All throughout history from Greece to modern day, tragic heroes have existed, not only in literature, but in real life as well. President Richard Nixon meets the criteria of a tragic hero. During his presidency, Nixon exhibited goodness and had high standing before his fatal mistake that led to his downfall.
When people think about President Richard Nixon, they immediately associate him with the Watergate scandal, but actually “…his pre-Watergate record is a lot better than most [people] realize…” (DeGregorio 600). Nixon and his administration stepped up and exhibited goodness during his first term and part of his second term. They reduced U.S involvement in Vietnam War and brought home 518,000 soldiers from 1969 to 1972. They even made deals to get the POW’s in North Vietnam out and home (DeGregorio 595). Nixon’s administration formed the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce clean air and water laws. Nixon also signed all the Civil Rights Acts passed by Congress (DeGregorio 597). The Civil Rights Acts desegregated schools and by 1972, 90% of schools were desegregated (The Richard M. Nixon Administrations). This really helped improve the educational opportunities for black children. Nixon also started a revenue sharing program in which the federal government gave billions of dollars of taxes back to the state and local governments (DeGregorio 596). This helped local governments because they could spend the money on the things that their communities needed the most. Nixon’s specialty was foreign affairs and he visited both communist China and Soviet Union. He was the first president to go to China and he helped open up Chinese-American relationships and settle differences with the Chinese (The Richard M. Nixon Administr...
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...on's own taping system he had installed ultimately led to his downfall which proves that his own mistake caused it.
Even if Nixon made bad decisions that caused his downfall, he was a respected and good president. His presidency may always be best known for the scandals that led to his downfall, but the passage of time and the study of his accomplishments by historians have led many people to conclude that he was a good president.
Work Cited
DeGregorio, William. The Complete Book of U.S Presidents. Richard M. Nixon. New York: Wing Books, 1997. Print
"Richard Milhous Nixon." Discovering Biography. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web 12 Nov. 2013.
"The Richard Milhous Nixon." Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Ed. Kelles. Sisung and Gerda-Ann Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Student Resources in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Pious, Richard M. Richard Nixon: A Political Life. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Julian Messner, 1991.
The documentary entitled, Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History, documents the political decisions and environment within the Nixon Administration from 1969-1974. The documentary specifically details and describes the environment and culture in which the Watergate scandal could occur and the events and abuses of power that lead to its occurrence. Setting the tone and the political climate of the Nixon Administration was the Vietnam War; making him a wartime President, a war that he inherited from his predecessor. The Vietnam War faced a lot of opposition from the general public, with massive protests and political demonstrations by the younger generations and overall general public. Nixon’s presidency was surrounded by this climate amidst the
Sidney M. Milkis, Michael Nelson. The American Presidency Origins & Development, 1776-2011. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2008.
The recent scandal in the White House has brought my attention to the American Presidents as people and Presidents. Looking into the American history and her presidents I have found out that presidents are not just political figures but that they are also people. In my research I will compare and contrast two of the American presidents - Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
Richard Nixon was in one of the most controversial issues that the United States has ever seen. The Watergate Scandal is now well known throughout history today. This issue led to Nixon resigning only 2 years in his 2nd term. Did President Nixon make the right decisions? Can anyone really trust the government after a situation like this? Some Historians believe that this changed the course of history, and that we can never truly trust the government again. While others believe that Nixon didn’t make the right decisions; however, this should not change the way the people look at our government. The government and the people need to keep a strong trust.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the most controversial war the United States had ever been involved in during its rich two-hundred year history would engulf the country, ultimately leading to the collapse of a president, and the division of a nation. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam and neighboring countries from 1959-1975 involving the North Vietnamese and NLF (National Liberation Front) versus the United States and the South Vietnamese ("The Vietnam..."). In 1969, newly elected President Richard M. Nixon, aiming to achieve "peace with honor" in Vietnam, began to put his "Vietnamization" policy into place -- removing the number of American military personnel in the country and transferring combat roles to the South Vietnamese ("Speeches..."). But at the same time, Nixon resumed the secret bombing of North Vietnam and launched B-52 bombing raids over Cambodia, intending to wipe out NLF and North Vietnamese base camps along the border. The intensive secret bombing, codenamed Operation Menu, lasted for four years and was intentionally concealed from the American public; meanwhile, Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia by United States troops, arguing that it was necessary to protect the security of American units. This invasion into an allegedly neutral country was cause for much protest in the States, especially on college campuses such as Kent State University, where students rioted and held walk-outs. Ultimately, the secret bombing of neutral Cambodia was deliberately conducted without the consent of Congress, violating the articles outlined in the United States Constitution, and would have been grounds for impeachment had Nixon not resigned under the cloud of the Watergate scandal in August of 1974 ("Richard M....
The President deserved the devotion showed to him by Colson because he had experience in the government. Beyond that, President Nixon always had good intentions, even in all the things that led to his resignation. This was a reason Colson should have been devoted to him. Lastly, Nixon was a friend of Colson, no matter how professional their friendship was.
Bibliography:.. The "Sources Cited" The First Kennedy-Nixon Debate. Information Press.
“Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
Richard Milhouse Nixon was born of a Quaker family on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated second in his class from local Whittier College in 1934 and later graduated third in his class from Duke University Law School. From there Nixon joined a law firm, and then briefly worked for the tire-rationing section of the Office of Price Administration, in Washington, D.C. Eight months into World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and moved to the Pacific to become a supply ...
President Kennedy easily qualifies for the first rule of being a tragic hero because, he was a man of noble stature and greatness. Kennedy accomplished noble stature and greatness before he became president when he wrote a Pulitzer Prize novel, saved his men in the Navy when he was a PT Boat Skipper, and eventually when he became the president. In The Presidents of the United States, Freidel and Sidey inform the reader that:
At first, he was a strong supporter of the Vietnam War but then became a strong opponent. The Department of Defense continued to lie to the people about the hype about the war. The government continued to say that the war was under control. The Pentagon Papers already have statistics on the Vietnam War. As soon as Nixon saw the paper, he went to his Attorney General right away to stop the printing of the New York Times newspaper. Daniel Ellsberg knew that he would get arrested for making copies of the papers.
The years leading up to the 1972 election were filled with new political tactics. Going into the election year, President Nixon seemed like he could never lose the second term election after successfully negotiating with Vietnam, Beijing, and Russia to improve international relations (Emery 4). Raising international toughness made Nixon seem like the most worthy person to stay president. Fred Emery analyses in his novel Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon, the president was also setting up the first summit meeting in history with Soviet Union Presidents (3). There seemed to be nothing capable of holding the seemingly responsible man back. However, this assurance came with massive consequences. The absolute certainty that Nixon would be reelected fueled the lies and abuse of power by the Nixon government (Emery 195). As the outlook of landslide winnings took over the White House, the moral reasoning, “the end justifies the means” became more prevalent. Nixon was obsessed with winning and being successful. Under his command his staff did whatever possible to ...
When Regan became president, his administration established a program of voluntary compliance with Clean Water Act standards. Regan sent around memos to big business asking, “What regulation do you want relief from?” Nixon wasn’t much better. He was out of step with the country. Nixon may have given the EPA the authority to sue and penalize polluters that exceeded those limits, but he would veto any new legislation And we did not care.
So how does this former leader of the free world compare to Macbeth? Before they achieved their positions of power to govern or rule all, both Nixon and Macbeth spent many years being heavily respected amongst their peers. Nixon spent many years as a respected congressman and Macbeth as a soldier and Thane of Glamis. They used the way people viewed them to their advantage to gain a position of power. Nixon used his experience to get him elected president. Macbeth was made Thane of Cawdor and eventually king. Once they both ascended to their respected roles they did whatever it took to protect themselves from any possible threats. Nixon cheated by trying to steal opponents campaign secrets thus giving him an unfair advantage.