What were the biggest influences on Richard Nixon's personality & decision-making? As the American Experience documentary illustrates, Richard Nixon’s upbringing in California had a lasting influence on his future personality as President. Unlike his 1960 election competitor John F. Kennedy, Nixon had not been born into a family with political connections, but a poor Quaker family who were part of a community he would later refer to as “forgotten Americans”. The long hours Nixon was required to work at his father’s store, coupled with the death of his young brothers Arthur and Harold, instilled in the future president a drive to attain the American Dream and rectify the conditions of his upbringing. While Nixon’s determination was commendable, his desire to succeed clearly had its downsides. The dismissal of his opponent as an “athlete and personality boy” after his first election defeat when running for class president at Whittier High School exemplifies both a superiority complex and an irritability that would stay with him into his presidency. Not only did these personality traits cause his eventual downfall through the Watergate scandal, but they also impacted foreign policy …show more content…
decisions made by the U.S. during the early 1970s. For example, Nixon’s decision to prolong the Vietnam War despite his prior campaign pledges is attributed in the documentary to his unwavering desire not to become the first president to lose a war. A likely additional motive for the prolonging of the war is that Nixon, like his predecessors, strongly distrusted communism.
As the documentary shows, Nixon’s public vilifying of suspected communist sympathisers from a young age (such as his 1946 congressional election opponent Jerry Voorhis) gained him a reputation that helped further his career during the early years of the Cold War. Even if Nixon had only adopted these views for political gain, for him to willingly allow South Vietnam to fall to communism upon reaching the Oval Office would have likely been considered inconsistent and overly sympathetic by his Republican peers. Such principles ultimately proved costly however, as over 20,000 of the American casualties suffered in the conflict occurred under the Nixon
administration. While there was a definite fear of America being perceived as weak during Nixon’s presidency, his foreign policy decisions were also informed by the more pragmatic philosophies of his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a proponent of Realpolitik. Although Kissinger believed that Soviet expansion needed to be prevented, he advocated détente policies over costly moral crusades. The negotiations held between the United States and the People’s Republic of China during this period serve as examples of how this new strategy was adopted by Nixon.
Rick Perlstein argues over whether "Nixonland", a country at war with itself, still resides in the heart of America. The book took a in depth look at Nixon’s political career from the beginning up to the outcome of the 1972 election, as well as how America’s political scene went from perceived consensus in the LBJ era to the bitterly divided right versus left, also known as the red state/blue state split. Perlstein’s argument is that we are still living in Nixonland. “Nixonland” is a study of the consensus, it isn’t just about Nixon, he isn’t the protagonist of Nixonland although it does include his rise and fall; instead, the protagonist of Nixonland is the American voter who found themselves voting Democrat in 1964 and then Republican in 1972 for the same reasons. This book covers the American political and cultural terrain from LBJ’s liberal landslide in 1964, through Nixon’s comeback in 1968, and land...
Miller Center. (2009, May). American President: A reference resource. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from University of Virgina: http://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/essays/biography/print
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
While Nixon was in office, he used the war to his benefit, helping him win another term in office. Nixon’s plan was to use “Vietnamization,” a process in which American soldiers would train South Vietnamese to fight for themselves and eventually drawing American troops out of the war (Vietnamization). At first, General WestPoint was in charge, raiding Vietcong bases and trying to eliminate them. The original plan was to use the body count to discourage any more NVA troops from fighting, but this strategy backfired because both Vietnamese and American troops had high body counts. General Abraham was appointed as commander and began the “Vietnamization” strategy, which only seemed to work in the public’s eyes. Nixon made a treaty with South Vietnamese President, to have a ceasefire to withdraw American troops and release American POWs while South Vietnam took over the war (The). Nixon planned to use this strategy to withdraw all American troops, however it was “worse, Nixon would leave North Vietnamese troops occupying and controlling much of the South, while withdrawing all remaining American ground forces (Hughes).” Nixon’s use of Vietnamization helped to further his political resolve. He “sacrificed the lives of American soldiers to further his electoral ends (Hughes).” The ...
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 1968 Richard Nixon was elected President. One of the promises he made was to end the Vietnam War. When the My Lai massacre was exposed in November of 1969 there was worldwide outrage and reduced public support for the war. Then a month later the first draft lottery was instituted since WWII. In April 1970, Nixon told the public he was going to withdraw large numbers of U.S. troops from Vietnam. So when he made his television address on April 30 to say we had invaded Cambodia the American people reacted strongly. In the speech Nixon addressed not only Cambodia but also the unrest on college campuses. Many young people, including college students, were concerned about the risk of being drafted, and the expansion of the war into another country appeared to increase that risk. Across the country protests on campuses became what Time magazine called "a nation-wide student strike."
I would rather be a one term president and do what I believe is right than to be a two term president at the cost of seeing America become a second rate power.” Students did not agree with Nixon and protests cropped up on university campuses in the days that followed his speech. Amongst these protesters were students of Kent State University, “The Cambodian invasion defined a watershed in the attitude of Kent students toward American policy in the Indochina War.”
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 ...
...ver actually happened. Instead of America feeling betrayed, they look to him as a hero and a great man. (chapter 2, page 13) By creating that diametric story line, Moore uses the citizen’s acceptance of Nixon to show how unethical and twisted their world is.
When looking back on the recent decades or even last week, it is not difficult to find a Macbeth-like figure in mainstream American culture. In this it is meant that these individuals experience a downfall in an attempt to gain power. One such figure was former President Richard Nixon.
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 ...
Early Life Richard Milhous Nixon grew up in Yorba, California the son of Quakers Frank and Hannah Nixon. During Nixon’s childhood in Yorba, the family was always on the edge of poverty. The lemon grove was unfruitful, and there was little money for anything beyond food and clothing for the growing family. The Nixons never ate in a restaurant or took even a brief vacation. Nixon’s early life was one of boyish stubbornness. He swam in the dangerous Anaheim Canal in spite of repeated warnings from his father, and he insisted upon standing up to ride in the family wagon, although once a fall gave him a serious head injury. He displayed a competitive streak at an early age and would never turn down a challenge or a dare. He also loved to be read to, and after age five he could read on his own. National Geographic was his favorite magazine. Education Nixon graduated form high school in 1930. He possessed extraordinary intelligence and ambition, but his ambitious nature received a serious setback that year. He graduated first in his class and won his high school’s Harvard Club award as "best all-around student." The award was a scholarship to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, he seemed likely to win a scholarship to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Nixon had dreamed for years of going to a famous college in the East, but his dreams were shattered when he had to turn down both opportunities. Because his older brother Harold’s long battle with tuberculous had drained the family’s funds there was no money to pay for the cost of traveling to the East Coast and living there. Nixon swallowed his disappointment and enrolled at nearby Whittier College. Nixon majored in history, and one of his history professors had a profound influence on his career. This was Dr. Paul Smith, whom Nixon called "the greatest intellectual inspiration of my early years." Smith was a Republican who urged his students to think about the importance of leadership in government. He encouraged them to consider entering public office, and he certainly helped turn Nixon’s thoughts in that direction. In 1934 Nixon graduated from Whittier College after four years on the honor roll. He applied for a scholarship to a new law school, at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and asked several of his professors to write to Duke, recommending him for a scholarship.
Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was raised in a farmhouse in Yorba Linda, California. Born January 9th, 1913. He was raised in a Quaker family that ran a lemon farm. After moving to Whittier, Nixon attended Whittier High School, and showed himself to be an excellent student. He excelled in history and civics. After completing high school Nixon was offered opportunities to apply for scholarships at institutions such as Harvard and Yale, but decided to attend a small Quaker college, Whittier College, and be closer to home. After losing his second brother Nixon was said to have thrown himself into his studies as if “compensating for his brother’s death.” (Peterson, 2005, p. 1). Nixon graduated Whittier College second in his class. He then received a scholarship to Duke University School of Law. While living there he lived a very basic life, staying in small rented rooms and showering in the men’s room. He finished at Duke third in a class of 44 in 1937. In December 1941 Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration working in the tire rationing division, he choose this job because it put him in Washington and gave him a great opportunity to learn about the government. After working, disappointedly, in this job he decided to join the Navy saying he felt obligated to serve his country. Nixon’s parents did not approve of his decision due to their beliefs as Quakers. When discharged from the Navy in 1946 Nixon decided to run for political office in California. This is where Nixon got his start in the world of politics. Nixon’s childhood shows that he was a good, selfless, hardworking man...
Having the people’s attention was good thing, but he didn’t always have it. For a while when he was running for vice president with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, their democratic opponents accused them of spending their campaign funds on personal interest (Page 435). The people thought Nixon might ruin Eisenhower’s chance of winning the election and wanted him to withdraw from the campaign. On September 23, 1952 Nixon announced over the television and radios his personal finances, proving he had not us...