AZ US History B: Unit Test Flashcards | Quizlet ~ US Euronews.

The Watergate scandal began early in the morning of June 17, 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee,Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.Some political observers thought Nixon would not win a second t...Watergate is not a place, not a series of recent events, not a point in time. Watergate is a compendium whose most important element is a state of mind, an attitude about how American government should function. Watergate is also a question whether these United States can survive as a constitutional democracy.Ford vetoed strengthening of the Freedom of Information Act, but was overridden. Campaign finance laws were enacted. Ford's Rockefeller Commission, which conducted a limited review of domestic CIA operations, was overtaken by the much more aggressive Church Committee and other post-Watergate Congressional investigations.FORD NOT A LINCOLN When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he understood that his most pressing task was to help the country move beyond the Watergate scandal. His declaration that "Our long national nightmare is over....

American History - Part 212 - Nixon - Watergate Scandal

Question: President Ford's attempt to move beyond the Watergate scandal A. created massive support for the new president. B. proved to be a benefit for Republicans. C. prompted Congress to move for Ford's impeachment. D. angered many American voters.President Ford's method of moving beyond the Watergate scandal D)angered many American voters. Following the resignation of President Richard Nixon, Ford became the new President in 1974, and soon he used his newly acquired power to pardon Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while being a President.After Nixon resigned, his Vice-President, Gerald Ford became president, and granted immunity for Nixon from all charges, just six weeks into his new presidency [4]. Gerald Ford once said, "The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regularThe pardon. For Nixon, one immediate problem was solved by his successor, President Gerald R. Ford. A month after the former announced his resignation, the latter told the nation he would pardon Nixon "for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974." (Ford

What Watergate revealed about presidential power in

The Watergate scandal was one of the worst political scandals in the history of the United States. The scandal began when five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party offices on June 17, 1972 and ended with the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974.A month after taking office, in an effort to bind up the wounds of Watergate and move the country forward, he pardoned Nixon of any wrongdoing. Though he strongly believed it was "the right thing...In that, too, there is a 1970s precedent in President Gerald R. Ford's decision to pardon Mr. Nixon rather than have a former president stand trial, an act that may have cost Mr. Ford the 1976Nine months later, Nixon himself was forced to resign in disgrace because of the Watergate scandal, and Ford automatically replaced him in the Oval Office as America's 38th president. He was an unremarkable president, and his best known presidential action was the pardoning of Nixon.The Watergate Scandal was known as "an age in crisis", or a political scandal in American history. The Scandal occurred 40 years ago, and it still casts a shadow today. Ever since the Watergate Scandal, there has been public distrust towards to the government, and this has permanently left a scar in today's American politics.

Return to Watergate house web page

Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon the next day. Vice President Ford will likely be sworn in as president at that hour in this place of job.

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger initialed President Richard Nixon's letter of resignation at 11:35 a.m. on August 9, 1974

With the ones words, Richard Nixon turned into the first—and up to now best—president to announce his resignation. He was doing so, he stated, because "the pursuits of the Nation should at all times come before any private concerns."

"From the discussions I've had with congressional and different leaders, I have concluded that as a result of of the Watergate matter, I may now not have the improve of the Congress that I might consider essential to back the very tough selections and carry out the duties of this place of job in the manner the interests of the nation will require. I've never been a quitter. To go away place of work sooner than my term is done is abhorrent to each intuition in my frame. But as president, I must put the pursuits of America first."

Nixon's downfall, then again, got here no longer so much from lack of congressional give a boost to—although that was the proximate motive—as it did from what's definitely historical past's maximum clear look into of the presidency of the United States. Nixon's secret White House tapes, uncovered in the path of the Senate Watergate hearings, printed the fact about the Nixon presidency—and about Nixon himself. As much as Americans could have sought after to believe the president when he advised them that he wasn't enthusiastic about the Watergate cover-up, the tapes proved another way. Americans could no longer reconcile Nixon's public statements with the private recordings, and plenty of may just succeed in only one conclusion: Their president had lied to them.

I let down my buddies. I let down the nation. I let down our system of executive—the goals of all the ones young other people that should get into govt however they suspect it's all too corrupt. . . . I let the American other folks down. And I have to hold that burden with me for the relaxation of my lifestyles.

[embedded content material]

The pardon

For Nixon, one quick downside was solved through his successor, President Gerald R. Ford. A month after the former introduced his resignation, the latter told the country he would pardon Nixon "for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or can have committed or taken part in all through the length from July 20, 1969, via August 9, 1974." (Ford misspoke. The exact pardon was once for Nixon's complete presidency, January 20, 1969 to August 9, 1974.) He did so, Ford mentioned, to spare the nation extra and prolonged discord from Watergate, because Nixon wouldn't have the ability to get a good trial and since "Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered sufficient."

Many reacted seriously. "President Ford has affronted the Constitution and the American machine justice. It is a profoundly unwise, divisive, and unjust act," said the New York Times. "It is an act of flagrant favoritism. It can handiest outrage and dishearten thousands and thousands of his fellow citizens who thought that finally the regulations of this nation could be enforced with out concern or desire."

[embedded content material]

Nixon had decided on Ford as his vice president in the middle of the Watergate scandal after Spiro Agnew resigned in December 1973. Some suspected Nixon had extracted a promise of a pardon in alternate for the publish, a price the president vehemently denied. Ford had to seem prior to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee to defend his motion—only the 2nd time a sitting president has testified prior to a congressional committee of inquiry. And simply greater than two years later, he narrowly lost the presidency to Jimmy Carter, a defeat that Ford and plenty of others attributed to the pardon.

[embedded content]

Time, alternatively, has satisfied many former critics that Ford was once proper. In 2001, he received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for the pardon. "I was one of those who spoke out against his action then," Senator Edward Kennedy mentioned. "But time has some way of clarifying previous events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and willpower to our nation made it imaginable for us to begin the process of therapeutic and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us. He eminently merits this award, and we're proud of his success."

Richard Nixon's 1986 Newsweek hide was once a high-water mark in his rehabilitation campaignNixon, the elder statesman

With criminal jeopardy now not a subject matter, the former president got down to rehabilitate himself and his reputation, to turn into a "new Nixon" one last time. His 1977 collection of televised interviews with journalist David Frost and the 1978 publication of RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon gave him a possibility to inform his facet of the Watergate tale—and injected badly needed cash into his bank account. By 1980 he was living in the New York City area and accepting the many opportunities to present his opinion on foreign affairs: For all the domestic turmoil his presidency had engendered, Nixon was once still the guy who had opened China, negotiated arms-control treaties with the Soviet Union, and brought to an finish, no matter how painful, the Vietnam War.

Six more books adopted. When Nixon after all kicked the bucket in 1994, his funeral was once attended by way of every residing president. "May the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close," stated President Bill Clinton that day. But Watergate nonetheless resonates as the most memorable and critical aspect of Nixon's career.

The post-Watergate presidency

In the Forties and '50s radio program "Mr. President," America's chief executive used to be described as "the elected leader of our folks, our fellow citizen and neighbor." Immediately after Watergate, that characterization would have been onerous to fathom. The country was once already distrustful and disoriented after the racial and cultural conflicts of the Sixties and the revelation that their govt, underneath President Lyndon Johnson, have been hiding the fact about the Vietnam War. Nixon then put the country via a constitutional crisis and left the Oval Office in disgrace.

Jimmy Carter used to be the first president to walk from the Capitol to the White House in his inaugural parade, forgoing a limousine journey to look more out there

Seemingly crushed through the place of work and its demanding situations, the presidents that followed—Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter—found themselves unable to win reelection. The press targeted its consideration on unmasking no matter the president, and presidential candidates, might be hiding. Congress, too, became suspicious and wondered if it had ceded too much power to what used to be supposed to be a co-equal branch of government.

With the upward push of Ronald Reagan, the luster of the presidency started to return. Good natured and self-effacing, Reagan won overwhelming reelection and overcame his own scandal: the Iran-Contra affair. Three of his 4 successors served a full eight years, even supposing one, Bill Clinton, had to survive what Nixon's resignation had precluded: impeachment through the House of Representatives and a tribulation in the Senate.

But the legacy of Watergate in the long run lies in the minds of American citizens. Today, we do not seem to hunt govt revel in or the right set of policies in our presidential candidates. Instead, what Americans seem to long for is authenticity, an individual to consider and believe in.

During campaigns, presidential candidates assert that their opponent is in the end untrustworthy—in essence, simply any other Nixon—a tactic Nixon himself embraced in his early campaigns. And yet, sarcastically, these types of black-and-white questions about persona do not appear to result in extra trust in the president, public officials, or the govt as an entire. Questions of policy can be debated in logical terms and are frequently ripe for compromise. Questions of agree with ceaselessly come down to emotions and emotions. It can be silly guilty Richard Nixon for all of this. But greater than 4 many years after the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Watergate office construction, it could be equally silly to disregard its effects.

Return to Watergate home page