MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01287_132.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.8 KB | 223 lines

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Nixon was a
disaster at home,
a success abroad.
The Watergate
scandal brought
him down, and
did immeasurable
damage to the
institution of the
presidency. But
before this cata-
strophe Nixon put
an end to the war in
Vietnam, and he
put the west on a
much friendlier
footing with the
communist world
#
Richard Nixon. later to be the champion of detente with communist countries, rose
rapidly in the Republican party on the McCarthyite wave of anti-communist feeling
#
Nixon's career
was dogged by
accusations of
dishonesty. As the
candidate for vice
president in 1952
he had to go on TV
to deny allegations
of corruption. The
event later became
known as the
"Checkers broad-
cast", as Nixon
placed his dog
Checkers in shot
to help him pose
convincingly as
a home-loving
family man
#
Nixon and the
Republicans began
to distance them-
selves from Joe
McCarthy in 1954,
when the senator
suggested the US
army was riddled
with communists.
This was too much
for president
Eisenhower, a
former general
#
Nixon narrowly
lost to Kennedy
in the presidential
election of 1960.
In televised one
on-one debates
with his opponent,
Nixon's heavy-
jowled and often
shifty appearance
did him no favours
against the young
and dashing JFK
#
Nixon finally
triumphed in the
1968 presidential
campaign against
Hubert Humphry
through his ability
to appeal to dif-
ferent sections
of a nation which
was divided by
Vietnam, race
riots and youth
rebellion
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When Nixon at
last made it to
the White House
it seemed the
years of struggle
and disappoint-
ment were finally
over. But greater
troubles,  and the
worse scandal
ever to befall an
American president,
were not far away
#
In 1972 members
of Richard Nixon's
re-election team
were arrested
breaking into the
headquarters of
the democratic
party at the
Watergate hotel
in Washington.
The Watergate
scandal was to
dominate Nixon's
second term
#
A congressional
enquiry into the
Watergate break-
in pointed the
finger of suspicion
at Nixon advisers
Bob Haldeman
(centre) and John
Ehrlichman (right).
Henry Kissinger,
the secretary of
state  (standing)
escaped censure,
but did admit
bugging colleagues
and journalists
#
Nixon claimed that
his aides had acted
without his know-
ledge or authority.
But evidence was
soon forthcoming
of Nixon's personal
involvement. It
slowly transpired
that there was a
wide-ranging web
of intrigue and
corruption at the
heart of the  Nixon
presidency, and
now that web
began to unravel
#
The Watergate
affair was exposed
by two newspaper
reporters, Carl
Bernstein and Bob
Woodward (centre
of picture), of the
Washington Post.
Their exploits
spawned several
books, television
programs and films,
notably All The
President's Men,
starring Dustin
Hoffman and
Robert Redford
#
Facing certain
impeachment by
Congress, a beaten
and bitter Richard
Nixon resigned in
August 1974, still
loudly protesting
his innocence to an
unforgiving and
unbelieving public.
Gerald Ford contro-
versially granted
Nixon a pardon, but
it would take more
than that to clear
Nixon's name
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Johnson's presidency had been wrecked by the Vietnam war. Nixon was
determined not to make the same mistake and promised to withdraw
US troops from Vietnam
#
NIxon's secretary
of state Kissinger
negotiated an end
to US involvement
in Vietnam. But
the agreement the
US signed with
North Vietnam
only delayed the
communist triumph
#
The biggest
triumph of Nixon's
presidency was the
establishment of
relations with
communist China.
Ironically, it was
the failure of the
US to prevent the
communist take-
over of China in
1949 that led the
young Nixon to
suspect that there
were communist
agents in the
US government
#
Henry Kissinger was the architect of the foreign policy of the Nixon presidency.
The two men were politically close but personally competitive: both wanted to
take the credit for establishing friendly relations with Russia and China
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