Watergate Changing Political Culture

Watergate was much more than just a third-rate burglary blown out of proportion for many different reasons. There was much more to the scandal than just the break in of the Watergate complex, and many people do not know the rest of it. The Watergate scandal had a huge impact on political culture and the outlook of citizens on their political leaders. To understand the true depth and impact of this scandal, Nixon’s election scheme, his cover-up, and the changes of US political culture must be revealed. During the election of 1960, Kennedy is thought to have manipulated the election by turning off the air conditioning, changing the debate topics, and possibly altering the votes in Illinois and Texas. After this election, Nixon decided that he would play as dirty as his opponents as he plans a presidential run. Nixon manipulates the election of 1964 by having a terrible republican candidate run so Nixon could come and save the party in 1968. He made sure to manipulate the election process to have disliked candidates run against him so it would be an easy win. It was after this election that Nixon vows to never lose an election again. He becomes

Watergate is known as the most important scandal in the 21st century in terms of changing political culture. This scandal caused a massive decline in the public’s trust of government officials intentions to work for the good of the citizens. Research says that trust in government went from 77% before Watergate to 36% after. There was also an increase in public suspicion of politicians’ motives and a loss of faith in the electoral process because of Nixon’s manipulation. The press has also changed because of this scandal by creating civic journalism and letting the public know details of government activity. The change in political culture emphasizes how much this scandal effected society as we know