Watergate Scandal

In 1971, America faced a trying time for its citizens as they worried about being drafted into the Vietnam War and experiencing violent protests such as the Kent State Shooting or the 1967 march to the Pentagon. Also, 1971 was a strenuous era for the US government who was plagued by a series of unfortunate events starting with the Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers were a classified study by the United States Government officially titled United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense (Miller Center). Inside the Pentagon Papers was a detailed analysis of how the US became involved with Indochina starting with Truman to Johnson explaining how they had deceived the American people. The biggest revelation

Specifically, Gerald Ford were the main ones to be affected by the actions of Nixon many pertaining to how he handled the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate Crisis. Once the “smoking gun” tapes came out in court and the case was sensationalized by the press, many Americans called for his resignation. Finally on August 8, 1974, Nixon appeared in a televised speech saying that he would resign the next day which would be effective at noon in response to the looming investigation and trial of impeachment which would determine his guilt in everything. This was his way of keeping some of his dignity in the end of his presidency (“Daniel Ellsberg”). On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned, allowing Ford to take over as President. One of the first acts of Ford’s presidency was pardoning Nixon, which went against 53% of what American’s believed. Moreover, 58% of Americans believed he should be charged due to Watergate (Gallup, Inc). This caused Ford’s own approval ratings of a 71% to plummet to an astounding 50% and allowed him to lose his last election in 1976 (Gallup, Inc). Nixon’s presidency was in shambles and so was his reputation. Nixon faced possible jail time but was never tried on any counts of collusion. Nixon was no longer trusted and his pardon by Ford showed the American people that Ford was his accomplice that they couldn’t trust him as Ford wouldn’t listen to the majority’s voice. Also, in the time between 1973 and 1974, the senate had cut all funding to Vietnam and pulled all troops out of the country. Finally, the Pentagon papers impacted the way Americans trusted their media and their government officials. It was a time of confusion and watching in awe as Nixon struggled to keep everything under control. The papers created a credibility gap which is still rampant in 2017 with fake news and news channels actively taking sides in the debates. People could no longer trust