Richard Nixon's tax returns were being audited, like Donald Trump's. Nixon released them anyway.

(Image credit: Str/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is starting out the 2016 general election campaign with a tax problem of his own making. On Tuesday, he told The Associated Press that he didn't plan to release any of his tax returns before the November elections, saying the public wasn't interested and "there's nothing to learn from them." On Wednesday, Trump explained that he is following the advice of his lawyers, and said, "I will release them as soon as the audit is done. I hope that’s soon," preferably "before the election." Trump is under no legal obligation to release his tax returns, but opting not to do so is unusual.

And here's what people mean when they call it unusual: The last major presidential candidate not to release his tax returns was Gerald Ford in 1976, according to Joseph J. Thorndike, a presidential tax return expert at the nonpartisan Tax Analysts. Ford's decision to release only a summary of his returns wasn't as controversial, because the tradition of releasing full tax returns was started by his predecessor, Richard Nixon, Thorndike tells The New York Times, and Nixon was under audit at the time.

"I think 40 years of tradition carries real moral and ethical weight," Thorndike says. "It is quite striking that a major candidate would decide not to release their tax information — especially someone with an admittedly complex tax situation." And as long as he declines to release them, he's giving a political gift to Hillary Clinton, who must relish hitting back at a rival for being secretive and evasive — Clinton has posted the last eight years of her tax returns on her campaign website. "You've got to ask yourself, why doesn't he want to release them?" Clinton said at a rally in New Jersey on Thursday, echoing Mitt Romney. "Yeah, well, we're going to find out." Maybe.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.