...that stretched from the 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...
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...Richard Milhous Nixon Nick Bennett Perspectives on the Presidency Dr. Kane 4 April 2011 Richard Milhous Nixon, an introverted man in an extroverted environment, was a brilliant but flawed individual. Described as having a “light side” and “dark side,” Nixon routinely displayed vindictive and insecure qualities that were very detrimental to his presidency. Nixon was a man of many complexities and contradictions that seemed to all stem from his troublesome childhood. Nixon excelled in foreign affairs as he broke the ice with numerous nations and possessed a remarkable knowledge. He was an innovative thinker and developed intricate strategies that would give him a bold portrayal. Although he had an undeniable amount of knowledge, he displayed many negative characteristics within his personality and views in regard to his power. Spending long nights alone, Nixon would evaluate problems, correlate the information and develop a very plausible solution. Regarding Richard Nixon and the notion of presidential power, he implemented some beneficial uses, however several examples of abuse. He would sometimes even act on issues without seeking approval or guidance from congress. Nixon used unjustified means in order to accomplish his tasks, thus sparking much debate concerning the extraordinary power of the United States President. Nixon’s personality can be described as paradoxical and flawed. His childhood was difficult to say...
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...It was suggested that the President had tried to repair the damages that were caused the Watergate scandal in the first article. From a speech President Nixon had given, it showed that there were a lot things that still needed to be done regarding the scandal. The article stated that the officials under the Watergate scandal were cheating, lying and engaging in illegal activities while in high positions of the government. The people believed that the president did not stand up to the crisis and that he had only done the bare requirements for the situation at hand. The people stongly believed that President Nixon should have done something more to eliminate the Watergate scandal as soon as it was leaked. The article had also showed that the people were not happy with President Nixon’s actions by only accepting the resignations of H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, (Genovese, 1999). He had also accepted the resignation of Attorney General Kleindienst and appointed Elliot Richardson and instructed him to handle the crisis. Finally, the President had made the correct decision by dismissing his White House Counsel John Dean. The second article portrays President Nixon as a good, moral leader. It tried to defend the President from being impeached by acknowledging his achievements. The article also showed that he was human and not perfect. The actions of the President by trying to resolve the crisis, led to speculations by the Chicago Tribune's editorial to leave office...
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...Richard Nixon was the first President to be impeached in America but the legal system was also on trial. The political fiasco put the legal profession in a bad light. Some of the lawyers pleaded guilty. It seemed like it was hard to keep a secret if there were lots of people that were involved in this secret plan. The Watergate scandal rocked the whole nation of America, and to a great extent it also shocked the world. The center of this controversy Richard Nixon was the most powerful man in the world. The president of the most powerful nation on earth was under trial here. Nixon’s aides were charged with different crimes in connection with the break- in at the Watergate building. President Nixon had resigned from his office while insisting on his innocence of the crime being attributed to him. Investigators couldn’t find the “smoking gun” that would point to the president as the mastermind or as a part of a grand conspiracy in the break-in. It is also an important to note that the public’s access to this information and their following reaction that really helped to understand the real issue. The question as to how did the Watergate scandal changed America? There are...
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...Nixon and Agamemnon Richard Nixon and Agamemnon have an interesting parallel that would not be visible at first glance. Both were beloved leaders initially. Both made an awful mistake which did significant damage to their group. Richard Nixon, an American president during the late 1960s to early 1970s, was the first American President ever impeached. His impeachment did great damage to the republicans, and nearly got him indicted. Agamemnon had taken a girl, and though he was offered a ransom, held her until a plague forced him to let her go. He then proceeded to take the strongest, greatest Achaean warriors’ “mead of honour” (term first used on pg.15, Iliad), which meant that Achilles, son of Peleus, was aggrieved and angered with him who...
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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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...We can discuss many examples of dissent in this history of our nation, but I have chosen the Kent State Incident to examine dissent during this time period of the United States. During the 1960’s and into the 1970’s, The United States was involved in the infamous Vietnam War in southeast Asia. Being that this war was very unpopular, protests were a common fixture on college campus’ throughout the country. Richard M Nixon won the presidency in 1968 on the Republican Party Ticket. The previous Johnson Administration failed to bring the Vietnam War to an end and the public perceived the Democratic Party a failure for the country. Nixon ran his campaign on the principle of ending the war with his “Peace with Honor” plan. He won the election initially based upon this principle. In 1969, President Nixon in a news conference, told the American People that the Vietnam War was “coming to a conclusion as a result of the plan that we have instituted”. He proceeded to explain his plan to the press and all of America. Fast forward to April 30, 1970, President Nixon in a news conference, announced plans to escalate the war in Vietnam and the need to draft an additional 150,000 soldiers for purpose. The reaction that proceeded was anger, protest and mayhem. This provoked many protests across college campus’s nationwide. On the campus of Kent State University, demonstrators got out of hand and set fire to the ROTC building. This made the governor of Ohio to issue 900 National...
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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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...Vietnam fall to communism. The United States had entered the Vietnam War after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where North Vietnamese had fired upon U.S. Navy destroyers in 1964. This incident had compelled Congress to take action. Thus, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was made, which gave President Johnson permission to take all necessary actions. The...
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...Nixon and the U.S. Rapprochement with the People’s Republic of China When Nixon began his presidency, the relations between the United States and China had been fraught ever since Mao Zedong’s Communist Party achieved power and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Less than a year later in 1950, the Korean War, in which American troops died at the hands of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, further exacerbated the situation. The next twenty years were characterized by American opposition to UN membership for Mainland China, three crises between the two nations in the Taiwan Straits, threats of nuclear attack, and the fighting of a proxy war in Vietnam. But the two decades of hostility and nonrecognition of the People’s Republic of China was brought to an end during President Richard Nixon’s administration, marked most prominently by Nixon’s historic visit to Mainland China in 1972. In ending this hostile estrangement, Nixon thus executed the first stage of a momentous diplomatic revolution in U.S. policy towards Communist China. This turning point, as Nixon and his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger suggested, also “changed the world” by transforming a Cold War U.S.-Soviet bilateral international system into a tripolar one, in which powers are balanced and national interests are secured. In the process of the rapprochement, President Nixon, managed to show the world his sound judgment, pragmatic perspective, and negotiation strategy in the field...
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...Peter Rodino Peter Rodino, a Democratic congressman from New Jersey from 1949 to 1989, rose to prominence as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, where he oversaw the impeachment hearings that led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. Peter Wallace Rodino was born Pelligrino Rodino Jr. in Newark, New Jersey on June 7, 1909. His parents were immigrants from Italy. He attended the University of Newark and earned a law degree at the Newark Law School, both are now part of Rutgers University. During World War II, he earned a Bronze Star for service in Italy and North Africa. After the war, Rodino was unsuccessful in his campaign for Congress in 1946 but, trying again in 1948, he won the seat. As a congressman, he was generally...
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...addicted to heroin. The Armed Forces was coping with the staggering numbers with military discipline and amnesty. Those who were found to be using or possessing drugs were court martialed and given a dishonorable discharge. Users that voluntarily sought help may be offered amnesty and brief treatment. This did not make much of a difference and usage increased dramatically over the next year and a half. While the US was trying to negotiate a settlement of the war, soldiers were being reduced very quickly. Thousands of men were sent back daily and discharged shortly thereafter. This meant that hundreds of heroin addicts were being sent home weekly. This provoked a response from President Richard Nixon. With the help of his Domestic Council members Jeffrey Donfeld and Egil Krogh, Jr., President Nixon sought help from Dr. Jerome Jaffe from the University of...
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...Henry Kissinger Adee L. Shekar Nova Southeastern University Henry Kissinger The year 1923 was not a fortunate time to be born in Eastern Europe into a middle-class Jewish family. Adolf Hitler was busy launching propaganda campaigns and Nazism was quickly on the rise. It was on May 27 when Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in a small town in Bavaria, Germany. Although the country had been previously known for being more accepting of religious minority groups, the Bavarian Jew, like many other German Jews, were beginning to feel the ostracizing affects of Hitler’s campaign. By the time Heinz was ten years old, Adolf Hitler was in power. Two years later, the Nuremberg Laws were put into effect. In addition to denying the Jewish people citizen, the laws did not allow them to marry gentiles and they could not hold teaching jobs in state-run schools. This was a significant blow for the Kissinger family; Heinz’s father, Louis, was a respected schoolmaster in the city of Furth. Now out of a job and faced with an increasing number of hardships, the Kissinger family left their native country of Germany in 1938 and made their way to the United States. It was during this move that Heinz became known as Henry. The Kissinger family’s move to Manhattan, New York allowed Henry to thrive and flourish in a society that, although not totally free from prejudices, was based upon the ideas of equal opportunity and freedom...
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...The War on Drugs began in 1971 when President Nixon addressed his nation about the increase in drug activity and now almost five decades later there has been absolutely no decrease in drug activity. However, this rise was caused because, soldiers coming back from The Vietnam War (which was very unpopular with American citizens) came back addicted to heroin, which was available and inexpensive in the Asian countries they was stationed in. Drugs can be any prescribed, illegal, sold over-the-counter, retail, or even as stuff some people use every day. Illegal drugs include: marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Prescription drugs include: morphine, sleep aids, or amphetamines. Some over-the-counter and retail drugs include: caffeine, energy drinks,...
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...Say No To Drugs! Few people deny the dangers of drug use, while many teens are curious about drugs. They should stay away from drugs because drugs affect our health, lead to academic failure, and jeopardizes safety. Drugs are used from a long period of time in many countries. The concentration of drugs has increased from late 1960’s and 1970’s. Drugs can quickly takeover our... [tags: Drugs] 423 words (1.2 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Effects of Drugs - Controversies over drugs and the effects they have physically, mentally, and emotionally have been around for centuries. Some argue the fact that smoking marijuana has no health effects on the body. Some also say that other drugs have no long term mental consequences to suffer. Now, thanks to technology and hours of studies, answers have came to show the true long term hea... [tags: Drugs] :: 5 Works Cited 1157 words (3.3 pages) Better Essays [preview] The War On Drugs - The “War on Drugs” is the name given to the battle of prohibition that the United States has been fighting for over forty years. And it has been America’s longest war. The “war” was officially declared by President Richard Nixon in the 1970’s due to the abuse of illegitimate drugs. Nixon claimed it as “public enemy number one” and enacted laws to fight the importation of narco... [tags: Drugs] 576 words (1.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Drugs and Music - Throughout the evolution of popular music in American culture, many factors have been...
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