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MeggieBoerem
Mr.Douville
Englishp3
17November2013
RichardNixon

If an individualwantstobealeaderandisn'tcontroversial,thatmeanshe
never stood for anything.Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon was known as a very
controversial leader. He hadpositive momentsand negative momentsthat influenced
America.OfallUSpresidents,Nixonhadoneofthemostuniquepersonality.
Background
Nixon had a valuable education that helped influence hisfuturecareer choices.
In high school, he attended Fullerton HighSchool inCalifornia, but then transferredto
Whittier High school. His favorite subjects in Whittier was history and civics. He was
also in a debate club and won several debating awards. Nixon got a scholarship to
Harvard University, but family couldnt afford all of the expenses. Instead, he went to
Whittier College which was a Quaker institute because Nixon was a Quaker. Nixon
graduated from Whittier in1934.He then receivedafull scholarship to DukeUniversity
ofSchoolofLawandrankedthirdinhisclassin1937(WorldBookOnline).
Nixon joined the Navy in 1942 and served in a Naval air transport unit during
WWII.He was
dischargedfromthe Navywitharankoflieutenantcommanderin1945.
In
1945, Nixon waselected toUSHouse of Representatives.He waspartoftheHerter
Committee that helped come up with theMarshall Plan, aplanto openup foreign aid
programs. Nixon accepted a seat in HUAC and realized that anticommunist was
becoming verysignificantinAmerica.
WhilehewasintheHouseofRepresentatives,he

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served forthe Public and WelfareCommitteeandalsohelpedwritetheTaftHartleyact,

whichhelped establish control over laborunions.HewasreelectedtotheHouseduring
the Alger Hiss case. Hiss was being accused of passing classified state department
papers to some Soviet spies.
Nixon then became
a U.S. Senator.
While he was the
Senator forCalifornia,heservedforthePublicandWelfareCommittee.Lateron,
heran
with Eisenhower to be Vice President and won againsttheirdemocratic opponent. He
wasVicePresidentfrom19531961(WorldBookOnlineAdvance).
Richard Nixon faced many political defeats. In 1960, he ran against John F.
Kennedy. It was very close and so they did four televised debates. It was one of the
closest elections ever in America, but Kennedy won. In 1962, he decided to run for
governorofCalifornia,buthelostby300,000votes
(WorldBookOnline).
The legacy of Richard Nixon waspositivebecause he hadsuccesswith foreign
policy, but his career was flawed because of the Watergate Scandal and people lost
trustinthegovernment.
ForeignPolicy
RichardNixonhadapositivelegacybecauseofsuccessinforeignpolicywith
ChinaandtheUSSRcausingtheSALT1meetingswiththeUSSR.First,Nixongoesto
ChinatodiscussrelationswithChina.TheUSandChinahadnodiplomaticrelations
sinceMaoZedongscommunistpartycameinpowerin1949.OnNovember29,1971,
KissingersecretlywenttoChinatodiscussapossiblePresidentialvisit.Nixonwasthe
1stpresidenttotraveltoPeoplesRepublicofChina.HewenttoBeijingfor7daysin
1972.NixonandKissingermetwithMaoandPrimeministerChouEnLaiseveraltimes

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fromFebruary2128.TheytalkedaboutthehopesofthefuturewithUSChinarelations.
Theyalsometwith
ZhouEnlaiandsignedShanghaiCommuniquethatsaidthatthey
wouldsetasidedifferencesandbegintheprocesswithnormalizingtherelations
betweenthem.TheyalsotalkedabouttheVietnamWarandTaiwan.
When
Chinasplit
withRussiainthe1960s,thatmadeCommunistChinawantingallies.Diplomatic
RelationswithChinameanttradepossibilitiesandtheChineseeconomyhadastrong
need.
Nixonestablishedaplanthatpermanentlyestablishedtradebetweenthetwo
countries.Today,wehaveanopentradepolicywithChinaintheUnitedNations(Miller
Center).
AftergoingtoChina,therelationswiththeUSSRimmediatelyimproved.The
US.
RichardNixonwasthefirstpresidenttogotoMoscow.
Hewasinvitedby
Soviet
premier,LeonidBrezhnevtoengageinpeacetalks.
Thetwoofthemsigned
an
AntiBallisticMissileTreaty,anagreementtolimitnuclearweapons.Also,henegotiated
andsignedagreementsaboutScience,Space,andTrade.NixonandBrezhnevsigned
sevenagreementsaltogethercoveringarmscontrol,cooperativeresearchwithspace
exploration,andexpandingcommercerecommendedbyS.A.L.T.Theysigned
agreementsthatleadtothe1stS.A.L.T.talks(WorldBookOnline/MillerCenter).
RichardNixontriedtotempertheColdWarwithdiplomaticdetente,alsoknown
asS.A.L.T1meetings,withLeonidBrezhnev.S.A.L.T.standsforStrategicArms
LimitationTalks.ItwasaseriesofmeetingswiththeSovietsandtheUnitedStates.
Thereweretworoundsofbilateraltalks.TheS.A.L.T1meetingtookplaceinHelsinki,
Finlandwhichlastedaboutamonth.Themeetinghelpedeachnationunderstandthe

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othernationsdesiresforlimitationsofweaponry.Thefirstroundofmeetingslasted
from1969to1972.IntheS.A.L.T1meeting,theyconcludedandsignedacertain
amountoflimitationofstrategicoffensivearms.TheABMtreaty,aninterimagreement
limitingstrategicdefensivesystems.TheUSandtheUSSRalsodecidedona
permanentlimitonantiballisticmissiles,withtemporaryrestrictionsonoffensive
missiles.OnMay26,1972attheMoscowSummitMeeting,NixonandSovietGeneral
SecretaryLeonidBrezhnevsignedtheSALTItreaty(History.com/WorldBookOnline).
WatergateScandal
TheWatergateScandalmadeRichardNixonaflawedleaderbecauseofthe
plumbers,thebreakin,thecoverup,andtheenemieslist.ThePlumberswerea
White
HousesSpecialInvestigationUnit.Theywereinvolvedinburglaries,wiretapped,and
interceptedmail.TheplumberswereestablishedbyJohnEhrlichman,toprevent
informationfrombeingdiscoveredandtheywerealsoinvolvedinmanyactivities
againsttheDemocrats.
Itwas
createdafterNixonsfirsttermbecausesensitivemilitary
informationwasbeingdiscoveredlike
thePentagonPapers.Thesep
apersrevealed
secretsabouttheVietnamWar.ThetasksoftheplumbersweretoburglarizeDaniel
Ellsbergsoffice,HuntsinvestigationofTeddyKennedysaffairandLiddys
investigationoftheassassinationofSouthVietnamesePresidentNgoDinhDiem
(Historycommons/Jou.ufl.edu)
ThebreakinwaslocatedintheWatergatebuildinginWashington.
The
Plumbersbrokeintothebuildingtwicethefirsttime,threeweeksearlier.Themen
weretryingtofixthewiretapsandtheythinktheyweretryingtotakepicturesof

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importantdocuments.Nixonorderedtheplumberstophonetappeoplethatwereon
hisenemylist.Nixonwasalsowillingtotakeillegalactionstomakesurethathewon
hissecondpresidentialelection.ThesecurityguardfortheWatergateBuildingnoticed
thatsomeonehadtapedthebuildingslock.Thesecurityguardthencalledthe
police.ThepolicecamejustintimeandarrestedBernardBarker,VirgilioGonzalez,
EugenioMartinez,JamesW.McCord,Jr.andFrankSturgis(Washington
Post/
jou.ufl.edu
/LibraryofCongress).
TheydontknowforsureifNixonwaspartorknewaboutthescandalbeforeit
happened,buttheydoknowthatheworkedveryhardtocoveritup.Heorderedthe
CIAtostoptheinvestigationoftheFBI.

HealsoraisedHushMoneyfortheburglarsto
trytostoptheFBIfrominvestigatingtheburglary.Heusedhispowertohidethe
WatergateScandalbytryingtodestroyevidenceoftheScandal.

ReportersBob
WoodwardandCarlBernsteinwrotefrontpagestoriesexposinglinksbetweenthe
burglaryandNixonscampaignorganization.
In
1973,thecoverupbegantocrumble.
ProsecutorswantedNixonsWhiteHouseTapesbecausethatwouldprovethatNixon
wasguiltyforhiscrimes.InApril1974,
fourofNixon'stopaideslosttheirjobs
,including
chiefofstaffHaldeman,chiefdomesticpolicyadviser,
JohnEhrlichman
,Attorney
General
RichardKleindienst
andWhiteHouseLawyerJohnDean.In1974,twelve
hundredpagesofeditedtranscriptsoftheNixontapeswerereleasedbytheWhite
HousetotheHouseJudiciaryCommittee,butthecommitteeinsiststhatthetapes
themselvesmustbeturnedover.TheSupremeCourtruledunanimouslythatNixon
mustturnoverthetaperecordingsofsixtyfourWhiteHouseconversations,rejecting

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thepresident'sclaimsofexecutiveprivilege.IntheWashingtonPost,theyquoted
RichardNixonsayingPeoplehavegottoknowwhetherornottheirPresidentisa
crook.Well,Imnotacrook.IveearnedeverythingIvegot,inthisstatementRichard
NixonistryingtodefendhimselfthathewasntpartoftheWatergateScandal
(WashingtonPost/History.com).
Nixonwasverysuspiciousofpeople,sohemadeanEnemiesList.
CharlesW.Colsonhelpeddevelopthelist.Thelistwasmadeupofprominentpeople
whowereseenasunsympathetictotheNixonadministration.Hisstaffhadtoprotect
himatallcostsfromthingsthatmayharmhispoliticalcareer(PathwaytothePresent).
Peoplelosetrustinthegovernment
RichardNixonwasaflawedleaderbecausehemadepeoplelosetrustinthe
governmentbecauseofhischargesofabuseofpower,obstructionofpower,and
misconductwhileinpower.
RichardNixonclaimedthathehadexclusiveprivileges,so
thathedidnthavetoturninthetapes
.
Finally,Congressorderedhimtoturnoverthe
tapes,butherefusedtoturninthetapes.TheHouseofRepresentativeschargedNixon
withobstructionofpower,misconductwhileinpower,andabuseofpower
OnAugust5,1974RichardNixongavethetapesthatprovedevidenceoftheWatergate
Scandal.August8,NixonresignedthePresidencyoftheUnitedStatesandVice
PresidentGeraldFordassumedtheOfficeofPresidentoftheUnitedStates.Nixonwas
neverprosecuted.HewaspardonedbyGeraldFord(PathwaytothePresent).
HisfirstarticlesofimpeachmentwastheObstructionofJustice.Heviolatedthe
ConstitutionalOath.Heknewaboutthebreakinthatcommittedunlawfulentryofthe

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headquartersoftheDemocraticNationalCommitteeinWashington.Insteadoftelling
someoneaboutit,hecovereduptheScandal.Hemadefalseandmisleading
statementstothepublic.TheyalsofoundoutthatNixongave$25,000totheburglar
BernardBarker.Thisarticleofimpeachmentwasapprovedbyavoteof2711onJuly
27,1974(Historyplace).
HissecondarticleofimpeachmentwastheAbuseofPower.Hemisusedthe
FederalBureauofInvestigation,theSecretService,andotherexecutivepersonnel.He
alsomisusedtheCIAbymakingthemstoptheFBIfrominvestigatingtheWatergate
Scandal.HisreelectioncommitteealsoknownasCREEPraisedmoneyforhiselection
andwerethepeoplethatwereinvolvedwiththeWatergateScandal.Hesetupthe
Plumberstofindandsealmedialeaks.
Theplumbersfirsttargetwas
DanielEllsberg
becausehegavethePentagonPaperstothepress,sotheplumbersburglarizedthe
officeofDanielEllsberg.Thisarticleofimpeachmentwasapprovedbyavoteof2810
onJuly29,1974(Historyplace).
HislastarticleofimpeachmentwasContemptoftheCongress.RichardNixon
liedaboutknowingaboutthebreakin.Healsorefusedtogivepapersthatinterposed
thepowersofthePresidencyagainstthethelawfulsubpoenasoftheHouseof
Representatives.Thisarticleofimpeachmentwasapprovedofavoteof2117onJuly
30,1974(Historyplace).
WatergateScandalinAmericahadlastingeffectsonpublictrustandchanged
politicsforever.Peoplewerereluctanttobelieveintheirpublicofficials.Newsmedias
morecarefullycheckedthebackgroundsofpoliticalleaders.Watergate
helpedpeople

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learnnottotrustthegovernment.Leadersdidntwanttocampaignorparticipatein
electionsduringthepostWatergateera.

Itwasalsohardtorecruitpeopleforboth
parties(DemocratsandRepublicans)andrecruitpeopleforfederaloffices.Congress
passedseverallawsaboutlimitingpresidentialpower.Thevoterturnoutdecreased10%
aftertheWatergate(biography.com/USAtoday).
Importance
RichardNixonleftthepresidentialofficewithalotofimportantcontributionsin
historyhisforeignpolicywithChinaandestablishingtrade,detentewithRussia,the
ColdWar,andpresidentialrestrictions.WithoutNixon,wewouldnthaveasstrongofa
relationshipwithChina.HeopeneduptradewithChinaandwenowhaveestablished
tradewiththemtoday.

WhenNixonwenttoChina,thatautomaticallyputaleveragein
dealingwithRussia.Therewas
economicgrowthinbothUSandChina(MillerCenter).
TheeffectsofRichardNixongoingtoRussialaidthefoundationsfortheMiddle
EastpeaceprocesstoeasetheendoftheColdWar.IfNixondidntgotoRussia,the
S.A.L.T.1meetingswouldntofhappened.TheABMsystemwascreatedduringthe
S.A.L.TmeetingswithRussia.Thoughthetreatysignedinthemeetingaccomplished
little,ithelppavethewaytotherelationswithRussiaandtheUS(MillerCenter).
HedidntendtheColdWar,buthelaidthesteppingstonesforittoend.
Nixon
had
detentewithChinaandUSSR.Hewasthe1stpresidenttogotoChinaandUSSR.
NixonstriptoChinamadetheUSSRmoreinterestedinDetentewiththeUS.Nixonand
Brezhnevsigned7agreementscoveringarmscontrol,cooperativeresearchwithspace
explorationandexpandingcommercerecommendedbytheS.a.l.tmeeting(Miller

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Center)
AfterRichardNixon,morepresidentialrestrictionswereestablished.The
presidentialpapersbecamepublic.CongressstartedtheWarPowersAct,which
requiredpresidentstoobtainauthorizationfromCongresstoengageU.S.forcesin
foreignbattleformorethan90days.Underthelaw,apresidentwhoorderstroopsinto
actionabroadmustreportthereasonforthisactiontoCongresswithin48hours.
Congressapprovedreformsthataimedtoimprovethepoliticalsystem,someofwhich
didcreatebetterrulesforcampaignfinanceandopennessingovernment.AfterNixon,
theyalsocreatedasystemofpublicfinanceforpresidentialelectionsthatlimitedthe
amountofprivatefundscampaigns(CNN).
Conclusion
Tosumup,RichardNixonslegacy
wasflawedbecauseoftheWatergate
Scandalandpeoplelosttrustinthegovernment,buthiscareeralsohadpositives
becauseheachievedameasureofdetente.Insomeeyeshewasapositiveleader
becauseheopenedtradeandmadecontactwithMainlandChinaandlessenedtension
withtheUSSR,butothersbelievehewascorruptbecausehewasinvolvedwiththe
Watergatescandal,lied,andabusedhispower.
Defeatdoesn'tfinishaman,quitdoes.
Amanisnotfinishedwhenhe'sdefeated.He'sfinishedwhenhequits.RichardNixon