In book Being Nixon, written by Evan Thomas, shows Nixon in a different light, a man who is odd and introverted, and also shows his accomplishments. The former Republican congressman and U.S senator served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower, and in 1950’s ran and lost the presidency in a close race with John F. Kennedy. But he ran again in 1968 and won becoming the 37th U.S president. As a president, Nixon succeed in pulling out American troops in Vietnam, improving international relations in China and the Soviet Union, and creating the Environmental Protection Agency. He is the only president to resign from office, due to involvement in the Watergate scandal, which tarnished his image. The beginning section focuses on Nixon’s …show more content…
Eisenhower did, and Nixon became running mate for the presidential campaign. In mid-September the New York Post publishes a story under the headline “Secret Nixon Fund!” Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses, which led to the Checker’s speech. Nixon denied on taking any money from his supporters, with one exception: a dog that someone gave as a gift, that his daughter named Checkers. “The fund crises made me feel old and tired,” Nixon said. But he responded by becoming more aggressive on the campaign trail (Thomas 84). The Eisenhower-Nixon election won by a landslide on Election Day. After serving as the Vice President in Eisenhower’s administration, Nixon attempted his own presidential campaign against John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential campaign. He campaigned in 50 states, but still lost. So, when launched his campaign for the presidency at the last possible moment, (a month before primary) with the “New Nixon Campaign,” he declared the campaign style would be replaced by something more dignified and did not travel in the beginning (Thomas 155). He was also alone on election night, but he won by narrow plurality of 43.4% to Humphreys 42.7%. He immediately began to build a
This book was a good read for me, but I also read book reviews to help me keep track on what I am reading. These book reviews just made a better understanding of what I was reading.
Nixonland is four stories put into one novel that was written by Rick Perlstein. Each story was about a different campaign that happened between the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Besides Nixonland, Perlstein has also written another novel, “Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus”. Although he does go into detail about some of the Presidents that were mentioned in the book, the book is not a biography. It is classified as nonfiction.
Nixon’s hamartia, a fatal flaw that leads to the character’s downfall, was his hunger for power and insecurity. Many people have reported that he would lash out at his enemies. The cause of the Watergate Scandal, the incident when burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee’s office and tried to wiretap phones and steal documents, was Nixon’s insecurity. He didn’t think he was going to be reelected and resorted to unethical actions. This event forced Nixon to resign from office, thus displaying that his insecurity led to his downfall.
The "Checkers Speech" saved Nixon's career, what was left of it.. Eisenhower kept him on the ticket just because of his looks and he went on to serve eight years as Vice President. He wanted to win by a lot. In 1960 Nixon ran for President, losing a close race to John F. Kennedy. The smell of hope. He was paranoid. Two years later he lost a bitter race for Governor of California to Pat Brown and retired from politics, telling the press, "There is always next year. He was paranoid.
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
Indeed, when it came time for Nixon to back a nominee in 1948, his support went to the more centrist Thomas E. Dewey, and not to the conservative Taft. Kennedy decided to go into politics mainly because of the influence of his father. Joe Kennedy, Jr. was killed in the European arena of World War II and so the political ambitions of the family got placed on the shoulders of John. Nixon, however, got involved in politics by chance. While celebrating the end of the war in New York, he received a telegram from an old family friend indicating that they needed someone to run against the Democrat Jerry Voorhis.
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.
Historians on the opposing side believe that Nixon had a choice, but he chose the wrong one. He wanted to cover up the Watergate scandal, and that was the turning point of his presidency. Maurice H. Stans explains, “Nixon was not a party to the Watergate break-in. That has been established, especially by the White House tapes beginning in June 1972, which showed his initial consternation at learning about it.” (Nixon 178)
It is clear that Richard Nixon was elected as a conservative. He promised themes of “law and order” (Lecture 24, November 14), pandered to what he called the “silent majority” (Silent Majority Speech, 1969) and promised to end the unpopular Vietnam War, a product of liberal policies and ideals. He offered a sharp contrast in rhetoric between the soaring “we can do it all” language perpetuated by Kennedy and Johnson (Lecture 25, November 19). But how truly conservative was “Tricky Dick’s” presidency? Did the man who was elected specifically to end the seemingly endless chaos of the sixties actually prolong the national nightmare?
The politics of the ultratight resonated deeply with Richard Nixon. Nixon had cut his political teeth as a young Red-hunting member of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. His home district in Orange Country, California, was widely known as a Birch Society stronghold. The Los Angeles-area Birch Society claimed the membership of several political and economic elites, including members of the Chandler family, which owned and published the Los Angeles Times. According to the writer David Halberstam (1979, 118) the Times, which was once described as “the most rabid Labor-bating, Red-hating paper in the United States,” virtually created Richard Nixon.
The Presidential Debates Between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon In the Presidential Election of 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard Milhouse Nixon was in a series of debates that were different from past. debates. The sexy of the sexy. The three biggest national television networks arranged for the debate to be televised on all three stations.
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.
Nixon was long associated with American politics before his fall from grace. He was along time senator before finally being elected president in 1968. During his first term, his United States went through the Vietnam War and a period of economic inflation. In 1972 he was easily re-elected over Democrat nominee George McGovern. Almost unnoticed during his campaign was the arrest of five men connected with Nixon’s re-election committee. They had broken into the Democrats national head quarters in the Watergate apartment complex, in Washington D.C. They attempted to steal documents and place wire taps on the telephones. By March of 1973, through a federal inquiry, it had been brought to light that the burglars had connections with high government officials and Nixon’s closest aids. Despite Nixon and his lawyers best efforts, it was shown that the president had participated in the Watergate cover-up. On August 8, 1974 Nixon announced, without admitting guilt, that he would resign. He left the Oval Office the next day: an obvious fall from grace.
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 ...
Born on 1913 of January 9, Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States of America. He served during 1969-1974. He was our 36th Vice President, he served during 1953-1961. Prior to him running for president he did government related work. He was a U.S. Representative, as well as a Senator from Cali, last but not the least he served in the armed forces. He helped ended any kind of involvement with the war in Vietnam of 1973. He brought back many prisoners of war home as well as ending the military draft. That is a huge deal being able to protect your country, it’s rights and freedom as well as coming back that’s just amazing and I can’t say enough thank you’s to those men and women who has and is served in the military the sacrifices