Richard Nixon Tragic Hero

What is a tragic hero? When we hear this phrase most of us think about Shakespeare, and the characters he illustrated in his plays, but are tragic heroes only in fictional plays or are there some actual tragic heroes in history? Well, how can you classify a tragic hero? They must have the following characteristics: must be of high social rank, must have a tragic flaw- an error in judgement or a character defect, must suffer complete ruin or death, and must face his/her downfall with courage and dignity. In this case, I want to bring up a modern tragic hero that has all these characteristics. His name is Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda,California. He was the second of five sons. Nixon struggled early
Nixon served on the House Un-American Activities Committee. Nixon was elected again to congress two years later. Two more years later Nixon won a seat in the U.S. Senate. Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States of America. Richard Nixon won his high political rank because people thought he was a very ambitious man in a positive way. Nixon launched a campaign for governor after his loss to John F. Kennedy for president. He lost this campaign as well, many believed his career was over after his loss for the spot of Governor. Six Years after losing the governorship to his home state Richard Nixon made a memorable comeback and claimed his party’s presidential nomination. He won the election. Richard Nixon had a strong political background throughout his whole life and career. Richard Nixon although suffered as a tragic hero would. Richard Nixon had one of the biggest political scandals in American history. Richard Nixon is a modern tragic hero because he was of high social rank as president of the United States, he suffered complete ruin because of the famous Watergate scandal, and he faced his downfall by courage and
A few years after Richard Nixon resigned because of the Watergate Scandal he apologized in a live interview. Four years after Nixon’s resignation, he agreed to a series of interviews with David Frost, a british journalist. The first series of interviews started in May of 1977. Nixon states in this interview “... I just can't stand seeing someone else cry ... I must say I sort of cracked-up ... pushed my chair back ... I blurted out, and I said: "I'm sorry. I just hope I haven't let you down."(Nixon) This quote shows how Nixon feels and that he doesn’t try to lie about the scandal, but yet takes full responsibility for it. “ I had. I let down my friends. I let down the country. I let down our system of government, the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but will think it's all too corrupt and the rest.”(Nixon). In this quote Nixon apologizes for his mistakes and states that he let people down. This shows Nixon is not afraid to take responsibility for his actions. “ Yup, I let the American people down, and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life. My political life is over. I will never again have an opportunity to serve in any official position. Maybe I can give a little advice from time to time.” In this quote Nixon shows courage and dignity by admitting to his