美国人都享有平等正义，无论他们的地位或以前的地位如何。
The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.
法律，无论是人法还是神法，都不偏待人。但法律尊重现实。
The facts, as I see them, are that a former President of the United States, instead of enjoying equal treatment with any other citizen accused of violating the law, would be cruelly and excessively penalized either in preserving the presumption of his innocence or in obtaining a speedy determination of his guilt in order to repay a legal debt to society.
在我看来，事实是，美国前总统不会与任何其他被指控违法的公民享有平等待遇，而是会受到残酷和过度的惩罚，无论是为了维护其无罪推定，还是为了迅速确定其有罪，以偿还对社会的法律债务。
During this long period of delay and potential litigation, ugly passions would again be aroused.
在这段漫长的拖延和潜在的诉讼期间，丑陋的激情将再次被激发。
And our people would again be polarized in their opinions.
我们的人民的观点将再次两极分化。
And the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.
我们自由政府机构的信誉将再次受到国内外的挑战。
In the end, the courts might well hold that Richard Nixon had been denied due process, and the verdict of history would even more be inconclusive with respect to those charges arising out of the period of his Presidency, of which I am presently aware.
最终，法院很可能认为理查德·尼克松被剥夺了正当程序，而对于我目前所知的他总统任期内产生的那些指控，历史的判决将更加不确定。
But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me, though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person.
但最让我担心的并不是理查德·尼克松的最终命运，尽管它无疑深深地困扰着每一个正派、每一个富有同情心的人。
My concern is the immediate future of this great country.
我关心的是这个伟大国家的近期未来。
In this, I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not.
在这一点上，我不敢依赖我作为前总统的长期朋友的个人同情，也不敢依赖我作为律师的专业判断，而且我也不愿意。
As President, my primary concern must always be the greatest good of all the people of the United States whose servant I am.
作为总统，我的首要关切必须始终是我作为仆人的所有美国人民的最大利益。
As a man, my first consideration is to be true to my own convictions and my own conscience.
作为一个男人，我首先考虑的是忠于自己的信念和良心。
My conscience tells me clearly and certainly that I cannot prolong the bad dreams that continue to reopen a chapter that is closed.
我的良心清楚而肯定地告诉我，我不能再继续继续重新开启已关闭的篇章的噩梦。
My conscience tells me that only I, as President, have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal this book.
我的良心告诉我，只有我，作为总统，才拥有宪法权力，坚决关闭并封存这本书。
My conscience tells me it is my duty, not merely to proclaim domestic tranquility but to use every means that I have to insure it.
我的良心告诉我，我的责任不仅是宣布家庭安宁，而且要使用一切手段来确保家庭安宁。
I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.
我确实相信责任到此为止，我不能依靠民意调查来告诉我什么是正确的。
I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
我确实相信正义创造力量，如果我错了，十个天使发誓我是对的也没有什么区别。
I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
我全心全意地相信，我不是作为总统，而是作为上帝谦卑的仆人，如果我不表现出怜悯，我将毫无怜悯地接受正义。
Finally, I feel that Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough and will continue to suffer, no matter what I do, no matter what we, as a great and good nation, can do together to make his goal of peace come true.
最后，我觉得理查德·尼克松和他的亲人已经受够了苦难，而且还将继续受苦，无论我做什么，无论我们作为一个伟大而善良的国家能够共同做什么，以实现他的和平目标。
Now, therefore, I, Gerald R.
因此，现在我，杰拉尔德·R.
Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
美国总统福特，根据宪法第二条第二节赋予我的赦免权，已授予并通过这些礼物授予理查德·尼克松充分、自由和绝对的赦免，赦免他理查德·尼克松在1969年7月20日至1974年8月9日期间犯下或可能犯下或参与的所有针对美国的罪行。
* In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth.
* 为了证明这一点，我特此在我们的主一千九百七十四年、美利坚合众国独立一百九十九年九月八日举手。
*
*
Book/CDs by Michael E.
Michael E. 的书籍/CD
Eidenmuller, Published by McGraw-Hill (2008) * = text inside the asterisks absent from this audio and unverified as delivered
Eidenmuller，McGraw-Hill 出版 (2008) * = 星号内的文本在此音频中缺失，且交付时未经验证
Audio Source: Gerald R.
音频来源：Gerald R.
Ford Presidential Library
福特总统图书馆
Also in this database : Gerald R.
此数据库中还有：Gerald R.
Ford - Address on Taking the Oath of Office of U.S. Presidency
福特 - 宣誓就任美国总统的讲话
U.S. Copyright Status : Text, Audio = Property of A merican R hetoric.com.
美国版权状态：文本、音频 = American R hetoric.com 的财产。
Images = Fair Use.
图片=合理使用。
� Copyright 2001-Present.
� 版权所有 2001 年至今。
American Rhetoric.
美国修辞学。
HTML transcription by Michael E.
HTML 转录由 Michael E.
Eidenmuller.
艾登米勒。