...Richard Nixon went from a well-respected and populist president to a disgraced president that was nearly impeached. If Watergate was omitted from Nixon’s history most people would think he was a good president with a good track record and that he accomplished many things. Nixon left office to avoid being impeached; there was too much evidence against him and the media was having a field day with the evidence that was made public. Because a president has been given an enormous amount of power that is not give him the right to abuse the power. Therefore, any president or anyone for that matter should be accountable for the wrongdoings that they have done. Nixon should have been impeached. And probably would have because the numbers and the senate’s showed there was enough votes to impeach him. When Richard Nixon was pardoned by president Ford it did not set a good precedent for our nation. It became clear that a president or a politician can break the law and a successor can clear him of all his or her wrongdoings without any input from the judicial system. Although Nixon’s pardon was controversial it is rumored that Nixon made a deal to have resign only if he was given a full pardon (Herbers, 2010). It was sold to the public as the better thing to do for the country, but letting a person go that has clearly broken the law is not a good thing for our country (Dennison, 2012). The Watergate disgrace taught our country not to trust presidents or politicians for that matter....
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...known for their great leadership and wonderful policies. Others, like Richard Nixon, may never recover from their time in the Oval office. Most Americans feel as if the biggest presidential mistakes were made during the time of the Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter administrations. Nixon cheated during his political campaign, Ford only defended Nixon and let the economy drown, and Carter was too much of a nice guy. The twelve year span of these three presidents nearly broke America. However is this completely their fault, or did they each inherit an already broken America? When Richard Nixon took office in 1969, America was in a time of change. The American people started demanding rights such as ending the draft, women’s rights, and African-American rights. Nixon was quick to realize this and honed in on ways to give the people what they wanted. In the year of 1972, Nixon was granted permission to visit the People’s Republic of China, which opened the closed diplomatic relations between the two countries. Also, in the same year Nixon initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. Nixon was not done there, in 1973 he was able to end American involvement in the Vietnam War and was able to rescue the American POWs. At the same time, Nixon was able to end the military draft. His administration gradually transferred power from Washington to the individual states. Nixon was first to thoroughly enforce desegregation within Southern schools...
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...election of Richard Nixon in 1968 to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 saw the problems of the 1960s come back to haunt the nation. In Vietnam, despite Nixon's efforts to conclude a "peace with honor," the American involvement ended with the victory of the North Vietnamese and a defeat for the United States. The moral authority of the powerful presidency that developed under Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson eroded as a result of Nixon's Watergate scandal. In an effort to avoid similar mistakes, the voters turned out Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, in 1976 and elected a political newcomer, Jimmy Carter, of Georgia. In spite of their personal decency and hard work, neither Gerald Ford nor Jimmy Carter proved to be strong, effective presidents who could meet the challenges of the 1970s. Ford was the 38th President of the United States, and the only one to have served as both President and Vice President without being elected by the Electoral College. As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the invasion of South Vietnam by the communist north nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over arguably the weakest economy since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal – this pardon played...
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...There were two major events that took place in the 1970s which made the American citizens distrust their own government. One of them was the Kent State shootings, which took place on May 4, 1970. The citizens of the United States were against the Vietnam War and the President Nixon promised the citizens that he will end the war. Even after his promise, the president Nixon made an announcement on the national television about his approval of the Cambodian incursion, which broke the trust of the citizens of the United States. Therefore, they began the anti-war protests, which took place on various college campuses. The protestors launched a demonstration and set the ROTC building on fire. Furthermore, when the meeting held on May 4 in the Kent...
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...time was Richard M. Nixon, who himself was involved within the scandal. The Watergate scandal took place in 1972 when a group of five men broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in Washington. The five men involved in this burglary were eventually identified as Virgilio Gonzalez, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard Barker and James W. McCord Jr. were arrested and plead guilty to charges. Later, it was revealed the burglary was arranged plot to plant bugs in the offices of the Democratic Committee. President Nixon was linked to the scandal when a check for $25,000 dollars, which was intended for the campaign of Nixon’s reelection, was found deposited into an account of one of the five burglars involved in the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal was revealed over a two year span and the media coverage kept the American people informed through it all. The media coverage started the day after the events took place. June 18, 1972 Washington Post reported the burglary. Two reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were assigned to investigate the Watergate cover-up and would reveal that former Central Intelligence officer, who had worked in the White House when Nixon was in office E. Howard Hunt and Federal Bureau Investigator agent G. Gordon Liddy had guided the burglars through walkie talkies from a hotel room within the Watergate building. The media broadcasted the scandal and revealed that President Nixon was involved...
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...their group’s discussion item. Answer sheets should also identify student’s class and section. Discussion items to be turned in should restate the discussion item and identify the chapter under review. All answer sheets should be typed double-spaced with standard 1” margins on all perimeters. All segment discussion items MUST be received before the end of class on each segment review date. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE. 1. (A) Why was Richard Nixon NOT considered to be a ‘true’ conservative? (B) What constitutes a “Block Grant” as proposed by President Nixon? (C) What were the essential elements in Nixon’s proposed Family Assistance Plan and what were the legislative results? (D) What was Nixon’s Philadelphia plan? (a) Against the wishes and recommendation of the myopic conservative leadership in the late sixties Nixon expanded the welfare state and moved to improve relations with the Soviet Union but most of all he also opened up a dialogue with China. Instead of shrinking the federal bureaucracy as they hoped he would do Nixon infuriated his conservative base by creating a host of new federal agencies such as the Environmental protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board. He further alienated conservatives with his support for the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act. (b) A block grant is a large sum of money granted by the national government to a regional government with only general...
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...the President at the time, Richard Nixon. This all took place while Nixon was running for reelection and the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. What took place during this scandal is said that, five burglars were arrested for stealing copies of top-secret documents and hacking into the office’s phones in the Watergate building in Washington DC. It was thought at first to be an ordinary burglary, but when the connection was made that the perpetrators were in relation to Nixon’s reelection campaign, (CRP) questions did not go unasked. While most were not sure if Nixon was involved or knew about Watergate, it later came to light that Nixon was trying to cover up, arranging thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the burglars in an attempt to keep them quiet. Later himself and his assistants came up with a plan to mandate the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to hinder with the ongoing investigation of the FBI. This action only put Nixon more...
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...position of power only negativity can emanate. Richard Nixon, 1968 U.S. President, and Adolf Hitler, 1933 founder of Nazi party, were both power-hungry leaders. Nixon created an informal office to investigate the national security breaches, spy on his opponents, and engage in political dirty tricks during the election of 1972. He directed the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department to punish his enemies and reward his friends to retain his power. Hitler converted Germany from a parliamentary democracy to a totalitarian dictatorship along with the mass killing of Jews to consolidate his power (Divine 641). These men took advantage of the trust bestowed to them, are now deemed as some...
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...New Left • The Movement • Hippies • Beliefs: anti-war, rights for everyone, university reforms • Often young radicals • Was not the majority of Americans • Loosely organized Student for a Democratic Society • was one of the most active anti-war groups. • They were also against racial discrimination and strict college rules. • Rich mans war but a poor mans fight Free Speech Movement • Berkeley students disputed over rights of students • students challenged campus police and striked in large mass • nearly decade of campus turmoil • moved along to Columbia and other colleges Weathermen • 1969 • small groups of militants that cultivated popular imgae of student radicalism= cahos + disorder • responsible for arson, bombing= destroy campus buildings + lives • tried to drive out training programs + bar military recruiters from college campuses Antiwar rallies • in protest of Vietnam war, many individuals gathered to advocate against the political minds and US presence in Vietnam • 1960s (late '60s) • organized some of the largest political demonstrations in American history Anti-draft movement • Protests against the military draft. • 1960s and 70s • only voluntary participation. Many left the country Counterculture • culture with values and beliefs different then the mainstream • 1970s Woodstock • A music festival held in New York in 1969 • the beatles, jimmy hendrix Termination • Reducing size of bureaucracy by cutting programs/agencies - reduce budget ...
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...the ones that interests me the most is the Watergate Scandal. With that in mind, the book I chose to read is called Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon by Fred Emery. Although I had a basic knowledge of the scandal, I learned much by reading this book including those behind it and the coverup itself, in greater detail than I had known before. The book starts off by giving some background information including events that were transpiring during the Nixon administration. Many of these consist with Nixon’s handling of Vietnam and other events such as the Kent State Shootings and then the Pentagon Papers. Through this...
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...Running head: WATERGATE 1 WATERGATE DEVRY UNIVERSITY ONLINE. OCTOBER 20, 2014 WATERGATE 2 INTRODUCTION Watergate is a word that will forever be connected to the 37th President, Richard Nixon. What started out as a botched robbery at the Democratic Reelection headquarters would later become know for bringing down the Presidency. The American public would be able to see and hear firsthand what actually occurred in the Whitehouse behind closed doors, because of the national media that it created and the broadcasting of the Watergate Senate Hearings. This would bring to light the illegal activity that occurred during this time affecting many and changing politics as they were known. This paper will discuss the events that lead up to the Senate hearings and the fall of an American President. The careers that were made and the ones destroyed. The outcome and how it affected the American public and the future of politics. WATERGATE 3 WATERGATE At a time when the American population was dealing with the devastation of the Vietnam War and the loss of many loved ones a robbery at the Watergate hotel hit the papers. Many people did not know or even care what this meant, but later it would be found to affect the entire nation. On June 17, 1972 five men broke into the Democratic Reelection headquarters that was located at the Watergate hotel in Washington, DC (Watergate Info, 2012). They were caught with more...
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...There are no effective checks on Presidential power. Discuss There are a number of ways the President has got a number of powers that make the executive more powerful than Congress and the Judiciary. Through the President’s power to announce legislation, appoint federal jobs, be Commander in Chief, negotiate treaties and veto legislation; hold the Executive as a more powerful body than the other two. However, there are a number of checks and balances that the Legislature and the Judiciary hold over the Executive that limit the President’s power. The extent of the limitations on the President’s power will be examined in this essay. The President’s ability to announce legislation during his annual State of Union address gives the President an opportunity to highlight the legislative agenda that he wants to get passed in the forthcoming year. This is an important power to the President because if Congress adjourns without acting on his proposals, the President has the power to call Congress into a unique session at his discretion. Also, the President can force adjournment in Congress if both houses cannot agree on a piece of legislation, therefore the president has a deciding vote in theory over some legislation. The President, as he is a powerful influence on public opinion he is a powerful influence over Congress. However, the President does not sit within the Legislature and therefore does not have the power to propose direct legislation. Congress can also adjourn his ‘emergency...
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...Competing demands balance by Congressman -what I think -whats best for my constituants -whats best for the country -whats the right thing Bicameral- two houses, one more populace, one more elitist. Reapportionment- happens every 10 years after census, readjusts how many representatives. Redistricting- within a state, you redraw districts according to how many representatives you have Gerrymandering- You mess around with redistricting…the state senate redraws the districts in favor of how they want. Advantages of being an incumbent- they win 85% of the time. They have name recognition Pro’s for term limits- when politicians become professional they begin to lose touch with the people and become corrupt… Con- when you have a really good one, they are limited to what they can do Who presides over the Senate? Vice President Powers of the Speaker of the House- Call on people to speak, assign bills to committees, set time limits for debates. Nancy Pelosi- Speaker of the House, from San Francisco, California. Pro tempore- has to do with the fact that the vice president never shows up to the senate, the senior member of the major party is the leader of the senate Majority leader- the person who sets the agenda for the party Whip- the one who counts the votes and makes sure it gets done…twists peoples arms to get them to vote their way. Filibuster- somebody talks as long as they want Cloture- two thirds majority vote in the senate, you can...
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...Teacher’s Guide Anatomy of the Constitution Time Needed: One class period Materials Needed: Student worksheets Copy Instructions: Preamble Activity Half Sheet (class set, divided) Student packet (three pages double-sided; class set) Preamble (Transparency) Whose Job Is It? (Transparency) Foldable Activity (class set) Learning Objectives. Students will be able to: explain the structure, function, and powers of the U.S. government as established in the Constitution identify the roles of the three branches of government describe the constitutional amendment process interpret the intentions of the Preamble of the Constitution. STEP BY STEP 1) ANTICIPATE by asking students where the government gets it’s instructions. How does Congress, the President, or federal judges know what to do? Give students a moment to think, then randomly call on students to share their thoughts. 2) DISTRIBUTE one reading packet to each student. 3) READ through the first two paragraphs on page one with the class. 4) DISPLAY the transparency, Breaking it Down: The Preamble and explain the statement, phrase by phrase. The students should add the annotations to their reading. Also note that people living in the 1700s had different rules about capitalization than we do today. 5) READ the rest of page one, continuing through page three with the class. Explain that you will go into greater detail on the amendment process on the next page. 6) READ the information about the amendment process...
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...After Camelot 8. Wings for W. 9. The Nixonian Bushes 10. Downing Nixon, Part I: The Setup 11. Downing Nixon, Part II: The Execution 12. In from the Cold 13. Poppy’s Proxy and the Saudis 14. Poppy’s Web 15. The Handoff 16. The Quacking Duck 17. Playing Hardball 18. Meet the Help 19. The Conversion 20. The Skeleton in W.’s Closet 21. Shock and . . . Oil? 22. Deflection for Reelection 23. Domestic Disturbance 24. Conclusion Afterword Author’s Note Acknowledgments Notes Foreword When a governor or any state official seeks elective national office, his (or her) reputation and what the country knows about the candidate’s background is initially determined by the work of local and regional media. Generally, those journalists do a competent job of reporting on the prospect’s record. In the case of Governor George W. Bush, Texas reporters had written numerous stories about his failed businesses in the oil patch, the dubious land grab and questionable funding behind a new stadium for Bush’s baseball team, the Texas Rangers, and his various political contradictions and hypocrisies while serving in Austin. I was one of those Texas journalists. I spent about a decade trying to find accurate information on Bush’s record in the Texas National Guard. My curiosity had been prompted by his failure to adequately answer a question I had asked him as a panelist in a televised debate with Ann Richards during the 1994 gubernatorial campaign. Eventually I published three ...
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