How Did Nixon Lose His Government

Before being elected president, Nixon had been involved in state government for more than 10 years, along with being the vice president under Dwight Eisenhower. He decided to run for President for the first time in 1960. Although he was not successful against JFK, he was not discouraged and tried again in 1968. He carried the majority vote, winning the election in ‘68. He upheld his values of tradition, peace, and economic stability, which appealed to American voters. Continuing these same ideals in his campaign in 1972, he won by a landslide, theoretically gaining him another 4 years. During his administration, Nixon had many victories such as ending the Vietnam War, environmental protection, civil rights advances, welfare reform and space
Nixon had a distrust of any of his political opponents, along with the media. He was also fearful of losing any of his political power. He believed his opponents were not only threats to him, but also the country. He was convinced that his Democratic opponents were planning to sabotage his presidential campaign. This led to his support for spying on his opposition. He and his staff were set on securing his reelection in 1972, and sought after him to gain the election advantage. Within his administration, there was toleration of unethical actions for political gain, and it was even encouraged. People that fostered these ideas were powerful political figures such as H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman (Balis & Levy). Nixon was fearful of losing any of his political power. Opponents were not only seen as threats to him, but also the country. On May 28, 1972, a group of men working at the White House, including G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, who both were part of the Committee for the Re-Election of the president (CRP), met at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C., with the plan to bug the phones of several DNC officials (Balis & Levy