Crimes and Corruption Essay

Corruption in the Nixon White House

By recalling the Watergate affair, which continues to be the biggest embarrassment in American history, one can account for the corruption in the Nixon White House. Richard's ambition had gotten him the top job in the USA, but a stroke of bad luck caused the same goals to force him out of the post after six years. When numerous thieves were apprehended in the office of the Democratic National Committee in 1972, the Watergate scandal was launched (Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner 69). The theft, however, was unusual because the prowlers were connected to Richard Nixon's reelection campaign. Nixon made every effort to conceal the theft of papers and wiretapping of phones by the robbers. Richard Nixon conducted various crimes while in the presidential office. Some of the felonies include perverting and utilizing the organs of the country such as security services and Internal Revenue Service for his gain, lying and conspiring to cover up the fact. Further, Nixon had the secret plan to bring down the democratically elected administration of Salvador Allende which was termed as unnecessary and cowardly act (Brinkley et. al 87). The Nixon’s government delayed the end of Vietnam battle for five years without any benefit and was connected with the Track 2 in Chile. Moreover, Richard conducted secret fight in Cambodia under the fake reason that the Vietcong had their headquarters in that state. There was secret conflict against the antiwar which involved the FBI and CIA operations against the college scholars.

Efforts to Disrupt the Investigation

After the break-in, Nixon together with his aides initiated the plan to instruct CIA so that to prevent FBI’s investigation of the Watergate crime. “The efforts to disrupt the investigation were more than a crime because it is the abuse of presidential as well as obstruction of justice” (Hughes 91). Nixon and his team were worried by the damage disclosure that his election support was associated with the Watergate burglaries thus they tried to contain the damage. Publicly, Richard promised that there would be no whitewash in the White House although there were frantic efforts to cover the tracks of conspiracy. Within the first week of robbery, Nixon was much concerned that the FBI was investigating into the uncomfortable territory thus suggesting the CIA to take over the inquiry (Hughes 132). There were secret tapes in the White House that Nixon refused to release and fired Cox who was the prosecutor demanding for the recordings.

Resignation and Effect

Nixon resigned because he was facing impeachment and had no votes in the Senate that would make him succeed in the trial. The Supreme Court ordered Richard to release the tapes that proved corruptions within his government including the attempts to mask the investigations of the national safety operations (Brinkley et. al 131). Further, his party leaders and previous presidential nominee Barry Goldwater visited him and agreed that they would not support if he continued to be in power. The abuse of presidential power and resignation had long-term impacts on the American political system since they established the atmosphere of distrust and cynicism. American citizens lost faith in the presidency, and the memories of the Watergate remains when voting for new leaders. The Republicans have suffered after the end of Nixon reign because their programs have been subject to constant scrutiny due to the lingering disbelieve from the White House scandal (Hughes 154). Additionally, the corruption added further disappointment to the countrywide climate that was soured by the losses and difficulties of the past decades.

Work Cited

Brinkley, Alan, John Michael Giggie, and Andrew Huebner. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Education, 2016. Print.

Hughes, Ken. Chasing Shadows: The Nixon Tapes, the Chennault Affair, and the Origins of Watergate. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014. Print.