There are so many historical controversies out there. The American Revolution, slavery, segregation, the Indian Removal Act, the Roswell UFO incident, and even more recent ones like 9/11, Confederate memorabilia, abortion, and the Iranian nuclear deal.
One of the most intriguing controversies to me is the Nixon Administration's Watergate Scandal. A lot of people I know find it boring, and I did too, at first. I really just find it interesting because Richard Nixon was one of the most popular presidents up to that time, winning just over 60% of the popular vote in the 1972 election. All but two states voted for Nixon to serve a second term.
But, you see, in 1972, two years before the election, two burglars were caught attempting to wiretap phones and conference rooms within the Democratic National Convention's headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, Washington D.C. After some phone numbers tied to Nixon were found with the burglars, people began to question the President's involvement in the espionage. However, Nixon assured the American people neither he, nor his office, was involved in the break-in, and Richard Nixon went on to win the election by a landslide in 1974.
Long story short, President Nixon was ratted out by some aides and campaign partners who testified to his crimes. Nixon not only lied about being unaware of the break-in, but also arranged for hundreds of thousands of dollars to be paid out in "hush money," and he even attempted to obstruct the CIA's investigation by means of the FBI. After hearing that Nixon's cover-up plans were recorded in the Oval Office, the Supreme Court demanded Nixon hand over the tapes, which ultimately led to his downfall.
Impeachment was inevitable, so Nixon resigned from the Presidency with his famous, "I am not a crook" speech. Gerald Ford later pardoned Nixon, yet the Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, and people began to think more seriously about who they chose as their leader.
To this day, 18 minutes of the Watergate tapes are missing and have never been found.
This controversy definitely goes down in history. I think its unbelievable that such leaders would do things like this. It makes Americans not only think more about who they elect, but also become more skeptical of what goes on behind closed doors.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly, you never know what happens when the media isn't around to tell everyone about it. It makes me think twice about who I will actually vote for in the future because Watergate is just one example of how the POTUS can use their power to get away with things like this. Well written Matthew
ReplyDeleteNixon was reelection in 1972, not 1974 (that was when he resigned). The break-in happened a couple of weeks before the election, and was reported on, but no one thought RN had anything to do with it then.
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