The Infamous Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandal

Jennifer Layburn The Infamous Richard Nixon Although many names of the Presidents that have presided over the United States of America are well known throughout the world, there is one president in particular who has earned the title of "infamous." President Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president of the United States of America, is commonly noted for his association with the Watergate Scandal. President Nixon, however, lead an enriched political career both before and after his involvement with the Watergate Scandal made him infamous. Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9th, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California. He was the second of five children to Frank Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon, a family of humble means. Although Nixon was accepted into Harvard University, his family could not afford the expenses, so he settled into the local Whittier College. Due to his academic achievements, Nixon was later able to obtain a scholarship to Duke University Law School in Durham, North Carolina. Upon obtaining his law degree, Nixon returned to Wittier to practice law. It was there that he met his future wife and the mother of his two daughters, Pat Ryan. (Biography.com.) In 1942, the couple moved to Washington, D.C. where Nixon shortly worked for Franklin Roosevelt 's Office of Price Administration. He, however, left the office when he became "disillusioned with the New Deal 's big-government programs and the bureaucratic red tape." Soon after, Nixon left public service for the U.S. Navy, and served in the Pacific, even though he had originally been exempted from the draft due to his religious status as a Quaker and his work with the Office of Price Administration. Nixon did not engage in combat, yet rose to the rank of lieutenant and received two service stars and several recommendations before his military retirement in 1946. (Biography.com) Nixon returned to Wittier, where group of local Republicans convinced Nixon to run for a Senate seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nixon campaigned on the side of anti-communism. When running for Congress, he "exploited notions about [his competitor 's] alleged communist sympathies. He later took the role of a lead investigator when Alger Hiss was accused of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union by Whittaker Chambers. Hiss claimed that he didn 't know Chambers at first, but later, after the harsh cross-examination by Nixon, admitting to have knowing him "under a different name." Hiss was sentenced to five years in prison for perjury, while "Nixon 's hostile questioning of Hiss during the committee hearings went a long way toward cementing his national reputation as a fervent anti-Communist." (Biography.com) This reputation made Nixon a notable candidate to the Republican party, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower approached Nixon to run with him for office, and become his Vice President. Although a Vice President traditionally did not possess a wealth of "formal power," Nixon not only aided the approval of Eisenhower 's Bills in congress, but expanded his role out of "necessity," due to Eisenhower 's failing health. Notably, Nixon wished to "promote American foreign policies," and visited numerous countries in order to win the support of Americans. While in Moscow, Nixon engaged in the "Kitchen Debate" with Khrushchev, aka: "the Soviet Bully," and argued "merits of capitalism and communism" and its effects on housewives. This debate garnered Nixon Republican support for Presidential candidacy. (Biography.com) In 1960, Nixon ran for president against the Democrat John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was youthful and was far more savvy in regards to garnering positive attention at televised debates. In their first televised debate, an ailing Nixon who refused television makeup, was visibly at a disadvantage. Nixon lost the Presidency to Kennedy, very narrowly, by about 120,00 votes. Taking the loss in stride, Nixon stopped investigations into possible voter fraud, and returned home to California. (Whitehouse.gov.) Nixon won …show more content…
(ropercenter.uconn.edu) This sudden shift in ratings was caused by the worldwide attention on the Watergate Scandal. In the 1972 election, Nixon won against his Democratic opponent in a landslide. Yet, the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) went to great lengths to ensure his victory, which included breaking in to the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Tower.