Richard Nixon on closing the gold window

In recent weeks, the speculators have been waging an all-out war on the American dollar.  The strength of a nation's currency is based on the strength of that nation's economy, and the American economy is by far the strongest in the world...  Accordingly, I have directed [Treasury] Secretary 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 interests of monetary stability and in the best interests of the United States...  Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called "devaluation."  If you want to buy a foreign car or take a trip abroad, market conditions may cause your dollar to buy slightly less.  But, if you are among the overwhelming majority of Americans who buy American made products in America, your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow as it is today.

~ President Richard Nixon, Bretton Woods speech, August 15, 1971