Nixon is infamous for the Watergate scandal, and for the most part, everybody focuses on the negative aspects of the situation. Watergate was, after all, a disaster, and it completely destroyed his reputation.
But what could Nixon have done to improve the situation? How could he have saved himself?
The reality is that there are millions of hypothetical situations and possible solutions....but here are a few that would have made a difference.
For starters, Nixon should not have underestimated the press. However, as soon as the scandal occurred, they were all over it. Nixon should have used the press to his advantage, and acted in a way to where they would cover him in a positive fashion. The press played a key part in shaping Americans' views of him, so had they covered him more positively, Nixon would have been viewed better.
He also could have been more open. Nixon did literally everything in his power to cover the scandal, which only served to make him look more guilty. If he had simply admitted his issues, would that have helped? Or would that have harmed him?
What do you guys think that he should have done?
I think that after he had done wrong by being involved in the burglary at the Watergate Complex in the beginning, there really wasn't much he could do to stop it. The operation was not well thought out at all, they should have known they would be caught. At that point, even if Nixon had admitted what he had done, it would not have made him look any better. He would likely still be impeached and the people would still be distrustful. While the cover-up was a big part of the Watergate scandal, I don't think admitting guilt would have done him well either.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I believe that Nixon should have been open about the incident at Watergate from the very beginning. Secrecy and lack of transparency towards the public is one of the factors that affected the American people's perspective of Nixon. If Nixon openly admitted to what had happened, he might still have been impeached possibly based on obstruction of justice. However, he would have been able to avoid pulling more "dirty tricks" and abusing his power, such as firing a significant portion of his cabinet on the grounds that he did not trust them. Nixon had the opportunity to eliminate the guilty conscience that he had all this time, but he chose to cover it up even more, which eventually made him dig a deeper hole for himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Nixon should have been honest about Watergate. There is no guarantee that any of the defendants wouldn't talk, and hush money was not the greatest idea. Nothing is worse than getting caught openly lying.
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