Preview

Nixon And The Watergate Scandal

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1338 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nixon And The Watergate Scandal
In the years preceding Nixon’s presidency, there was a significant happening in the Southern states. The Sun Belt, the area from California to Florida, began to show a proper, thriving economy. Power began to shift from the Midwestern and Northeastern states to the south, creating a more balanced economy. When he took power, he began to incorporate a policy that became known as Vietnamization. Through this process, he slowly began to withdraw U.S troops from Vietnam, urging the Vietnamese to take hold of their own war. South Vietnam was eventually conquered by the North and the entirety of Vietnam became united under communist rule. In 1972, Nixon visited communist China and the Soviet Union, both astounding events in history. His visits significantly …show more content…
He became the first and only unelected president in the nation’s history up to date. One of the first things that Ford did when he became president was to pardon Nixon. His decision caused a lot of controversy across the American public, but he claimed that he needed to pardon Nixon in order for the nation to move on from the Watergate Scandal as quickly as possible. President Ford faced a variety of problems throughout the remaining two years of his presidency. He faced the continued effects of OPEC’s decision as well as high rates of unemployment. He tried to get Congress to allow him to help Vietnam, but Congress refused to approve any further help to the Vietnamese, and so he was left to watch Vietnam fall to communism in 1975. Later that same year, President Ford tried to lessen the tensions with the Soviet Union by signing the Helsinki Accords, which were basically created in an attempt to improve domestic and international relations between the Soviet Union and the Western countries. The Helsinki Accords weren’t classified as a treaty, though, so they didn’t really do …show more content…
They were happy that Carter, an Evangelical Christian, had won the presidency. They assumed that he would be supporting many of the organization’s political goals, but they were disappointed. From the beginning of his presidency, Carter was faced with a multitude of national problems, including high rates of inflation, unemployment, and stagflation. During his presidency, the first GPS was launched on February 22, 1978. As Carter continued through his presidential term, he tried to be a leader in foreign countries as well. Later that same year, President Carter oversaw the signing of the Camp David Accords, which ended the state of war that Egypt and Israel had been in since Israel had been founded 30 years earlier. In 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was admitted into the U.S to be treated for cancer after he was overthrown from his reign in Iran. The Iranians became enraged at this, and when the U.S refused to return Pahlavi to Iran, the Iranians took hostages in the U.S Embassy, an event known as the Iran Hostage Crisis. Towards the end of Carter’s presidential term, The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to set up a communist government in the country. Carter reacted by enacting a grain embargo upon the Soviet Union. The Soviets, being able to obtain grain from other sources, were minimally

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Over the course of 4 years between 1969-1973 United States and North Vietnam clashed over a peace settlement. Nixon wanted the Vietnamese to believe that he would stop at nothing short of a nuclear war to…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ch 39 APUSH

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Nixon hoped to enlist the aid of the Soviet Union and China in pressuring North Vietnam into peace.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carter's presidency was marked by several major crises, including the takeover of the American embassy and holding of hostages by students in Iran, a failed rescue attempt of the hostages, serious fuel shortages, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The tense standoff that followed the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and his failure to free the hostages led his government to be perceived as inept and inefficient; this perception increased after the failure of a secret U.S. military mission in April 1980.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jimmy Carter served as president of the United States from January 20,1977 to January 20,1981. He had many accomplishments when he was president, but some of his major accomplishments were the Panama canal treaties and the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel. Carter also created the treaty of SALT 11 with the soviet union and the diplomatic relations with the people’s Republic of China. On the domestic side Carter created a new department of energy and created major educational programs under…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Nixon visited China, introducing his détente policy, he established favorable relations with China, providing him with connection to the Soviets. This liaison led to China ending their influence in North Vietnam during the war and to America signing the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the USSR. Amidst war, Congress passed the War Powers Act to redistribute power throughout the government branches after the president gained unilateral power at Gulf of Tonkin. Despite his foreign affairs success, Nixon’s involvement with the Watergate scandal resulted in his resignation from Presidency. Upon Ford assuming presidency, he first pardoned Nixon before ending the war by withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam. When Carter defeated Ford…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nixon knew a military victory in Vietnam was no longer possible. He wanted to end the war as quickly and as soon as possible. He wrote that, “without continuous and massive aid from either or both of the Communist giants, the leaders of North Vietnam would not have been able to carry on the war for more than a few months.” He planned to conduct a two prong agenda to end the war; first by changing the relationships between the DRV, USSR, and China and second, by a massive expansion of the war to force the DRV into serious negotiations. Foreign policy matters dominated the Nixon administration throughout his tenure.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Finished by the crimes he committed, he had lost the trust of the public and taken part in one of the worst scandals in history (Angley). For the second time in the country’s history congress would vote to impeach the president. Knowing that he was most likely going to be impeached, the president decided to avoid it by becoming the first president ever to resign. He resigned in a public television August of 1974, two years into his second term (Angley). He served as president for a total of 2,026 days before leaving in 1974 (Stone 567).…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He won the election and took office on January 20, 1977 which leads to more major accomplishments in his political career. One of the most well-known accomplishment of Carter’s was the Camp David Accords. According to the article “Camp David Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process,” “The Camp David Accords, signed by President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, established a framework for a historic peace treaty concluded between Israel and Egypt in March 1979” (U.S par.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Richard Nixon is the 37th U.S President who is known as the only president to ever resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974 halfway through his second term in office rather than face impeachment on illegal activities in the Watergate scandal. In 1960 Nixon lost the presidential elections towards John F. Kennedy due to his physical appearance during a television debate. Nixon had a Staphylococcal infection and had smacked his knee and was in massive pain. Nixon was known for his abuse of alcohol through his presidency. It’s been documented that at times Nixon couldn’t take phone calls from some foreign world leaders because he was completely intoxicated. Nixon suffered a nervous breakdown during the Watergate scandal thinking everyone…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Richard Nixon Richard Nixon, the 37th President, came onto office and inherited many challenges including a war and an unstable economy to fix. Nixon’s presidency was characterized by a number of beneficial domestic policies involving environmental and civil rights legislations and an attempt to heal the relationships with foreign nations. Despite his involvement in a scandal, Nixon’s presidency provided beneficial and impactful actions. Nixon’s first goal as President was to secure control over foreign policy, starting with China. Previous affairs as Vice President strengthened Nixon’s abilities concerning foreign affairs.…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. He was the first president in the United States visit China. He also became the only president to resign the office due to the Watergate scandal which was a serious political scandal that occurred in June 17, 1972.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Watergate Scandal and make sure that none of it led back to himself. The second article of impeachment addressed Nixon's abuses of…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Watergate scandal was the downfall of President Nixon's Term in office. The events led many Americans to start believing they could not blindly follow what the government says to do anymore. sensing the impending impeachment Nixon resigned and Gerald ford took over as president. Although, Gerald Ford was not Nixon's original vice president, Spiro Agnew resigned after admitting to bribery and tax evasion. These events started Americans to question the true intentions of candidates for presidency, people started wanting to know were the candidates had come from what there view was on minority groups.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Richard Nixon was known for opening the door to China, and bettering the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Richard Nixon was very famous for what he did, but on June 17, 1972 all of his fame changed. The Watergate incident was one of the most tragic events in the United States because the scandal involved a president, participating in a cover up. Richard Nixon was positive, but also negative to the United States because of the Watergate break-in. President Nixon did demonstrate good leadership, but at the sametime he displayed a careless example of leadership.…

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays