[12.6.11] Lessons from the Nixon Administration

Links HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, AND HERE.


1) Adequate knowledge about law in addition to wartime experience - one might seem more reliable in certain times of crisis

...Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law....During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific.

Nixon joined the United States Navy in August, 1942. Given the rank of lieutenant he was sent to the Pacific as an operations officer with the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command.

2) Keeping promises will make one seem more trustworthy - people put more trust in the president, believes he/she will achieve what he/she set out to do, more reliable

As he had promised, he appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. 

During the presidential campaign Nixon promised to negotiate the end of the Vietnam War. [And although fighting between the two sides escalated, in the end...] Nixon agreed to sign the peace plan that had been proposed in October.

3) Making a huge step in a discovery, or obtaining a huge achievement - more nationalism & pride for the country, more trust in the president to do great things

One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.

4) Creating treaties or improving relations between countries - promotes trade, etc

Some of his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability.  

President Nixon's trip to China in 1972 ended twenty-five years of isolation between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) and resulted in establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979 

In 1969 Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as his adviser on National Security Affairs. In this post Kissinger played an important role in the improved relations with both China and the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. He also iniated peace talks between the Arabs and the Israelis.

5) Don't try to do dishonest, sneaky things - being found out is not a good contribution to one's reputation

 During the election campaign there was a break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic Party at the Watergate complex in Washington. Reports by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post, began to claim that some of Nixon's top officials were involved in organizing the Watergate break-in.

Nixon continued to insist that he knew nothing about the case or the payment of "hush-money" to the burglars. However, in April 1973, Nixon forced two of his principal advisers H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, to resign. A third adviser, John Dean, refused to go and was sacked. Nixon's vice president, Spiro T. Agnew, was also forced to go after being charged with income evasion and was replaced by Gerald Ford.

It was now clear that Nixon had been involved in the cover-up and members of the Senate began to call for his impeachment. On 9th August, 1974, Nixon became the first President of the United States to resign from office.