In the spring of 1974, with the Watergate scandal continuing to grow in magnitude and seriousness, Buckley surprised—and in some cases, angered—some of his allies among Republicans when he called upon the increasingly embattled Richard M. Nixon to voluntarily resign the presidency. Buckley said that in doing so, he was making no judgment as to Nixon's technical legal guilt or innocence of the accusations made against him - and he in fact denounced those "in and out of the media who have been exploiting the Watergate affair so recklessly" in what he called an effort "to subvert the decisive mandate of the 1972 election." However, he said that the burgeoning scandal might result in an impeachment process that would tear the country even further apart, so he declared: "There is one way and one way only by which the crisis can be resolved, and the country pulled out of the Watergate swamp. I propose an extraordinary act of statesmanship and courage—an act at once noble and heartbreaking; at once serving the greater interests of the nation, the institution of the Presidency, and the stated goals for which he so successfully campaigned"—Nixon's resignation. Buckley was the first major conservative Republican figure to call for such a resignation. Nixon did not resign at that time, but eventually did lose the support of other key Republican figures, including Sen. Barry Goldwater, and ultimately resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.