Iran-Contra Scandals In The 1960s And The 1970s

Compared to 1960s and the 1980s the 1970s were a time where the highest office in the land was free of scandal. In the previous decade country had dealt with Watergate, and in the upcoming decade the country would deal with the Iran-Contra scandal. Both of these scandals were tacitly known to the Commander and Chief at the time, but both President Nixon and President Reagan feigned innocence at least for a time. The 1970s were different thought the country had two single term Presidents from both major parties. Both men were considered to hard workers and just, honorable men. However, neither men are remembered as strong effective Presidents despite the fact neither had any significant scandals during their tenure. Why is this?

First off, President Ford was never actually elected after President Nixon was impeached then Vice President Ford inherited the Presidency. During his tenure President Ford had very few successful moments, but he did have them. First, after the Senate held a series of hearings into the alleged abuses and crimes of the executive intelligence services, and uncovered a series of spectacular abuses. In response to this President Ford created a watchdog agency called the Intelligence Oversight Board. This was President Fords first successful moment as President. His second notable moment was when communists in Cambodia seized the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez and took the crew captive. In response, President Ford acted swiftly, and sent marines in to rescue the captured crew. In the rescue attempt forty-one marines were killed with scores more wounded, and it turns out the Cambodians had already released the crew. However, the nation appreciated his decisive action as the Pueblo incident involving North Korea was still within recent memory. These are the two major accomplishments of President Ford during his brief time in

Furthermore, both men failed to win a second term, and this is for different reasons. President Ford was unable to win a second term for a few different reasons. First, at the end of his term the economic looked bleak, and many people associated President Ford with the Watergate days and the loss of Vietnam War. Second, when it was time for the Republican party to select their nominee President Ford faced a tough opponent in Ronald Reagan. The two men duked it out on key policy issues, and Reagan accused President Ford of being weak on communism. This internal strife within the party allowed a strong democratic challenger to emerge. This challenger was President Jimmy Carter who was the perfect man to run against President Ford. Carter was such a strong challenger because he was a deeply religious man with strong moral values, and a political outsider. In him voters saw the type of politician who the country needed after the Watergate fiasco. These conditions led to Carter clinching the Presidency. However, when it was his turn to run for a second term he too faced many problems, which ended up costing him a second term. First, just like President Ford the economy looked bleak under President Carter. Second, President Carter oversaw the Iranian hostage crisis and the botched operation that occurred in an attempt to end it. Neither of these issues