Watergate In American Memory Summary

Introduction.
This deterioration seemed unthinkable just ten years prior to the scandal. According to polls from the 1950s two thirds of the nation believed in the government. Similarly, according to the Pew Research Report, in 1958 73% of Americans said, “They could trust the government just about always or most of the time.” The government had saved the country from the Great Depression and won World War II. The government was using its power to bring positive social change. However, by 1974 only a third of Americans trusted the government because of the Watergate Scandal. “The Watergate episode cast great doubt on the integrity and trustworthiness of the government, especially when combined with other developments that undermined public trust, including the Vietnam War and government lies and distortions about how badly the conflict was going for the United States and its South Vietnamese allies.. After the Vietnam War Americans were disillusioned about their place in the world and the lack of success in the Vietnam War was something the United States had not faced in a generation. Therefore, “There is no question that the two historical occurrences, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal,
Watergate went beyond the presidential corruptions of the past, for while most previous corruption involved isolated crimes of greed for money, Watergate was systematic and comprehensive and aimed at the rights of citizens and the democratic electoral process. And the president was right in the middle of the corruption.” (page