From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for August 9, 1974:

• “Our long national nightmare is over,” said Gerald R. Ford as he became the nation’s 38th President today in the wake of the resignation of President Nixon. “I assume the presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by America…. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.” Ford said he would ask to appear before a joint session of Congress this week to discuss his “views on the priority business of the nation,” an event at which he promised no political oration, but “just a little straight talk among friends.”
• In Lawrence, hushed crowds had gathered around televisions and radios to listen to Nixon’s resignation speech. Downtown crowds were reported to be extremely light, with more stores closing earlier than usual. Harvey Kemper, operating manager at Montgomery Ward, said that there had been only about 15 people in the store during the speech, and most of them had been in the appliance department watching the broadcast. At the Douglas County Fair, a crowd of about 3,500 who were attending the tractor and hot rod tractor pulling contests had listened silently to the piped-in radio broadcast before continuing with their activities. A smaller crowd of about 40 fair attendees had gathered around a television set in the Exposition Hall to watch the speech.