Watergate Scandal: Shaking American Trust in Government

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People are fascinated by the appeal of drama and scandalous behavior. If you look at any form of media today, it is engulfed by rumors, gossip, and questionable reports. We as Americans are so entertained by the wrong- doings of others, there is now even a popular TV show, Scandal, written about fictional impropriety taking place in the White House. One of the most well-known political disgraces in the history of the United States is the Watergate Scandal, which took place under President Richard Nixon in the summer of 1972. The scandal completely changed an entire generation of Americans’ view of the government and politicians.
The 1970’s was a time of change marked with scars following the end of the Vietnam War and the ever shifting race relations. The unsettled times led to Americans beginning to question their trust in the American government and the politicians in office. In “The Post-Traumatic Decade,” Keys et al. writes, “Watergate… undermined the nation’s sense of purpose in the world and inspired a search for moral renewal that shaped political, social and cultural discourse throughout the decade.” This quote shows how the turbulence felt by the shocking events of the Watergate scandal changed the views of American citizens in regards to the government. After putting so much trust in the government in previous years people …show more content…

“The Watergate Five” consisted of James McCord, a security coordinator for the Republican National Committee along with Virgilio R. Gonzales, Frank A. Sturgis, Eugenio R. Martinez, and Bernard L. Barker. While at the time the public did not know Nixon was involved, what they did know was members of his party had tried to steal information from the Democrats. This doubt started chipping away at The House on the Hill that would almost fall apart in the coming

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