How Did Richard Nixon Impeached

President Nixon President Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States. Nixon served as president from 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he reassigned from office. While in office, Nixon focused on the war in Viet Nam, which he successfully ended. He also improved relationships with Russia and China. However, his term came to end after the Watergate Scandal. This scandal brought up ideas of Nixon’s illegal involvement and schemes to win his election. However, Nixon denied that he was involved. The courts forced Nixon to come forward with the tape recordings of The White House, which pinned Nixon for his involvement and reasons for the break-in. Almost certain he would be impeached; Nixon resigned on August 8th, 1974. At Nixon’s resignation
press conference, he stated that he would resign the next day to begin, "that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." (Herbers, “Nixon Resigns”) The Watergate Scandal led to the controversy that led to Nixon’s resignation. Nixon was worried about the outcome of the upcoming election, so he devised a plan to better his chances of victory. The plan was to obtain papers disclosing information about his opponent from The National Democratic Committee at the Watergate Hotel.
Five men were arrested at the scene of the crime for breaking, entering, and stealing. The FBI connected the men to the White House, which in turn connected Nixon to the scandal. It was later discovered that President Nixon recorded all conversations throughout the White House and Oval Office. These tapes linked Nixon to the burglary and provided evidence for his impeachment. Although Nixon wasn’t in fact impeached, he would have been impeached for three reasons. The first states, “That Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment to be exhibited to the Senate: “ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE NAME OF ITSELF AND OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AGAINST RICHARD M. NIXON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF ITS IMPEACHMENT AGAINST HIM FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANOURS.” (Farnsworth, “Articles of Impeachment) This article refers to Nixon’s cover-up of the Watergate scandal. Nixon abused his high power by conducting a plan that was designed to delay, obstruct, and impede investigation. Therefore he impeded the administration of
justice. Nixon acted in a manor that was contrary towards his just and right as the President, therefore deserves trial and to be removed from office. Nixon was also accused of the following: The means used to implement this course of conduct or plan included one or more of the following: 1. Making false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States; 2. Withholding relevant and material evidence or information from lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States; 3. Approving, condoning, acquiescing in, and counseling witnesses with respect to the giving of false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States and false or misleading testimony in duly instituted judicial and congressional proceedings; 4. Interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees; 5. Approving, condoning, and acquiescing in, the surreptitious payment of substantial sums of money for the purpose of obtaining the silence or influencing the testimony of witnesses, potential witnesses or individuals who participated in such unlawful entry and other illegal activities; 6. Endeavoring to misuse the Central Intelligence Agency, an agency of the United States; 7.
Disseminating information received from officers of the Department of Justice of the United States to subjects of investigations conducted by lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States, for the purpose of aiding and assisting such subjects in their attempts to avoid criminal liability; 8. Making or causing to be made false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States into believing that a thorough and complete investigation had been conducted with respect to allegations of misconduct on the part of personnel of the executive branch of the United States and personnel of the Committee for the Re-election of the President, and that there was no involvement of such personnel in such misconduct: or endeavoring to cause prospective defendants, and individuals duly tried and convicted, to expect favored treatment and consideration in return for their silence or false testimony, or rewarding individuals for their silence or false
testimony. (Farnsworth, “Articles of Impeachment) The second article of impeachment accuses Nixon, “He has failed to take care that the laws were faithfully executed by failing to act when he knew or had reason to know that his close subordinates endeavored to impede and frustrate lawful inquiries by duly constituted executive, judicial and legislative entities concerning the unlawful entry into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, and the cover-up thereof, and concerning other unlawful activities including those relating to the confirmation of Richard Kleindienst as Attorney General of the United States, the electronic surveillance of private citizens, the break-in into the offices of Dr. Lewis Fielding, and the campaign financing practices of the Committee to Re-elect the President.” (Farnsworth, “Articles of Impeachment) This states that due to this break-in and the methods of cover-up used by Nixon, he deserves to be removed from office for being unlawful. By covering up this scandal and claiming he wasn’t involved, Nixon lied to the people and broke his trust and therefor needs to be removed from office. Now in the third article, Nixon was accused of, “has failed without lawful cause or excuse to produce papers and things as directed by duly authorized subpoenas issued by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on April 11, 1974, May 15, 1974, May 30, 1974, and June 24, 1974, and willfully disobeyed such subpoenas. The subpoenaed papers and things were deemed necessary by the Committee in order to resolve by direct evidence fundamental, factual questions relating to Presidential direction, knowledge or approval of actions demonstrated by other evidence to be substantial grounds for impeachment of the President. In refusing to produce these papers and things Richard M. Nixon, substituting his judgment as to what materials were necessary for the inquiry, interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, thereby assuming to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the sole power of impeachment vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.” (Farnsworth, “Articles of Impeachment) When Nixon heard of these charges of impeachment, he knew he would have no way to explain them. So Nixon beat the court to it, he resigned from office. Nixon knew he was guilty and couldn’t do anything about it. In fact he proved himself guilty with the tape recordings. There was no way out of this mess except to respectfully resign from office.