The Impact of the Watergate Scandal

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Everyday citizens often live unaware of their government’s inner workings. The knowing of political espionage is often too heavy of a subject to be inducted in conversation. True, prima facie, modest twists and turns of information may not be considered substantial, but this inconsideration leaves much to be uncontrolled. It is easy for political leaders to become power crazed, to not realize the massive implications that come of their actions. Only after all is said and done do the people actually realize their government is an opaque mask of deception. The Watergate Scandal substantially impacted Americans’ trust in their government. The years leading up to the 1972 election were filled with new political tactics. Going into the election year, President Nixon seemed like he could never lose the second term election after successfully negotiating with Vietnam, Beijing, and Russia to improve international relations (Emery 4). Raising international toughness made Nixon seem like the most worthy person to stay president. Fred Emery analyses in his novel Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon, the president was also setting up the first summit meeting in history with Soviet Union Presidents (3). There seemed to be nothing capable of holding the seemingly responsible man back. However, this assurance came with massive consequences. The absolute certainty that Nixon would be reelected fueled the lies and abuse of power by the Nixon government (Emery 195). As the outlook of landslide winnings took over the White House, the moral reasoning, “the end justifies the means” became more prevalent. Nixon was obsessed with winning and being successful. Under his command his staff did whatever possible to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ust in their government. Over time, unchecked political power proved to take victims in the masses. The impacts of Watergate still exist to this day. The failure to stick to White House guidelines cost millions of dollars and the trust of citizens. Unlimited power is devastating when given the ability to run rampant. Works Cited Emery, Fred. Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon. New York; Touchstone, 1994. Print. Fisher, Mark. “Watergate: The Long Show of a Scandal”. The Washington Post. May 2013. Three pages “Watergate”. Mary Ferrell Foundation. 2012. The US Department of State. N.D. Web. 10 January 2014. “The Watergate Files”. The Ford Library. 1995. The Gerald Ford Library and Museum. 5 May 2013. Web. 12 January 2014. “The Watergate Scandal: Timeline” The Washington Post. April 2012. Three Pages.

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