Watergate

President Nixon and the Watergate Scandal

Alexander Nelson

Everest College

20th Century American History-1001

Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States was elected in office in 1968 and later re-elected in 1972 but did not complete his second term when he opted to resign. His resignation, the only one in American history, was prompted by the infamous Watergate Scandal which brought disgrace to his administration and overshadowed most of his other achievements. Despite this, and as foreseen by Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger that Nixon would be remembered as a great president and Watergate would be inconsequential, the contributions of Nixon are increasingly being realized in the present time. It is undeniable that the Watergate Scandal was damaging then, but it nevertheless did not tarnish hi regime permanently. More than thirty years after his resignation, scholars are recognizing him as prime figure in American politics and an integral contributor to some of the present conditions today (World and I, 2004).

The infamous Watergate Scandal involved a break-in of the Democratic National Committee Watergate House offices in the 1972 presidential campaigns. The break-in was traced to the members of Republican Party Nixon’s election committee. In the ensuing events, some senior members of Nixon’s administration were incriminated, some resigned whereas others were convicted. Despite Nixon’s denial of personal involvement, tape recordings from State House further incriminated him revealing that he was involved in the scandal and had obstructed investigations. In August 8th 1974, facing an imminent impeachment and realizing his unpopularity in congress, he resigned from presidency going into record as the only president in the US to resign.

Forgotten in Watergate Scandal are the substantial achievements of Richard Nixon in domestic and foreign fronts in the unstable times of 20th-centrury American history (World and I, 2004). When Nixon assumed...