Richard M. Nixon And The Watergate Scandal

Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States entered office in 1969 and resigned in August 1974 following speculation. Republican Richard Nixon fulfilled his goal of settling the oversea tensions through ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving the relationships with the Soviet Union and China. In the 1972 election, Nixon defeated George McGovern by a very large margin. Despite this victory, Nixon and his administrative were thought to be responsible for a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 elections. Nixon denied any involvement in this scandal and attempted to cover up the affair and evidence; however, some of his administrative members resigned while others were convicted

At the beginning of Nixon’s presidency, a majority of society favored him which can be seen through the voting results. The Vietnam War created a division between society due to differing beliefs of if the men should be fighting and what the purpose of the war was. Following this war, society members such as O’Hagan realized that “there is much more to war than meets the eye” and that the government was not telling the truth. Due to this event, her idealism was affected as well as the idealism of the country. Although the decline of the government’s integrity began with Vietnam, Watergate supported the idea that the government could not be trusted. When the news that the Watergate scandal occurred came out, Sister Marie O’Hagan was filled with questions along with the rest of the American society. Society felt disappointment in their country and government because of the values of America which are honesty, trust, and freedom. The Watergate scandal tarnished the public image of government officials and impacted the country’s consciousness that political scandals had occurred in the past with the country being

Even before the Watergate Scandal happened, Nixon has paranoid that he was going to lose the presidency, therefore, he paid off Democrats in New Hampshire to write-in Kennedy so that his running mate McGovern would lose the election. This scandal which involved the president and chief of staff stealing government money to ensure the winning of Nixon, fractured Americans’ beliefs that the government was trustworthy and respectable. The tape “Financing a Kennedy Write-in Campaign” that recorded President Nixon and Charles Colson discussing tactics to ensure Nixon’s victory serves as proof that the scandals in American politics occurred. These tapes proved to American society that scandalous actions were being performed by presidents and people high in office, therefore, their feelings about the government began to take a negative turn and the news about Watergate furthered their suspicions that the government was keeping secrets from ordinary