A president is truly affective when he is able to get his policy agenda through Congress. For him to do this, however, it is paramount that he is supported by a majority of the public. When a president is unpopular with the public, Congress will have little incentive to pass his agenda, since doing so will potentially have negative consequences (i.e. not winning reelection). It is also important that the president possess high negotiation skills in getting his agenda passed. A president who oversteps his role, will face a harsh backlash from the public and Congress, which proved to be the downfall of President Richard Nixon. Nixon had a significant amount of experience in government before becoming president, which ultimately influenced how domestic policy, economic policy, and foreign policy was shaped during his tenure.
I. EXPERIENCE BEFORE THE PRESIDENCY:
As documented by the Miller Center, Richard Nixon’s start in national politics began in the late 40s with his successful campaign for the House of Representatives in California (Richard Nixon: Life Before the Presidency). A factor that proved crucial to Nixon’s victory was his linkage of incumbent and opponent, Jerry Voorhis, to a Communist backed political action committee, called the Congress of Industrial Organizations. During his time in Congress from 1947-1950, Nixon used his anti-communist credentials as a member of the House Unamerican Activities Committees, a temporary committee that aimed to expose and ward out
Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas to David and Ida Eisenhower. In 1911, Eisenhower had an appointment in West Point, New York at the United States Military Academy. His attendance had no charge. He was a star player on the football team, until his continuous knee injuries required him to quit playing. In 1915, Eisenhower graduated from West Point as a star student, and was appointed as a second lieutenant. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a man of honor and his time as president was not uneventful.
He repudiated his anti-Communist past and became the first US president to visit the Soviet Union when he traveled to Moscow in May of 1972. He sought peace with the opposing super-power and initiated negotiations with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons, which resulted in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). At the same time, he was making secret contact with the other great communist nation, the People's Republic of China, which he visited publicly in February 1972, thus opening official diplomatic relations with China for the first time since the communist takeover in 1949. But no—Nixon is not remembered for his good deeds; the mistakes he made seem to overshadow his accomplishments. Nixon never committed perjury before a Grand Jury. Nixon never had oral sex in the Oval Office with an intern half his age. Nixon never tampered with witnesses who could testify to such an affair. Nixon never sent his wife on national television to blame all his problems on a vast left-wing conspiracy--although a much better case could've been made - the Left wing media loathed Nixon ever since he uncovered Alger Hiss in 1948. Nixon never sold nuclear missile technology to the Communist Chinese in exchange for illegal campaign contributions. They have a word for that; it is called "treason". Nixon never
Harry Truman, a president who witnessed and was a part of some of the most
The president and the vice president are the only officials elected by the whole nation. The president is also head of state, as well as the chief executive of the government. The first reason why the executive branch is the most powerful is the power to persuade. The power to persuade alone is a huge reason why the president is powerful. What is even more powerful is who you persuade. The president tries to persuade three specific audiences: Washington D.C, party activists and office holders outside of Washington and the public. Persuasion is a huge deal because it gets people on your side, obviously. If the president can get the “right” people to go with his ideas, it creates a chain reaction. For example, in the movie “Lincoln”, Abraham Lincoln persuades people in office not really decided on what they feel about slavery. Same thing goes today. The president persuades three audiences and Washington is the most important. If the president has a bill that wants to get passed, he has to persuade the people of Washington to support him.
President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government.
Born on Aug. 10, 1874, the son of a blacksmith in the Iowa village of
Nixon won the race for California Congressman over Democrat Jerry Voorhis. He became a junior member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In 1950, at the age of thirty-five, Nixon was a "national figure," and again experienced victory in his race for senator.4 After only a year and a half as Senator, he was selected by the Republican National Convention as vice presidential running mate to Eisenhower, and.served two terms as Vice President.
an oath on August 9, 1974 which he said - "Our long national nightmare is
The President of the United States is often considered the most powerful elected official in the world. The President leads a nation of great wealth and military strength. Presidents have often provided decisive leadership in times of crisis, and they have shaped many important events in history. The President has many roles and performs many duties. As chief executive, the President makes sure that federal laws are enforced. As commander in chief of the nation's armed forces, the President is responsible for national defense. As foreign policy director, the President determines United States relation with other nations. As legislative leader, the President recommends new laws and works to win their passage. As
The politics of the ultratight resonated deeply with Richard Nixon. Nixon had cut his political teeth as a young Red-hunting member of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. His home district in Orange Country, California, was widely known as a Birch Society stronghold. The Los Angeles-area Birch Society claimed the membership of several political and economic elites, including members of the Chandler family, which owned and published the Los Angeles Times. According to the writer David Halberstam (1979, 118) the Times, which was once described as “the most rabid Labor-bating, Red-hating paper in the United States,” virtually created Richard Nixon.
All the President's Men is a book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The book discussed what happened to President Nixon in the Watergate Scandal from Bernstein and Woodward's point of view. The Watergate Scandal was a significant part of presidential history. This even would result in Nixon's resignation and what would have been his guaranteed impeachment. The Watergate Scandal took an impact on politics as a whole. Politicians are known as "liars" and people who keep secrets from the public. The Watergate Scandal is something Nixon can never make up for, but will always beremembered for.
Richard M. Nixon was a former vice president who barely won the election in 1968 against Hubert Humphrey for the Republican party. Once in his presidency, President Nixon pleased and displeased citizens in the United States. He was not necessarily the most liked president, but he was not the most disliked either. By 1972, it was time for the
On the 7th of April 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave one historic press conference [1]. In that conference, he announced his so called “Domino Theory”. It was a substantial aspect of the US involvement in the Vietnam War, involvement in terms of its military support and methods used in Vietnam. Even though it was greatly enhanced by other factors, such as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, it was the trigger, and therefore the source of all US involvement in the Vietnam War. The main rationale of the theory was that if one country fell down to communism, all the surrounding countries would do the same, hence why it was called the ‘Domino’ Theory. Eisenhower thought that Vietnam’s fall to communism would lead to consequential communist uprisings in neighboring countries, such as Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. He also that that it could possibly extend as far as India, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia and New Zealand -[1]. This gave The US enough motivation, and more importantly, justification as to why they greatly increased military presence in Vietnam. Eisenhower said, “The possible consequences of the loss [of Indochina] are just incalculable to the free world.” [2]. Even though the theory was imprecise, and only Laos and Cambodia joined communism after the US lost the war, it was significant as the foundation of the US involvement in the conflict.
Richard Nixon's presidency is one of the most examined, analyzed and discussed, yet least understood, of all the American administrations in history. While many factors still remain to be discovered, and many mysteries are left to be resolved, we need to do the best that we can to make sense of this secretive president of our past and his era. He is the one American figure about whom very few people don't have strong feelings for. Nixon is loved and hated, honored and mocked . The term 'Watergate', labeled by Congress in 1974, stands for not only the burglary, but also for the numerous instances of officially sanctioned criminal activity and abuses of power as well as the obstruction of justice that preceded the actual break-in.
Because of their positions in the government and their resulting influential abilities, presidents are either praised for advancing the nation, criticized for not doing anything to help the country, or even making the country’s situation worse. Their success as president is dependent on the success of the country. People don’t take into consideration the attempts presidents make, but only those things that help or hurt the country. This leaves room for there to be a good president who may not accomplish much and a bad president who may accomplish a lot.