What "dirty tricks" did the Nixon campaign use in the 1972 election? How did the campaign benefit from these tactics? How did they ultimately bring down Nixon's presidency?
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
- Leaks and politically motivated investigations: E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy headed a secret squad called "the plumbers" to halt troublesome information leaks; broke into former Department of Defense researcher Daniel Ellsberg's office to discredit him for turning over to the press secret documents on the war in Vietnam (the Pentagon Papers) but found nothing; Nixon had ordered the Justice Department to prosecute Ellsberg on charges on conspiracy, espionage, and theft
- CREEP: spent funds to divide the Democrats and disgrace them in the eyes of the public; accused presidential candidate George McGovern of advocating "abortion, acid, and amnesty" for draft resisters and deserters; informed the news media that Thomas Eagleton, McGovern's running mate, had earlier undergone electric shock therapy for depression and forced his resignation from the Democratic ticket
- 1972 election: Nixon was reelected by a landslide, winning every state but Massachusetts; Republicans captured the once solidly Democratic South and the majority of three voting groups who had previously supported the Democratic party-blue-collar workers, Catholics, and urban voters
- Watergate break-in and cover-up: CREEP-hired burglars were apprehended at the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex while trying to install listening devices: initially, Nixon denied any knowledge of the plan, but reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncovered evidence to the contrary; Senate hearings revealed presidential wrongdoing as Nixon tried to impede the investigation, and evidence was revealed about secret tape recordings confirming this; the tapes proved that Nixon not only had known about the cover-up but had also ordered it
- Threat of impeachment and resignation: the House Judiciary Committee adopted three articles of impeachment, but Nixon resigned before impeachment proceedings and conviction took place
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The America First Committee
A. tried and failed to enlist the support of Charles Lindbergh. B. called for increased U.S. assistance to England without any actual intervention. C. was a powerful lobby against U.S. involvement in the war. D. was strongly opposed by both major political parties. E. was made up largely of Democrats who favored diplomacy to end the war.
According to the divine-right theory of government,
A) power and authority are based on a contract between the sovereign and his citizens. B) the king derives his authority from God alone and is not accountable to his subjects. C) the king has a divine mandate to serve his people well; if he violates that trust then he can be overthrown. D) the people and the state exist only to enrich the sovereign. E) God is the real sovereign, and the church represents his authority in earthly matters.
Which of the following reflects the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine?
a) U.S. recognition of the new states in Latin America b) assertion of the federal government’s power over the states c) Congress’s exclusive right to regulate interstate commerce d) promotion of the general welfare through economic growth
The eighteenth century was a time when __________ could make important contributions to science
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).