When people think of Richard Nixon the Watergate scandal may come to mind. Impeachment might also come to mind, but contrary to popular thought he was never truly impeached. Notably, the only impeached presidents are Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Yet, Nixon has a strong public disapprobation. Most of Richard Nixon’s legacy remains surrounded by negativity, but is there anything positive or noteworthy regarding Nixon’s presidency? Due to the Watergate scandal, people tend to overlook many aspects of Richard Nixon, to include, his background, his actual involvement in Watergate, and his legacy. So, who exactly was the Richard Nixon? In a very broad sense, he was the 37th president of the United States. Before his tenure as the 37th president, according to Conrad Black, “Richard Nixon, under his father’s influence, was already interested in politics, and already a Republican,” by 1920 (11). Likewise, Nixon’s early interest in politics that would lead to his election as a California congressman, in 1946, and sequentially, a state Senator, in 1950. Like many other US presidents, Richard Nixon had a rich history in politics before winning the presidency. But unlike other presidents, Nixon already had controversy surrounding him before he ever reached the oval office. In 1952, Nixon was amidst rumors of questionable funding, …show more content…
According to Tony McConnell, Nixon was the first president to consider a basic income and was the originator of the Environmental Protection Agency (28). Just like any other president, Nixon made his own policies and impacts on America. Another noteworthy topic of Nixon’s legacy is his foreign policy. McConnell notes that “it could only have been… [Nixon] to make common cause with the Chinese against the Soviet Union” (29). Nixon established nuclear arms control with Russia during the Cold War and establish the diplomatic openings with
Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda California on his father’s lemon farm. Richard Nixon was the second of five children born to Frank Nixon and Hannah Milhous. Unfortunately, two of his brothers died. In 1925, Richard Nixon’s younger brother died and in 1933, his older brother, whom he greatly admired, died of tuberculosis. His ancestors emigrated from Ireland in the 18th century, and settled in Pennsylvania and Indiana. In 1922, Richard Nixon and his family moved to Whittier, California after the lemon farm failed. Richard Nixon regularly attended Quaker services and experienced a rough childhood, having an abusive father and manipulative mother. He attended Whittier High School where he came in second for student body president. Graduating second in his class, he was offered a scholarship to Harvard but was not able to afford the travel and tuition, so enrolled Whittier College, a quaker institution. He excelled as a student and leader. He became the freshman class President and, as a senior, student body president. Richard Nixon was unable to really excel in football. He graduated second in his class, in 1934, and received a scholarship to Duke Law School. The Whittier College president wrote, “I believe Nixon will become one of America’s important, if not great leaders.”
Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal left no doubt to his involvement of being impeached. During the Nixon Administration, he was able to prevent colleges from being gender biased and allowing both male and female to have equal opportunity and receiving financial aid as well as competing in sports. He was able to establish the Environmental Protection Agency. He also worked to create a relationship between the U.S and the Middle East. Unfortunately, even with all of the accomplishments, he was able to have, everyone will remember Richard Nixon as the president who was involved in the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal left an asterisk by his legacy while being in the office, the results left him with having to resign and with him facing criminal charges as well, the Scandal became well known to the public in the summer of 1974. Through my essay, I will discuss why I am intrigued by the Watergate scandal, and discuss what if Richard Nixon never got caught on the audio tape?
Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States he was caught in the watergate scandal and tried to use his money for bad for example “Several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents.” (watergate scandal) Nixon had his campaign team try to steal those secret documents but they got caught. He never actually admitted to it. It is said that Nixon tried to cover up the scandal for instance, “It later came to light that
He repudiated his anti-Communist past and became the first US president to visit the Soviet Union when he traveled to Moscow in May of 1972. He sought peace with the opposing super-power and initiated negotiations with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons, which resulted in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). At the same time, he was making secret contact with the other great communist nation, the People's Republic of China, which he visited publicly in February 1972, thus opening official diplomatic relations with China for the first time since the communist takeover in 1949. But no—Nixon is not remembered for his good deeds; the mistakes he made seem to overshadow his accomplishments. Nixon never committed perjury before a Grand Jury. Nixon never had oral sex in the Oval Office with an intern half his age. Nixon never tampered with witnesses who could testify to such an affair. Nixon never sent his wife on national television to blame all his problems on a vast left-wing conspiracy--although a much better case could've been made - the Left wing media loathed Nixon ever since he uncovered Alger Hiss in 1948. Nixon never sold nuclear missile technology to the Communist Chinese in exchange for illegal campaign contributions. They have a word for that; it is called "treason". Nixon never
Nixon used his authority to access official documents to benefit himself. He damaged the way people say him as a person. He was supposed to be someone that America was supposed to trust but never question. Investigations proved years of political espionage and illegal surveillance. Instead of reviving the ultimate price of injustice in office, impeachment, Nixon chose to resign and further lost the respect of the American public. The crime in acted on that day made citizens question the leadership of their country and the measures their leaders will go to for themselves. The coward decision that Nixon chose to take and end his presidency and not accept full responsibility of his infidelities truly showed the abuse of power that took place during his years of presidency.
One event he is most famous for during his Vice-Presidency is the “kitchen debate” with Khrushchev at the United States exhibition in Moscow (Small 47). This particular debate argued capitalism verses communism and it just so happened to take place in a kitchen (Small 49). He was the first American official to address the Soviets in a live television broadcast. Over the next eight years, Nixon continued to elevate the office of vice president to a new level. With his youthful and vigorous attitude, he made sure he would be the most active vice president in any previous administration.
Former President Richard Nixon is most well-known for his role in the Watergate crisis in the early 1970’s. The Watergate crisis started in June of 1972, when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters was broke into by members of Nixon’s re-election committee. The press took this breaking news and began to dig deeper into what the Whitehouse (President Nixon) was hiding. Over the next two years heavy investigations into the Watergate incident revealed that President Nixon did, in fact, ordered a cover-up to keep the incident under control. Fearing impeachment, President Nixon resigned his presidency in August 1974,
Richard Nixon. If you didn’t already know, there is a very large amount of controversy surrounding this former president. A large part of this controversy has something to do with him being elected president in both 1968 and 1972. These many years allowed many good, bad, and controversial topics surrounding Nixon. Before we can get to all this controversy in regards to this president, we shall explore what Nixon did before his presidency and what policies he had while he was still in office, because it has become blatantly obvious that too many people in the United States are
controversy. Nixon started as a straightforward politician who was bringing groundbreaking advancements to the fields he worked in. But all that work would not be enough to fight against the drama that would later follow him during his presidency. After the disastrous end to presidency, Nixon would try with all his might to right his wrongs. During Nixon’s bout in the White House, he made a mistake that would overshadow all his other achievements.
Sworn to office as the thirty-seventh President of the United States, Richard Nixon took on the challenge of leading America during hard times. War overseas in sued and a divided nation was left back home. However, taking the issues at hand Nixon was able to stop wars in Viet Nam, improve relations with China, but was left forever stained with the great “Watergate Scandal.”
Richard Nixon 1. What challenges did this president inherit? Challenges that this president faced were the Watergate, Vietnam war, Iran hostage crisis, and inflation. 2. What were his major accomplishments?
In the election of 1972, Nixon won by over sixty percent of the votes and won all states except Massachusetts against George McGovern (“The History Place…”). This is one of the biggest landslides in U.S. Presidential election history. In January 1973, Richard Nixon’s approval rating was sixty-seven percent, which is relatively high compared to current president Barack Obama’s forty-seven percent and many other Presidents before him (“The History Place…”). Therefore, he had a great reputation and was in the highest possible position, the leader of the free world, just like Father Flynn was in his parish. Richard Nixon also had a very positive relationship with members of the White House. For example, members of the White House were caught breaking in and violating the law to get President Nixon re-elected (“The History Place…”). Abuse of power comes from a high reputation that is unquestioned.
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States serving from 1969 to 1974, and who also, became the first and only U.S. president to resign from office. In 1952 Nixon previously was elected as vice president to the former Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower despite his prior agreement to support Earl Warren, former governor of California. As Warren supporters were outraged from his failed attempt to gain the nomination, supporters now questioned Nixon’s public integrity. This event was just a stepping stone to a following incident that would jeopardize his whole political career. One resentful supporter located in Pasadena California, accused him
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States of America. He was born in Yorba Linda, California. He was born to Francis Anthony Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. He also was the second of five children, all boys. His brothers Harold and Arthur, died at an early age for him, when Harold died at 24. he was 20, and when Arthur died at 7 years old, Richard was only 12 years old. He was born on a ranch, living in a home his father had built. When the ranch didn’t prosper, the Nixon family moved to Whittier, California, to be closer to Hannah’s family. In 1930, he became enrolled in Whittier College, studying interests such as, drama, football, and student government. He then later graduated 7 years later, in June of 1937. In January of 1938, a mere year after he graduated, he enrolled himself in Whittier College once again, but this time, to pursue his new interest of law firm. Whilst continuing studying he met a Schoolteacher whose name was Thelma Catherine Ryan, who went by “Pat” for short. They married on June 21st, 1940. In January 19742, they moved to Washington D.C. After quitting his job, at the Office of Price Administration, he joined the Navy, where he served in Combat Air Transport Command. In 1946, at the end of the war, Republicans encouraged Nixon to run for congress, and in November of 1946, he won over the seat by more than 15,00 votes.
In conclusion, President Nixon and Soviet leader Brezhnev developed detente from 1969 to 1979 because of the overwhelming fear of a possibility of a nuclear war. The cost of the arms race had taken an immense toll on the economic stability of both the United States and the Soviet Union, causes both leaders to adopt a more pragmatic view of the Cold War. The European countries involved in the Cold War were also taking steps to relax tensions between the countries divided by the iron curtain. This caused both nations to develop this period of detente and establish treaties through the Arms Limitations