If you had been a voter at the time of Nixon's impeachment and resignation.?

Question

how would the Watergate scandal have affected your perception of government power?

Answer 1

I was and it confirmed my belief that Mr. Nixon had little to no respect for our Constitutionally gauranteed right of dissent and protest. Remember, during the Commie witch hunts Mr. Nixon was Mr. McCarthy's little pet dog, going after whomever his master cared to 'sic' him on.

Answer 2

I was.  And he wasn't formally impeached; he resigned to prevent that happening.

Coming so soon after the emergence of hard evidence of deliberate governmental policies of lies and deception re the Vietnam War, having Nixon's malfeasance in office made known pretty much destroyed much of the public's faith that government officials at least meant well.  We are still, as a nation, reaping what those scandals sowed.  The vote to impeach Nixon and his subsequent resignation, however, helped me to realize that the system can work...if 'the people' pay attention.

QUESTION AUTHORITY is an old '60s bumper sticker philosophy, but I firmly believe in its great value.  Authority should be questioned all the time, to keep it honest and alert.  It should be excoriated when it does wrong or poorly and handed hearty attaboys/girls when it does right or well, but the ability of a democracy or a republic to function properly for any length of time depends almost entirely upon its citizens' willingness and informed ability to question authority.

Answer 3

Actually... his resignation in the face of impeachment would have reinforced my belief in the effectiveness of the checks and balances in the Constitution.

Nixon tried to assert the power of the Executive branch over the combined Legislative and Judicial, but he failed.

Answer 4

I followed the Watergate scandal from start to finish when Nixon was President. My comment at the time was he was not the only President to use dirty tricks to get elected just unfortunate to get caught doing it.

As for my perception of government power today? I'm cynical..to many politicans at all levels of government out for there own greed (Cheney and Haliburton are great examples) who don't give a darn about the public that elected them

Answer 5

I was a voter then. I already knew that politicians were corrupt. Nixon just got caught.

Answer 6

Scandal is a bad method in order to win in the elections but it is prejudicial when exposed by media.

Answer 7

I was, and he wasn't impeached.

It did not affect my perception of government power, it made me question the type of people we have in control of this power.  The government, in order to function, must have certain powers and authority.  This is why it is so important to research candidates and stay involved in politics.  We, as citizens, have the control if we educate ourselves and vote accordingly.  Stay involved and hold our leader accountable.

Answer 8

That combined with the revelations about how we got involved in Vietnam would have made me quite cynical.  Then again, power corrupts.

Answer 9

It made me very wary about claims of national security, government secrecy and the argument the president is somehow above the law.

It taught me to question motives and not take claims at face value; it taught me to think for myself.

Patriotism is not the last refuge of a scoundrel, as some have claimed; it is the first.

Because I lived through  Richard M Nixon I was ready for George W Bush.

Answer 10

I was. And it made me understand that government can work, unless of course fools are too busy worrying about someone's s*x life and using THAT as grounds for impeachment. There are way too many pundits today trying to force feed government and politics on people, when they have no idea what any of it means. It's all sound bites and no substance. If I knew then what I know now, I actually might have felt sorry for Nixon. And I certainly wouldnt want THIS administration to take his place. Nixon looks like George Washington next to this bunch of lunatics.

EDIT:

To clarify, he resigned just before a vote for impeachment.

EDIT:

Clinton was NOT the only president to be impeached. Andrew Johnson was impeached and convicted.

Answer 11

Nixon was not impeached.  It's surprising how many people don't understand that.  He resigned before they brought forth impeachment proceedings, leaving Bill Clinton to be the first elected President to be impeached.

Answer 12

I was and it didn't!

Answer 13

I was a voter when that corrupt creep was in office. I suspected he was behind the break-in from the first time I heard about it. The entire affair was disgusting and rather obscene. He was a low-life power hungry small-minded man, and to this day I'm still embarrassed he ever held public office. Of course, most politicians are corrupt liars anyway, but he was just a little bit worse.

Answer 14

I was, didn't bother me at all.  He just got caught doing what they all do.