Richard Nixon Free Essays

On August 8th 1974 Richard Nixon became the first American president ever to resign from office. His final action was the imminent consequence of more than two years of political controversy, of public displays of discontent towards the media, and ultimately of obvious attempts to minimize and cover up a scandal that, in the end, proved to be fatal for the outcome of his presidential mandate. He would later recall, â€Å"This was the nightmarish end of a long dream† (Associated Press, 1999). We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Nixon or any similar topic only for you Order Now His last address to the nation as a standing president must be seen through this perspective and through the lens of the historical circumstances of the time. The overall perception of the exact purpose of the speech is still debatable, some of his critics accusing him of not giving a resignation speech, but rather a persuasive one. Despite these differences in ideas, one can reach a common ground and the conclusion that Nixon, while making his final official speech, also tried to save a dignifying image for posterity, later on implicitly underlining the importance the judgment of history had for him: â€Å"The jury has already come in, and there’s nothing that’s going to change it. There’s no appeal. Historians will judge it harshly.†(Stacks, 1994). In order to fully grasp the complex message behind the speech delivered by Nixon, certain elements are essential for building a proper image of the historical background of the time. Cristina Schaffner, in citing Christoph Sauer, points out the necessity for analyzing the wider context of the political discourse in order to understand and capture its overall meaning. She considers that â€Å"the analysis of political speeches in particular and political discourses in general should relate linguistic structures to larger contexts of communicative settings and political functions. Any public speech is part of a larger, more extensive communicative process and it is characterized as a strategic move in an overarching communicative plan. It can therefore be assessed properly only if the larger context is taken into account†( Schaffner, 1993, 203). Richard Nixon was the 37th elected president of the US and had the uphill endeavor of leading his nation through some of the most trying times of its history. Henry Kissinger, his Secretary of State would later on acknowledge the fact that â€Å"Nixon was the first president, after Theodore Roosevelt, to lead his country’s foreign policy largely in the name of the national interest†(Kissinger, 1995, 636). He admits, as do numerous other experts in external policy, that â€Å"the Nixon Administration was given the task of withdrawing the American troops from its first experience of a lost war, and from the first external commitment in which the American moral convictions collided with what was possible to achieve†(Kissinger,1995, 586). Therefore, the Vietnam War was the major issue of Nixon’s presidency. Another critical issue was that of the US-USSR relations that were in a tight point at the beginning of his term in office in 1969. Intimately connected was the situation with China which proved to be delicate and in demand of a diplomatic resolution. Stacks points out these elements: â€Å"By sheer endurance, he was the most important figure of the postwar era. Nixon put the country through some of its worst times, leading the red-scare politics of the 1950s, escalating the war in Vietnam in order to end it, trying with all his enormous energy and guile to defeat the legal processes that closed in on him during the Watergate scandal†(Stacks, 1994). Thus, it not the conduct of the foreign policy that brought his resignation, but rather his continuous conflicts with the Congress, that is the dispute between the Executive and the Legislative. All these aspects of the political reality are dealt with, so me more than others, in his final speech. Depending on his motivation, Nixon targeted more than one audience in his speech. Smith argues that â€Å"understanding the American audience in terms of the issues it holds dear, the positions it takes on those issues and the way it measures character is crucial to crafting speeches that resonate with the public.   Furthermore, due to the modern media, the president often addresses more than one audience at a time† (Smith, 2006). It was expected of him to start with the most pressing development of internal politics, which was the Watergate scandal. His political career had been stained by the possibility of being accused of obstructing justice procedures and abuse of power, yet his considerations on the matter were rather reluctant and until the final end, set for denial of all evidence shown to him in this respect (Impeachment, 2006). It was only after the irrefutable proof of taped conversations demonstrating his implication in the scandal that he tacitly admitted his guilt and acted on his resignation (Legacy: Richard M. Nixon, 37th president, 2006). Stacks even comments on the idea, calling the attention to the fact that â€Å"no other President in American history had been revealed to be so cynically, so selfishly breaking the law to preserve his own power. Other Presidents may have acted as ignobly, but none was caught so nakedly† (Stacks, 1994). Nixon’s mentioning of the scandal in the speech was quite lapidary, the term â€Å"Watergate† only being used twice throughout the text. It is therefore clear to say that he attempted to underplay its importance and to change the focus of the attention towards other aspects of his political actions. Within this line of argumentation, Nixon tried to appeal to the general public. He made use of personal references, by mentioning that â€Å"my family unanimously urged me to do so (to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved)†( Scholing, 2003) structuring his address on the need to reach out to the American people and thus offer them a certain justification of his actions, which he even stresses were carried out as â€Å"to do what was best for the nation†. Therefore, one of the aims of the speech was to attract the sense of public acceptance and along with this, a closure of the chapter. Throughout his speech though, he created for himself a number of different occasions to address the general public, the electorate and subsequently those who decide in a democratic system. One such occasion was the referral to the possibilities of the American people â€Å"to have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good, and by the world’s standards even abundant lives†( Scholing, 2003). Such political rhetoric could only have pointed to the important achievements his administration had registered, although he did mention the inflation problems facing the society. Even so, he managed to draw the attention on the wellbeing of the nation by similar comparisons with the rest of the world. In justifying the wide media and public attention that the Watergate scandal had received, and, at the same time, in supporting Nixon’s confidence in the internal and external US position, Walter McDougall, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania, said that â€Å"the American people could afford to obsess continuously over this affair and paralyze the nation†¦the American people wouldn’t have put up with that if they had thought the country was in danger†(Anderson, 2004). Nixon pointed out the successes of his administration in relation to the main international actors such as the USSR, China and the players in the Middle East. Even though, in general, the American public is less interested in foreign affairs and more in domestic issues, the Vietnam War and the broader context that determined its final outcome had provoked great unrest among regular Americans, and had created a rift in the society. Therefore, when invoking the fact that â€Å"we have ended America’s longest war† (Scholing, 2003) he also tried to offer a sense of reassurance that would, in the long run, help heal the wounds of the nation. A well delimited part of the speech was aimed at underlining the distinctiveness between â€Å"I† and â€Å"Congressional and other leaders†. While addressing the public, he tried to make a clear delimitation between what the public might consider â€Å"good† such as himself, and â€Å"evil† such as those in search of his indictment. He strongly stressed the lack of Congressional support in his strive to uphold what he considered to be â€Å"the constitutional purpose†. There were even opinions that considered Nixon to have â€Å"acknowledged his lonely isolation in his televised resignation speech† (Anderson, 2004). Therefore he subtly lets himself to be portrayed as the less eager to continue the battle with the Congress, fact that had an opposite effect on the elective body. By mentioning his lack of further action for the purpose of revenge, as he would not â€Å"continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication† (Scholing, 2003), he skillfully managed to sow the seed of doubt in the public’s mind over the real reasons for the Congress’ actions. Furthermore, he would appear in the eyes of the public as the one that appealed to a common and acceptable solution on behalf of both parties. Therefore, it could be said that, in the public view, he managed to partially save a certain political dignity. The presentation of the new president was, from a strictly political perspective, an electoral maneuver. Its placement after the subtle â€Å"attack† of the Congress insured the transfer of the political support he enjoyed among his own traditional electorate. His reaffirmed trust in Ford’s capabilities was also meant to lie to rest any uncertainties in the future course of policy. It is rather obvious that, following that passage, the continuous and vigorous call for mobilization to take further the actions started by his administration, Nixon attempted to give an additional level of credibility to all that was previously said. His determination and explicit support for his successor was designed as a display of confidence and conviction in his arguments that, among others, motivated his innocence in the Watergate scandal. Taking into consideration the concurring factors that eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon, it can be concluded that his final speech addressed exactly the variety of these issues. Summing up the pulse of the era, McDougall considers that â€Å"even Watergate will some day be put in a larger context and will be seen as the most dramatic episode in a rebellion by Congress and the courts against executive power† (Anderson, 2004). In addressing the American people, he tried both to justify his actions and to subtly state the difference of opinion with the Congress. Bibliography Anderson, Hill. â€Å"Analysis: Nixon’s watershed presidency†. The Washington Times. 2004. 14 Mar. 2006. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040806-013330-6091r.htm Associated Press. â€Å"Nixon’s resignation changed American politics forever†. Aug. 1999. 14 Mar. 2006 http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/06/nixon.resigns/ â€Å"Impeachment†. American Experience. 2006. 14 Mar. 2006. http://watergate.info/impeachment/impeachmentarticles.shtmlhttp://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/rn37/speeches/resign.htm Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. London: Simon Schuster, 1995. â€Å"Legacy: Richard M. Nixon, 37th president†. 2006. 14 Mar. 2006. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/37_nixon/nixon_legacy.html Schaffner, Cristina. â€Å"Political speeches and discourse analysis†. Current issues in language and society. 1996: 203. 14 Mar. 2006. http://www.multilingual-matters.net/cils/003/0201/cils0030201.pdf Scholing, Peter. â€Å"Richard Milhous Nixon. Resignation Speech, August 8, 1974†. From Revolution to Reconstruction. 2003. 14 Mar. 2006. http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/rn37/speeches/resign.htm Smith, Craig R. â€Å"Speechwriting in the Nixon and Ford White Houses†. California State University. 14 Mar. 2006http://www.csulb.edu/~crsmith/nixford.html Stacks, John F. â€Å"Victory In Defeat†. Time. 2 May, 1994. How to cite Richard Nixon, Essay examples Richard Nixon Free Essays CATE LARSEN//PD7RICHARD NIXON11/26 Richard Nixon; the name alone brings to mind terrible words along the lines of scandal and failure. Nixon was the 37th president of the United States. He was also the first and last president to resign from office. We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Nixon or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, the scandals leading to Nixon’s resignation definitely overshadowed his humble beginnings and the accomplishments he made as president during the notorious decades of the Cold War. Richard Milhous Nixon was born to Francis and Hannah Nixon on January 9, 1913 on a lemon ranch his father built in Yorba Linda, California. His early life was marked by financial hardship and by the deaths of his brothers. In 1922, after the failure of the ranch, Frank Nixon opened a grocery store in which the entire Nixon family worked in order to make ends meet. Nixon was always an active student, pursuing his interests in student government, drama, and football while living at home and helping to run the family’s store. After marrying Pat Ryan in 1940, Nixon moved on to join a law firm and enlist in the Navy. Further careers prior to his Presidency involved Congressman and Senator. As a two-term congressman, he served on the Education and Labor Committee and supported the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act, which greatly restricted the powers of labor unions. Nixon moved on to take the role of the California Senate seat in 1950. Nixon’s prominence as an anti-Communist soon brought him national attention. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican candidate for president in 1952, selected Nixon as his running mate. As Vice President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower Administration. Under Eisenhower, Nixon made the vice presidency a visible and important office. In July 1959, Eisenhower sent Nixon to the Soviet Union to represent the United States at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, the Soviet capital. While touring the exhibit with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the pair stopped at a model of an American kitchen. There they engaged in an improv discussion about the American standard of living that quickly escalated into an exchange over the two countries ideological and military strength. Nixon’s performance in the â€Å"kitchen debate† further raised his stature back in the United States. Nixon was so popular with the American people that he went on to run for President himself in 1960, but he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. After losing another minor election Nixon publically announced his political career was over. The Nixon family moved to New York during what Nixon himself later referred to as his â€Å"wilderness years. † In January 1968, Nixon decided to once again seek the nomination of the Republican Party for president. Portraying himself as a figure of stability in a time of national upheaval, Nixon promised a return to traditional values and â€Å"law and order. † Nixon shocked the world by not only winning his party’s nomination but dominating the race and becoming the 37th president of the United States. Nixon’s first term of presidency was full of accomplishments. Once in office, Nixon and his staff faced the problem of how to end the Vietnam War. Nixon made a nationally televised address on November 3, 1969, calling on Americans to renew their confidence in the government and back his policy of seeking a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Earlier that year, Nixon and his Defense Secretary Melvin Laird had unveiled the policy of â€Å"Vietnamization,† which entailed reducing American troop levels in Vietnam and transferring the burden of fighting to South Vietnam. Nixon not only succeeded in ending American fighting in Vietnam but improved relations with the U. S. S. R. and China. Other accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of involuntary drafting of soldiers, new anti-crime laws, and a broad environmental program. He appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. Nixon was also President during 1969 when the first men landed on the moon, a thrilling success for America against Russia in the race for space. But this wasn’t the end of Nixon’s success. Richard Nixon’s most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. Nixon’s foreign policy aimed to reduce international tensions by forging new links with old rivals. After being reelected by popular vote to a second term as president in 1972, Nixon paid visits in February to Beijing and Moscow where he reduced tensions with China and the U. S. S. R, permanently opening communications with China. Nixon’s trip was the first high-level contact between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in more than twenty years, and it ushered in a new era of relations between Washington and Beijing. In May 1972 Nixon worked with Russia to produce the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, the first ever comprehensive and detailed nuclear weapons limitation pact between the two superpowers. The Watergate scandal rocked Nixon’s presidency which had thus far been successful. During the election campaign of 1972, the Democratic National Committee had offices inside the Watergate building. On June 17, 1972, police caught five men trespassing inside the hotel. The men were attempting to hide bugs inside these offices. The FBI reported that the Watergate break-in was part of widespread spying and sabotage designed to help President Nixon win reelection. More and more people connected to Nixon resigned, were fired, or were convicted of crimes dealing with their involvement in the Watergate scandal. Meanwhile, the U. S. Senate Watergate Committee began court hearings. When the Senate Watergate Committee and a case prosecutor asked to hear tape recordings of all office calls to Nixon’s office since 1971, the President refused to hand the tapes over. Nixon’s popularity slowly began to sap. The U. S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to hand over tapes of 64 White House conversations. Days later, the House Judiciary Committee passed one of three articles required to impeach the President. The following month, on August 8, 1974, Nixon announced his resignation. It was the first time in history that a U. S. president had resigned. Gerald Ford was sworn in as President the next day. Such controversies all but overshadowed Nixon’s other initiatives in his second term, such as the signing of the Paris peace accords ending American involvement in the Vietnam war in January 1973; two summit meetings with Brezhnev, in June 1973 in Washington and in June and July 1974 in Moscow; and the administration’s efforts to secure a general peace in the Middle East following the Yom Kippur War of 1973. However, faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin â€Å"that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. † Vice President Ford took over as president of the United States. On September 8, 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon for â€Å"all offenses against the United States† which Nixon â€Å"has committed or may have committed or taken part in† during his presidency. In response, Nixon issued a statement in which he said that he regretted â€Å"not acting more decisively and forthrightly in dealing with Watergate. Thus ended the controversial presidency of Richard Nixon. Based on his humble beginnings and the major accomplishments he did make during his presidency, I personally do not view Nixon as a bad president. It’s unfortunate that Watergate overshadowed all the good he did for our country. Being a successful president during such a controversial time as th e Cold War was not easy, yet Nixon managed to escort America into a time peace after decades of turmoil. So the next time I think of Nixon, the name won’t bring scandalous words to mind. Words of success will appear in their place because after all, Nixon was a human like the rest of us, and humans make mistakes. BIBLIOGRAPHY – 1) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Richard_Nixon 2) http://watergate. info/chronology/brief. shtml 3) http://www. infoplease. com/ipa/A0760621. html How to cite Richard Nixon, Papers Richard Nixon Free Essays Richard Nixon is Good Richard Nixon is considered to be one of the worst presidents of our time and for very good reasons. He lied under oath about knowledge of the Watergate scandal, he illegally invaded Cambodia and violated international law, and he installed wiretaps. All these actions caused him to resign from the Presidential office. We will write a custom essay sample on Richard Nixon or any similar topic only for you Order Now What we don’t think about, is all the good he did. Nixon did a lot for our country. From foreign affairs o the environment, he accomplished much during his time as president. First of all, one of his greatest accomplishments was the d ©tente with the Republic of China. He was the first president to visit the country, and he opened trade with China and bettered the economy by making China its biggest trade partner. He came to agreements with both China and the Soviet Union where the use of nuclear weapons would stop being used. Nixon accomplished much with our nation’s environment. He passed many acts hich included the National Environmental Policy of 1969, The Environmental Protection Agency of 1970, The Clean Air Act Extension of 1970, Marine Mammal Protection of 1972, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. We can thank him for making our environment a better place. Besides improving our environment, President Nixon also accomplished much under Civil Rights. It is because of Nixon that women have equal pay and employment opportunities today. Nixon also worked towards racism towards African Americans and helped stop the segregation towards them in the school systems. Even though President Nixon had a lot of faults and made a lot of mistakes, he couldVe handled things a lot better. So why look at only his faults? He did a lot for our country and doesn’t deserve all the mistrust that people feel towards him. History seems only to remember the faults of people, but in the very end, he was actually a really good president How to cite Richard Nixon, Papers