Video: 'The Challenge of Peace - President Nixon's Address to the Nation on A New Economic Policy'

(Sunday, August 15, 1971, 9 p.m. EDT; during the Nixon shock) — President Richard Nixon announced tonight that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.

“I have directed [Treasury} Secretary [John} Connally to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interests of the United States,” Nixon said tonight during a 20-minute address telecast and broadcast nationally.

Video: '1971 Nixon Shock: The End of US Dollars Convertibility to Gold'

Within 10 days, the value of the U.S. dollar had declined by more than 11 percent against the Japanese yen, the worth for $1 falling from ¥360 to ¥320, and seven percent against the West German Deutsche Mark, from DM 3.66 to DM 3.40.

Nixon also ordered a 90-day freeze on wages and prices to check inflation, making the first time the government had enacted wage and price controls outside of wartime. The order was an attempt to bring down inflation without increasing the unemployment rate or slowing the economy.