Main unanswered question of Watergate

[ginscpy]

WHY???

President Nixon didn't have to do Dirty Tricks - would have won re-election easily anyway............

 

[blastoff]

Because.

 

[Warrior102]

Yeah - but at least when Nixon was caught - he resigned like a man.

Clinton - when caught screwing an intern/disgracing the office - lied under oath, was disbarred, impeached, never apologized to the nation.

Difference between a gentleman and a redneck.

 

[Old Rocks]

One of the tragedies of American politics. Nixon could have been remembered as one of the great ones had he ditched his paranoid tendencies when he entered the White House. His perception of 'Enemies' was his biggest enemy. None of his dirty tricks as President did anything to further the policies he wanted to create. Just plain sad that a man that intelligent should be so self destructive. Never liked him, but can remember that many of his policies were successful and good for this nation.

 

[Old Rocks]

Yeah - but at least when Nixon was caught - he resigned like a man.

Clinton - when caught screwing an intern/disgracing the office - lied under oath, was disbarred, impeached, never apologized to the nation.

Difference between a gentleman and a redneck.

If Nixon is your definition of a gentleman, you have obviously never met one.

 

[ginscpy]

One of the tragedies of American politics. Nixon could have been remembered as one of the great ones had he ditched his paranoid tendencies when he entered the White House. His perception of 'Enemies' was his biggest enemy. None of his dirty tricks as President did anything to further the policies he wanted to create. Just plain sad that a man that intelligent should be so self destructive. Never liked him, but can remember that many of his policies were successful and good for this nation.

Like Title IX for womens's sports. the EPA, Endangered Species Act, booming economy, every moon landing, detente, winding down Nam...tc................

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Yeah - but at least when Nixon was caught - he resigned like a man.

Clinton - when caught screwing an intern/disgracing the office - lied under oath, was disbarred, impeached, never apologized to the nation.

Difference between a gentleman and a redneck.

Nixon didn't resign until it was absolutely certain that the Senate would remove him from office and had to be "encouraged" by literally everyone to resign in order to protect the Office of the President.

Clinton's impeachment was the result of one of the longest, most expensive, and stupidest witch hunts in US history.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

One of the tragedies of American politics. Nixon could have been remembered as one of the great ones had he ditched his paranoid tendencies when he entered the White House. His perception of 'Enemies' was his biggest enemy. None of his dirty tricks as President did anything to further the policies he wanted to create. Just plain sad that a man that intelligent should be so self destructive. Never liked him, but can remember that many of his policies were successful and good for this nation.

I do agree with this. Eventually we'll put Watergate behind us and realize Nixon was a fairly good president. On policy alone he'd rank up there. His personal life was pretty amazing too. The story of him and his wife is one of my favorites among Presidential stories.

In the end though, it was a weird combination of paranoia and loyalty that brought him down. I've seen pretty convincing cases made that Nixon himself never approved the Watergate break in, just that Nixon did actively impede the investigation to protect his friends.