In the early morning of June 17, 1972, five burglars were caught at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. The Watergate break-in led to investigation by the Senate Watergate Committee and eventually revealed President Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal from the beginning. Watergate scandal proved that the president was not above the law. Based on our study, it was my contention that pardoning President Nixon was most beneficial for the country in order to move forward and focus on economic problems. First, President Nixon should have been pardoned to avoid further division in the country. When President Ford assumed the presidency in 1974, it had been two years into the Watergate scandal already (Danzer et al, 802-807). Additionally, the Americans soldiers in Vietnam had just returned home a year earlier in 1973. The American people were profoundly divided. Also, Nixon’s resignation from the highest office of the United States had hurt the international image of the United States badly (The American President). Therefore, a trial of President Nixon would only worsen the situation; people would be more divided throughout …show more content…
Both unemployment and inflation were extremely high in the 1970s due to recession and more foreign competition. In addition, the energy shortage occurred as the United States relied more on the Middle East for oil. The OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, set oil prices higher and caused even more inflation (Danzer et al, 798-801). Even though the economy of the 1970s was horrible, President Ford had to spend 25% of his time dealing with the Watergate scandal during his first days in the White House (The American President). In short, the pardon was necessary for President Ford to concentrate on solving the economy and energy
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.
Both the presidents misled the American public, causing personal as well as professional problems. For instance, President Clinton released a false statement about his affair with Monika Lewinsky, causing a lengthy and costly trial, and greatly affecting his presidential career. Also, President Nixon caused a scandal associated with Watergate, which ended up with his leaving the office. Even though they caused trouble for themselves and others around them, Clinton and Nixon did influence the American economy to a great degree. Clinton practically saved the economy and lowered the US inflation rate, through gradual and advocated plans of reform.
The supporting argument is that Nixon made awful choices, but that should not change the people’s opinion of government. Nixon supporters were disgraced and his opponents just shook their heads. His supporters trusted him to do the right things, but in the end he just hurt them. While this was a mayor issue in history the American people should not look at this one bad apple. If the whole United States thought that everyone in the government was corrupt then we would have a huge problem.
The 1960’s ended with the pardon of Richard Nixon by President Ford in 1974. After doing so, Ford declared: “our long national nightmare is over”.
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 1970's was a difficult time period in American history filled with chaos, domestic and international crises, and very poor presidential leadership. Richard Nixon was president during the early years of the seventies and he was far from popular in the eyes of the American people. With inflation rapidly rising, Nixon soon became unfavorable, and with the controversy surrounding his actions concerning the Watergate Crisis, he was impeached and forced to resign. His Vice President, Gerald R. Ford, soon took his place in the White House. However, Ford was unable to handle the crippling events taking place in the United States; his approval dropped drastically within months, and like Nixon he lost support of the American people. When the 1976 presidential election came around, the American people needed a new hero whom they could trust and who could pull the nation out of its current state of misery. To fill this position, American chose to elect James Earl Carter, Jr., Governor from Georgia. Jimmy Carter began his presidency in the bright glow of public support built on his promise of bringing honesty and morality back to politics; but unable to successfully deal with conflicts beyond his control concerning domestic and foreign affairs, his term as President ended behind a dark cloud of public disapproval.
Morgan Ruth P. “Nixon, Watergate, and the study of the Presidency”. Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1, The Nixon Presidency. 1996, pp. 217-238
Out of all of the current presidents in our time the most interesting president to explore was President Richard Nixon and out of all of them he was the only one in term to resign. That Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment to be executed to the fullest extent of their nature. His poor choices and decisions led to his resignation. Although he did have some good qualities in helping the U.S. the bad however override the good. In the CRS (Congressional Research Service) It states: “ Obstruction of justice is the impediment of governmental activities. There are a host of federal criminal laws that prohibit obstructions of justice. The six most general outlaw obstruction of judicial proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1503), witness tampering (18 U.S.C. 1512), witness retaliation (18 U.S.C. 1513), obstruction of Congressional or administrative proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1505), conspiracy to defraud The United States (18 U.S.C. 371), and contempt (a creature of statute, rule and common law). Simple perjury in a federal investigation or judicial proceedings carries an extensive fine and up to 5 years in prison.” This was the first article president Richard M. Nixon was charged with by the House of Judiciary Committee. The vote was 27 to 1 for Nixon to be charged with the first article of impeachment, which was Obstruction of Justice. In denial of his liability in part taking in the Watergate scandal by saying he wasn't involved in the scandal He pointed finger at others that were involved in the break-in. However, tapes were found of conversations that proved his involvement and he was going to be impeached. Before he was charged, he made a resignat...
There was a break-in in 1972 at the Watergate Office Complex of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters and Ronal Reagan was involved. This crime was committed on June 17, 1972 in the very early morning, which will prove that it will be the end for President Nixon. Seven burglars were found inside the Complex and they were arrested inside the DNC, this was a planned out robbery and was linked to to President Nixon’s re-election campaign, the burglars were trying to steal top secret documents and to wiretap the phones. History can't surely say that Nixon took part in this. However, he did take part in covering this up and raising hush money for the burglars, and even trying to stop the FBI from investigating. So in August of 1974, after the conspiracy had become public, President Nixon resigned and was pardoned by Gerald Ford.
In my opinion, Nixon's biggest problem was that he was uncertain of his future, not only before the election, but also during the Watergate trials. Nixon needed to have more confidence in his policies and himself as a person in order to impress the public. Turing to illegal tactic only tarnished his name. After the scandal became public, President Nixon was filled with concerns about his presidential position. As a result, I do not think that he would have been able to preform all of his duties to the best of his ability. In the end, I believe it was extremely brave for President Ford to pardon Nixon. He not only helped a man in need, but he showed his respect to him as well as the country. But pardoning Nixon, Ford allowed the country
Richard Nixon's first term as president will always be connected with the Watergate scandal, the biggest political scandal in United States history. Various illegal activities were conducted including burglary, wire tapping, violations of campaign financing laws, sabotage, and attempted use of government agencies to harm political opponents to help Richard Nixon win reelection in the 1972 presidential elections. There were about 40 people charged with crimes related to the scandal. Most of them were convicted by juries or pleaded guilty. Watergate involved more high-level government officials than any previous scandal. It has been etched in the minds of millions and is still being recalled today when faced with the present day scandal of President Clinton. In All The President's Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, former Washington Post reporters, recount, illustrate, and analyze the Watergate scandal time and their work in reporting and revealing these events for the newspaper.
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.
Despite the national attention the Watergate scandal had gained President Nixon, he won the second term presidency. The major problem for Nixon would come later. The investigations of the Watergate scandal lead to the discovery of other criminal acts by officials including Nixon. During the investigation many things begin to surface. It was discovered that documents had been destroyed that may have made a link between Nixon and the Watergate scandal. These documents may have shown that he had some acknowledgement in what had happened. There was evidence that people involved in the Nixon campaign had been wire tapping phones illegally for a long time according to “dummies.com”. The greatest issue would come to light during the 1973 Watergate hearings. During testimonies it came to light that every conversation was recorded in the Oval office according to “study.com”. It was demanded that these tapes be reviewed to learn how much involvement President Nixon had in the Watergate burglary. The President felt that he had the right to withhold these tapes through what he referred to as executive privilege. This means that if it is the best interest of the public the president has the right to keep information from the
According to West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, to abuse power is the improper use of one’s authority, or the commission of an unlawful act, done in official capacity, which influences an outcome in the advantage of the abuser (online). One of the most well known abusers of power from a person in authority is President Richard Milhous Nixon.
Watergate began as a botched burglary that didn’t really involve the President, but ended up revealing impeachable abuses of power throughout Nixon’s presidency. Shockingly, over twenty lawyers were found to be operating outside of the law, and in response, Watergate forever changed the practice of law in the United States. Watergate produced various new laws like the “Independent Counsel Act,” which enabled the investigation of the President, Vice President, and other officials. Additional acts which were created as a result of the Watergate fallout were the “Freedom of Information Act,” this law gives the public disclosure to previously unreleased documents, records, and information within the federal government, and the “Federal Election