By far, one of the most scandal-ridden United States Presidencies could be defined as

occurring under the Nixon administration. The Watergate scandal was the misuse of power by
the executive branch of government, to sabotage and illegally gain knowledge on confidential
information within the Democratic Party. The worst part of this scandal was that it was used not
for any reason of national security, but to try to illegally benefit the rival party, the Republican
Party, in a way that would result in the resecuring to hold the highest power in the world. This by
far would be Nixon’s biggest failure as a president. Another failure that could define the
administration was its tone-deaf, stalled exit from Vietnam, in which the country felt like we had
just fought for no reason. The withdrawal from Vietnam (like other U.S. withdrawals from areas
in which they have been in there for a long time), in order to be successful, needed to be as
least political as possible. Unfortunately Nixon wanted to politicize it, and extended the duration
of the war/the lives cost at war (this has been recently repeated). This would be failure #2. But,
often Richard Nixon is only defined through this event and this event only, and while it was
something that should be talked about/continued to be condemned throughout American
History, it is not the only thing that happened in the political life of Richard Nixon. In his life,
Nixon had to overcome much adversity, from being raised from a poor Quaker family in
California, to rising to the highest office in the United States government. His entire life was
swinging back and forth from one side to another, and that was not hidden in his politics.
Richard Nixon, expanded the right to vote for those within America’s youth, by lowering the
voting age from 21 to 18. This move allowed some of those in reform movements to feel like
their voice was being heard. And while he did politice the way the DNC handled their
convention, and used that to his advantage, moves like expanding the vote certainly meant that
he had kept his promise to not be more authoritarian. Another success of this administration
was that he fought really hard for making sure that Native Americans were finally being
recognized under the law, for things that the government was ignoring. This included making
sure that the Native population of this country had the right to lands they once owned, and that
the government was doing everything possible to uphold everything that it previously had
agreed to (through things such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and a special
message to Congress to address the need for Native American rights.) Nixon also was fairly
tough on crime, and making the streets of this country a safer place to be (unless it had
anything to do with a rival political party). He launched an initiative with the FBI to find those a
part of organized crime and bring them to justice, which led to over 2,500 convictions in 1973.
This once again, was a promise of his campaign, to make America a more safe and secure
country, so once more another promise that he made, which was kept. He also helped hold up
equalities for female athletes through Title IX, which blocked funding from any university that
discriminated against a female in sports (by using the Civil Rights Act to quote the need for it).
One last accomplishment of the Nixon administration was that he helped reduce the possibility
of nuclear war by agreeing to sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviets.
Nixon also obviously had many wrongdoings that led to him being classified as one of
America’s worst presidents. He was extremely antisemtic behind closed doors (which was
recorded by himself), and his administration in return, did little to help reduce antisemitic crimes
against the Jewish community. Also Richard Nixon increased the ramifications for possessing
marijuana, which targeted the Vietnam protesters that were impacting him negatively in the
press. He also when was confronted about the Watergate Scandal, lied to Congress about his
involvement in it. This was the President lying to the people of the United States, which was
perjury, and serious offense on his behalf.
My opinion on Nixon the person vs. Nixon’s accomplishments as President differ. While
both have pros and cons, I would say the cons for his person far outweigh the accomplishments
of his presidency. He undoubtedly had great things that he accomplished for the American
people, such as keeping the world one step away from nuclear war + advocating for the rights of
indengious people. But, the conversations he had behind the door completely contradicted all of
this, and in my opinion, blocks me from giving much praise (if any) to the legacy his Presidency
left behind on our government. While every President is entitled to have some grace within the
talk they entertain in their office, the fact that he said some of the terrible things he said, while
he knew he was recording it, let’s us all wonder how much worse the things he said/did were
when President Nixon wasn’t recorded.