Political Culture and Society After the Watergate Scandal

The Watergate scandal, to many, is viewed as the biggest federal political scandal in the history of American politics. In 1972, the United States government was at the heart of a political scandal that involved the administration of President Richard Nixon. Whilst it is argued just how directly involved then-President Nixon was with Watergate, there is no debate that with his attempted cover-ups soon-after, he had now firmly inserted himself into the scandal. With this, the highest office in the country now had a criminally implicated President at the helm. This assessment will explain why the consequences of Nixon’s actions affected how the American people now viewed governmental policies, and how the Watergate scandal had negative evaluations on the government that damaged the long-term trust in the American political system.

There are several factors that contributed to the damage of political trust, and this essay will analyse each of these factors individually while ultimately justifying how the consequences that followed can be attributed to the Watergate scandal itself. To answer the question at hand, this essay will use the works of scholars such as Kim McQuaid and James Patterson when assessing the damage to trust in America. In addition, we will draw facts and opinions from credible journal articles from scholars such as Karlyn Bowman and Troy Zimmer, as we fairly evaluate the detrimental political reverberations caused by the Watergate scandal.

When Nixon won took office in 1968, and won re-election in 1972, it paved the way for a period heavily dominated by Republicans in presidential elections, as they went on to win seven out of the next ten elections. One argument that the scandal was so damaging to political trust is that despite the clear evidence of wrongdoing and high crimes and misdemeanours by Nixon, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott believed that were only 60 votes in the Senate – 7 votes shy of the 67 that are required to impeach.2 B, Woodward, and C, Bernstein, ‘The Final Days’. p. 302 This statistic indicates that there were still many Republican senators that stood by Nixon, which saw the growing distrust from the American people come at a direct consequence of their support. Despite the fact that the 1976 election would place Jimmy Carter in the White House, while Gerald Ford was not implicated in the Watergate scandal – despite pardoning Nixon that was met with heavy backlash – many Americans still believed that the Republican party were still tainted. Nevertheless, the American people quickly returned to Republican, Ronald Reagan to lead the way only four years later, but that is not to say that the damage to the political trust had gone.

To accurately determine when damage to the political trust exactly began following the scandal is difficult to pinpoint, however, throughout its investigation, it is crucial to note that it took no more than a mere two years for it to have a significant impact on the country, as it subsequently led to the Democrats picking up an astounding forty-nine seats in the House of Representatives during the 1974 midterm elections. Once more, Hugh Scott’s judgment is attributable to the question of this essay, stating that the office lost ground – including relationship to Congress. If a Senate leader could see this, then so could the American people. This is further evidence that damage to the trust in the political system was in full flow. The American people wanted change, an opinion that was unrivalled by many. In an article published in Forbes, political contributor Karlyn Bowman opines that the link between politics and corruption have long been associated by the American people, especially during 1974. Bowman goes on to state that in a poll by analytic company Gallup, 49% of the people believed that the Watergate scandal was a “very serious matter” due to its revelation of corruption within the Nixon administration. In addition to the argument that supports Bowman’s, James Patterson notes that there was an overall decline in trust in the government – with data revealing that in 1975, just three years following the outbreak of the Watergate scandal, trust had declined to 45%, an entire 15% decrease from 1960.

Harvard Professor Richard E. Neustadt stated in his article ‘The Constraining of the President: The Presidency After Watergate’ that for Democrats, 1972 exposed the passing of the old regime.7 A regime that saw Nixon obstruct justice and abuse his presidential power would only further weaken the party system and political structure and trust the country had spent years building. When Nixon resigned – which saw him avoid impeachment - Vietnam had yet to be concluded, and America needed a strong leader that it did not have. While Kim McQuaid argues that America had become divided during the Vietnam War, she also adds that the Watergate scandal made America a joke, and made look ridiculous in the eyes of its own people.8 McQuaid, K. (1989). The Anxious Years: America in the Vietnam-Watergate Era. New York. Basic Books. And if it’s one thing Americans hate, it’s being a laughing stock. Theodore White proclaims that Nixon had left a weakened presidency when America were in the middle of an economic and military crisis.9 White, T. (1978). Breach of faith. New York: Dell. This aided the American people and gave them the ammunition they needed to throw the political trust into disarray. It’s arguable that Nixon’s resignation is where the distrust began, but at the minimum it’s where the damage to the trust in the political system began to take hold. The Federal Times scolded Nixon for the decision to resign, as they believed that impeachment is what American people deserved. Politics became lost amongst the American people shortly after the scandal broke out, according to Jill Aitoro. Aitoro goes on the record to reflect on the effect the Watergate had on Americans and summates that despite Nixon’s attacks on the media, the government came to realize that the press “might not be so easily contained”.

A major factor of the Watergate scandal that not only increased the damage in political trust, but may very well be the catalyst of that damage, was the orchestrated wiretapping of private citizens by President Nixon between 1969 and 1971 that came to light during the investigation – including the bugging of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. The repercussions of the violation to the oath of office taken by Nixon is unfathomable when it comes to just how much the American people felt betrayed by this egregious abuse of power. The acts committed by a sitting President without a doubt broke the trust of the American people. Further acts committed that became public once the articles of impeachment were drafted were the further abuse of power in subsequent cover ups; violated the constitutional rights – as stated in article 211 https://watergate.info/impeachment/articles-of-impeachment – and the obstruction of justice which saw Nixon refuse to hand over the incriminating tapes to congress following a Congressional subpoena.

President Nixon was notorious for misleading the public. Once Nixon finally handed over the tapes that were the “smoking gun” the Judiciary Committee were looking for, and concluded that, based on the evidence of the tapes and public statements, Nixon had repeatedly lied to the American people. An article in the New York Times by Paul Montgomery titled ‘The Case Against Richard Nixon’, Montgomery recounts how Nixon’s effort to mislead the public. The break of trust in the government is one thing, but for the American people to be lied to directly by their own duly elected president, in particular a president that won in a landslide election in 1972, winning an historical 49 states is something that cannot be simply forgotten. The reason this argument is so overwhelming in favour of the question at hand is simple: when the American people put faith and their utmost trust into a man to lead them, and that man commits unconstitutional acts, and proceeds to lie his way through it, they find the damage done irreparable. From the highest official in government and throughout. As Sir James Porter once said – “the fish rots from the head down”. With this, after attaining a 68% popularity among the American people, and being seen as the model choice to lead the country with 35.5%12 Time Magazine. Yankelovich Voter Study, 1972. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1992-02-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07347.v1 Nixon’s popularity fell to a low of 31%. This demonstrates a dramatic collapse of approval, including a damaging effect on the long-term political trust in the American political system. It is arguable that the trust in Nixon that was rapidly evaporating predominantly came from those who voted for him in 1972. However, it did little for those who refrained from voting except justify their cause.

When it comes to Watergate, it wasn’t just Nixon that was at fault for the damage of the long-term trust. Nixon – albeit at the head of the administration – was the big fish in the entire investigation. However, anyone associated with the investigation had a significant impact on how America viewed the Nixon administration. For example, Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigned on 1973 on tax evasion chargers and money laundering. Nixon, who was viewed as a criminal and a despot, and his criminal and despot Vice President do not represent the American beliefs and values, and thus, the lack and decline of faith and trust in the government. At the height of the investigation, when Nixon and his government were repeatedly under fire, Roger Dunham and Armand Mauss conducted research and concluded that the Watergate scandal had a significant impact on the damage to long term trust in the American political system. It is evident that public officials in government have a crucial influence on the American people. Dunham and Mauss’ 1976 research reveal that those who voted for Nixon in 1972 had a considerably higher confidence in him and the executive government branch prior to the Watergate scandal than Nixon’s opponent in the election – George McGovern. However, following the direct implications of Watergate and his untimely resignation that robbed the American people of justice, Nixon’s voters lost the confidence in him and his executive branch more than McGovern’s voters.