Saturday, April 18, 2015
Watergate
This Friday, we finished the Watergate worksheet/documentary in class. The Watergate scandal ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon. The the thing is, was President Nixon really involved in the scandal? If he didn't have resigned, should he have been impeached? I think that, although Nixon wasn't directly involved in the scandal himself, he should have been impeached for everything he did afterwards. After the the crooks were caught after they breached the Democrat offices, Nixon began to do everything he could to keep the people involved from confessing and keeping up the cover-up. He paid people hush money which is obstruction of justice. When the government began to look more closely into the case and discovered that Nixon had something that they needed from it, the tapes, Nixon continued to refuse to hand over the tapes to Congress which is contempt of Congress. And when he did finally hand over the tapes, they had "lost" 2 and "accidentally" erased part of a 3rd tape. Everything Nixon did to keep his cover up during the investigation of the Watergate scandal seemed to be against the laws. Nixon did obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. When the bigger pictures is seen, although Nixon wasn't directly involved in the scandal, everything he did afterwards, from the lying and abuse, should have gotten him impeached. What do you guys think? Do you think Nixon should be impeached if he didn't resign?
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I agree that although Nixon wasn't directly involved in the scandal himself, he should have been impeached for everything he did afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI think that Nixon should be impeached because he knew that he was president and he still abused his power because he used the money from the country to hide what he was doing. He lied to the country saying that it wasn't him who sent the people but he really was.
ReplyDeleteWhile he was never really involved in perpetrating the event himself, (meaning he really didn't send the people and it wasn't "what he was doing") he was certainly involved in the ensuing cover-up. The real question is: Were his crimes serious enough to warrant taking him out of power during a national crisis? Nixon is attributed with having been one of the most effective presidents in the Cold War, so impeaching him could have been disastrous for the US.
DeleteI also agree with what Anna says, Nixon took advantage of his power, and name. Therefore he was able to get away with many things, once caught, he was scared to admit to his crimes. Giving us the answer for why he resigned his position.
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ReplyDeleteI agree in that everything Nixon did after the scandal deserved some sort of punishment. He made himself and the problem look way worse and just did not help his situation. I think it would have been so much better to come clean and turn over the tapes and any information that Congress wanted. As the President, you have to be honest and trustworthy. Citizens of America expect their President to be someone they can count on and trust, yet he lied to everyone. Instead of ruining his name and reputation by lying and making his situation worse, he should have just told the truth and come clean before things got worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Anna and Lourdes because he took advantage of his power and he tried to break away from the scandal but of course he couldnt at the end. He should have thought it carefully before he did the scandal and he made it worse by firing his people just so he wouldn't look bad, yet he did.
ReplyDeleteI would have to side with Graham on this. Nixon was one of the most effective presidents during the cold war and I think that his resigning was not timely and impeaching him would not have been a good thing either. I believe that Nixon did not have direct involvement with the scandal but did in the cover up. If he had come out right with the story maybe he could have avoided resigning or impeachment. Regardless his actions were enough for him to loose my approval as a quality president.
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