Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got" (Kilpatrick 1973)
Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got" (Kilpatrick 1973)
S. military was not really suited to this kind of war (Kissinger 1975)
Instead, he resigned the Presidency on August 9, 2974, after making an impassionate television address to the public. Nixon never admitted to any wrongdoing, but later said he might have had "errors in judgment" (Kutler 1992 167-72)
In fact, during allegations that Nixon had a secret fund, Nixon responded with his famous "Checker's Speech" in which he went on national television, released his tax returns and told the public that even though his daughters loved their little dog "Checkers," since it had been given as a gift he wanted no taint of scandal and would give the dog back. For the time this uncharacteristically blunt appeal to America via the new medium of television resulted in an increase in support for the Republican Party and aided the Eisenhower (Morris 1990)
He received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law, at the time new and actively recruiting top students from around the country. Scholarship money was reduced year to year, forcing the students into intense competition, upon which Nixon seemed to thrive -- he graduated third in the class in 1937 (Nixon Biography 2008)
He received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law, at the time new and actively recruiting top students from around the country. Scholarship money was reduced year to year, forcing the students into intense competition, upon which Nixon seemed to thrive -- he graduated third in the class in 1937 (Nixon Biography 2008)
Prior to his trip he commented to the press, "There is no magic formula which will settle the differences between us, no conferences at the Summit which will dramatically end world tensions. The road to peace is a long and hard one, and if we are to stay on it, both out people and our leaders must display patience and understanding to a maximum degree" (Nixon Visits Russia 1959)
Instead, Nixon promised "peace with honor" in Vietnam, but had no real public plan, leading the media to assume there was some sort secret deal, but most modern scholars believe it was probably nothing more than an unfounded campaign promise. Of course, given the climate of the time, and the preoccupation towards the war, reporters were grasping at anything possible that might indicate an end to tensions in Southeast Asia (Parmet 1989 116)
Nixon believed him, however, and the accusations proved true when microfilm documents accessible only to Hiss were discovered in the famous "pumpkin patch." Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 and put Nixon into the limelight as a staunch anti-communist and politician unafraid to rock the boat to preserve democracy ((Powers 1998 223-5; Ambrose 1988 179-82)
The road to peace is a long and hard one, and if we are to stay on it, both out people and our leaders must display patience and understanding to a maximum degree" (Nixon Visits Russia 1959). It was during this trip that Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev engaged in a light-hearted debated about the various merits of capitalism and communism, an impromptu exchange known affectionately as "The Kitchen Debates" (Safire 2009)
Nixon was, in many ways, like the flawed Greek tragic hero -- brilliant with touches of immorality. Presidential scholar and political scientist James MacGregor Burns commented about Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic President, so brilliant and yet so morally lacking?" (Sperling 2005)
Watergate, however, simply became a symbol of the numerous scandals that were uncovered by reporters from the Washington Post and elsewhere. Nixon, of course, downplayed the scandal, but when tapes of conversations were found, it became clear that Nixon himself had accepted illegal campaign contributions, and had harassed opponents with Presidential powers, and abused his position in office as well as his duty toward the Constitution (Stans 1998)
John F. Kennedy, the young Senator from Massachusetts, asked the country to change direction, bring in new blood, and rethink the "Missile Gap" (Steel 2003)
R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and the dismissal of White House Counsel John Dean, who went on to testify to the Senate against Nixon (Watergate Scandal 1973)
" Once it became known in the Washington area that Bernstein and Woodward were investigating the President, the reporters were contacted and fed information that would lead them to people and documents that would help uncover a web of conspiracy and allow confirmation of what the investigators already suspected. Although Deep Throat's identity was kept secret for many years, in 2005 the reporters revealed that he was former FBI Deputy Directory Mark Fell, who died in 2008 (Weiner 2008)
After the loss of the election, Nixon returned to California where he completed a book and lost the 1962 Gubernatorial Election to Pat Brown. After the election he uttered another famous phrase to the press, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentleman, this is my last press conference" (Williams 2007)