Richard Nixon ended the dollar’s convertibility into gold for foreign governments in 1971.
In a televised address on 15 August 1971, Nixon announced that the United States would temporarily suspend the dollar’s convertibility into gold. The decision became known as the Nixon shock and marked a decisive break with the Bretton Woods monetary system.
Under Bretton Woods, participating countries maintained exchange-rate relationships with the U.S. dollar, while the United States promised to exchange dollars held by foreign official institutions for gold at a fixed rate. Growing overseas dollar holdings and declining U.S. gold reserves put pressure on that arrangement.
The announcement did not immediately eliminate every fixed exchange rate, but subsequent negotiations failed to restore the old system. By the mid-1970s, major currencies had moved toward floating exchange rates.