The Pros And Cons Of The Watergate Scandal

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There are controversial moments occurring in the world every day, as seen across news stations and internet pages everywhere. The U.S has been home to a plethora of controversial moments such as the Coalgate, Chinagate, Deflategate, and Monicagate scandals. These scandals share the common suffix “gate” from the original “Watergate” Scandal, which is considered to be one of the largest political scandals in American history. This scandal is possibly one of the most significant series of events to occur in the entire world to this day for several reasons. Primarily, this scandal filled every American citizen that followed it with doubt, fear, and complete mistrust for the government system due to the casual attempt to abuse a position of power multiple times from then President Richard Nixon. What exactly went down during this long-winded …show more content…

President Ford took over the seat of command after Nixon resigned and it was in September of 1974 that he decided to pardon Nixon of all his wrongdoings. He potentially stirred up even more controversy with this move than Nixon had done. When asked about his decision, President Ford believed that the best way to spare us of “years of bitter controversy and divisive national debate” around Watergate was to pardon Nixon. He said that many more years would pass before “Nixon could obtain a fair trial,” and Nixon “would be cruelly and excessively penalized either in preserving the presumption of his innocence or in obtaining a speedy determination of his guilt . . . .” Ford said that during the delay, “ugly passions would again be aroused. And our people would again be polarized in their opinions. And the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad” (Monroe, 4). Regardless of anyone’s political views, this just made for another example of abuse of

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