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Short essay on the watergate scandal
Watergate scandal/nixon’s resignation
Watergate bribery scandal
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King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 28:13, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”(NKJV Bible 917). Charles Colson’s auto-biography, Born Again, is about the time in his life when he became a Christian, and his time in public office as campaign manager, and Special Counsel to the 37th president, Richard Nixon. He, like many other officials in Nixon’s office, was imprisoned for the cover-up of the Watergate scandal, while the President remained in office with the threat of impeachment overhead. Nixon had grown weak dealing with the countless anxieties of being the president, and did not feel like he could endure much more of it. The idea of resigning became more and more appealing as the days went by. And finally, on August 9th, 1974, Richard Nixon gave his resignation speech to the American people, officially handing over the presidency to Gerald Ford. This was the best thing for Richard Nixon to do, given that he was facing jail time, that his former staff and friends were taking the fallout for Watergate, and that he was no longer trusted.
Those that say Richard Nixon’s choice was wrong
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Around 70 members of Nixon’s current and former staff were indicted, and some incarcerated, including his Special Counsel, Charles Colson; the former Attorney General, John Mitchell; and the White House Chief of Staff, Harry Haldeman. They had all taken the blame, while Nixon helplessly watched from the White House wondering when it would end. He stood by and watched as his staff was criticized for things some of them did not really know about. They had been hauled off to jail and took criticism for him. Nixon needed to take accountability for his ‘alleged’ actions, to stop their suffering and end Watergate, all while showing respect for the office he once longed to be in. The only way Nixon could truly do this, was through
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.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6. In the book, Born Again, Chuck Colson was as deadly to political opponents as a lion is to prey. Colson was largely targeted by the media and dragged through the mud, after a scandal that led to an investigation of Nixon's White House administration. He had become a public scapegoat for the media. Through a long and taxing process, Colson was indicted and put in jail. However, through the straining process, he had found a path to God
Nixon's reputation went back to his first run for Congress in 1946, when, according to American Heritage, he had call registered Democrats and ask about his opponent, "Did you know that Jerry Voorhis is a up the theme in his 1950 Senate race." The point f this was to show how carrot he really was. (In return, Douglas called Nixon "Tricky Dick," a nickname that stuck.) Year's later, would mentor Bush's Karl Rove.
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
That summer he gave his life to the Lord, and was a changed man. He was indicted the following March, and sentenced to one to three years in prison for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. While in prison, his relationship with the Lord blossomed and grew in ways he could not have imagined.... ... middle of paper ...
When Nixon was inaugurated, he took a sworn oath to protect the people and the country. He lied to his people. He states, “The major problem on the Watergate is simply to clean the thing up by having whoever was responsible admit what happened. Certainly I am satisfied that nobody in the White House had any knowledge or approved any such activity.” (Memoirs 646).
Nixon’s run as an international crook finally caught up to him in 1972, when burglars were caught and arrested inside the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington. Nixon attempted to cover it up, but eventually he was found caught in his own web of lies, and was forced to resign in 1974 (Lecture 30, December 12). Nixon’s promises of a return to normalcy were shattered with these revelations. The confidence in the Presidency that he had hoped to restore was even lower than it was when he entered office. If the 1960’s were defined by political and social instability, then Richard Nixon did nothing but further the sixties into the 1970’s.
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.
Super, John C., ed. “Nixon’s Resignation and Pardon.” Salem Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. .
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...
When President Nixon was leaving the White House, Henry Kissinger comforted him by saying, "History will treat you kindly," to which Nixon replied, "That depends on who writes the history" (Hamburg xiv).
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.
In 1974 President Richard Nixon stepped down from the job duties of the President of the United States. This made him the only President that has ever stepped down in United States history (Roper). James McCord which was the retired CIA agent was convicted of “eight counts of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping, spending two months in prison” (history.com). He had written a letter about the involvement of White House officials in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal. He later in life wrote a book claiming all of his involvement in the Watergate scandal. A Cuban refugee Virgilio Gonzalez was one of the burglars and only spent one year and a month in prison. John Dean was a Nixon staff member. He was involved in the cover up of the Watergate scandal. During the trail he told about his and other officials involvement in the scandal. Dean served only four months in prison. G. Gordon Liddy was the former FBI agent involved with the burglary. For his involvement in the burglary and providing money for the burglaries he spent four and a half years in prison (history.com). There were many people that were involved with this scandal and the majority spent less than two years in
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 ...
Richards Nixon’s resignation speech was spoken on August 4, 1974. This speech was transcribed and put out to the public shortly after. Composed by Chief speechwriter Ray Price, the speech was written for one main purpose: Let the nation know that Richard Nixon was resigning. This resignation speech also encompassed many other topics. When Nixon spoke to the public, he apologized for some of his actions, reassured the country that they were in good hands, and tried to clear his name and restore his broken reputation.