Video of the Day: History vs. Nixon

History vs. Richard Nixon

Alex Gendler - TED-Ed

This brings me back to a response paper I wrote during my junior year of undergrad in my U.S. History since 1945 class. The prompt was simple: should  Richard Nixon's presidency be viewed as a success or failure? 

On face value, President Nixon being forced resignation following Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's investigation of his involvement at the Watergate cost him the presidency but it was not his entire presidency. 

Watergate and his resignation was his legacy. It was him. Nixon was a stubborn and paranoid man who always thought someone was out to get him. That's why he instructed the "plumbers" to sneak into the Democratic National Committee in the middle of the night. There was no need for him to break-in to the Democratic headquarters, he had the the 1972 election well in hand but he was paranoid. 

It's what Nixon will be remembered for but not his entire presidency. In actuality, Nixon's presidency can be and should be regarded as success as I state in my two-page response paper. He advocated for the Environmental Protection Act, sat down at the table with Soviet leader, Brezhnev, signed Title IX and lowered the voting age to 18 so 18-year-old males who were drafted and sent overseas had the opportunity to vote for the guy that could send them there. That's a pretty progressive and successful presidency if you ask me.