Comments on: nixon's last mistake?

Question: nixon's last mistake?

krautland — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:40:56 -0800

nixon's last mistake?

hivemind,

nixon's resignation letter is being flashed all over tv again these days, for obvious reasons, and it reminded me of something that has bugged me for quite some time.

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.

shouldn't it be I hereby resign from the Office? said office did after all still exist sans nixon.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 01:04:18 -0800

I think it's valid, if a little outdated. Here are two other examples.

I resign the office of Secretary of State (CA)

I resign the office of President (US Deaf Gold Association. Seriously)

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 02:16:04 -0800

I think he meant it like a title, something you held. "I resign the crown of england" sounds normal to me.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 02:38:24 -0800

The verb "to resign" has both transitive and intransitive forms. As long as it's not used with a reflexive pronoun, the meaning remains the same.

By: taz

taz — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 02:48:30 -0800

I think maybe adding the "from" is probably something relatively recent. If you look at this page about "resign" from Webster's dictionary of (apparently) 1913, you'll see that resign is used without the "from," and that it's only listed as a transitive verb.

Perhaps later usage has added the "from" because of a certain similarity to "retire" and "retire from"?

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:15:12 -0800

I've heard of military officers resigning their commission, but never resigning from their commission.

By: Effigy2000

Effigy2000 — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:38:07 -0800

I always understood that while there was a position of being President one could hold, one was only President by virtue of winning the office of the President (similar to how an MP is only an MP because they won their seat). Thus, while one could theoretically resign from being President, it would still make sense (or probably make more sense) for one to resign the Office (note the capital on Office, designating it as its own entity) of President if one was indeed resigning.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 06:56:21 -0800

It sounds like the things you can just resign without a from are all metonyms standing for a particular position or honor. When you resign from the presidency, you resign the office. When you resign from the military, you resign the commission. (Hey Brits if the King or Queen abdicates, can you say they've resigned the throne?)

By: TrashyRambo

TrashyRambo — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 08:05:32 -0800

Hey Brits if the King or Queen abdicates, can you say they've resigned the throne?

Well it sounds right.
But it's not exactly what Edward said.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 08:28:04 -0800

Sure, the person and the office have to coexist. Nixon no longer wished to hold that office, so he resigned it. Quit it. Left it behind. Etc. If you resign "from" an office, you are saying that the title can exist without a person holding it. David Rice Atchison notwithstanding, as of the 25th Amendment it's constitutionally impossible for there to be a vacancy in the office of President of the United States.

(Heh, the California Secretary of State apparently resigned "with deepest personal egret." Those things should really not be kept as pets.)