"Nixon proclaimed his innocence until his death.. "  The impeachment proceeding stopped when the succeeding president - Gerald Ford gave him a pardon. He would have been put on impechment trial and got impeached, hadn't he given the pardon. It would have been a tragic sight to see the leader of the first world on trial.

At that time. Ford was heavily criticized by his supporters and journalists for exercising his presidential pardon.  His reason was to unite a divided country - as the Watergate incident really shook up the confidence of the people in their elected government.

In hindsight and after Ford's death last December, the same critics unanimously agreed that the pardon was the best thing that Ford did for the country and its president.

I visited the Capitol Rotunda when it opened for public viewing of President Gerald R. Ford's final RIP. 

He was remembered as a modest man who brought  "decency, integrity and humility to mend a broken government after the pain of war and scandal."