I'm not sure which is more disturbing. Those whose support for trump is cynical and motivated by the desire to "trigger libtards," or those whose support is based on Sunday school where the pastor tells them trump is a Nebuchadnezzar placed by God Almighty to do His bidding. Either way, I don't think Nixon's supporters had either of these ideas in mind. We are in a far more ludicrous situation now.
8
I disagree.
I think that Former President Nixon was worthy, in a political sense, of support from his Republican colleagues. Why?
Because unlike our current President, Richard Nixon did many noble and great things for the American people, and for the World.
Yes, Nixon had a notable character flaw, which led to his political demise. But his brilliant pursuit of foreign policy, combined with his compassionate conservatism at home earned him in my book, a place among the most effective Presidents America has ever had.
1
The authors correctly assert that Nixon held strong support from the GOP minority (though seven GOPers on the House Judiciary Committee did vote for at least one impeachment article), up until the release on Monday, 8/5/1974 of the transcript of the 6/23/1972 "smoking-gun." What that transcript revealed was that Nixon discussed the procurement of hush money for the inept burglars six days after the break-in, and more seriously, instructed that the CIA tell the FBI to back off the investigation. That obstruction, and conspiracy to obstruct, constitutes the bulk of Nixon's Watergate crimes.
And once that was revealed, that first week of August '74, Nixon had no more than ten Senators left supporting him.
Trump's offenses are SO much more plentiful, and out in plain sight -- and have been for months. And yet with the exception of McCain, Flake, Corker and Sasse, Republicans remain essentially in full lockstep behind him.
So yes, there IS a big difference between now and 44 years ago; many, many more Republicans then saw their primary allegiance as being to the nation and to the truth, than to covering their President's backside.
4
Why do the Deplorable GOP Evangelical Hypocrites surprise you?
Republicans have a long history of protecting Republican presidents no matter how damning the evidence, yet, they will impeach a Democratic president on more trivial matters.
7
Thank you Mr. Marshall and Conway for setting the record straight. I was 19 when Nixon published his edited transcripts of tapes. The Washington Post and New York Times put them in book form. I read many of them. It is shocking to me that any member of Congress could not acknowledge criminality after knowing about the March 21, 1973 conversation in which Nixon says to John Dean, "For Christs sake...get it", an instruction for Dean to pay hush money to the Watergate burglars. I remember hear no evil see no evil attitude of Nixon's fervent defenders members on the House Judiciary Committee...Mr. Sandman of NJ and Mr. Hutchinson. They only gave it up when the June 20, 1973 tape surfaced with Nixon telling Haldeman to tell CIAs Vernon Walters to tell the FBI...Stay out of Watergate...it is national security.
It was ugly...it was disgusting...IT WAS HIGHLY partisan. But we should also remember the courageous Republicans who refused to go along...Bill Cohen of Maine, Hamilton Fish of NY, Tom Railsback of Illinois, Larry Hogan of Maryland. They wanted to hold Nixon accountable. They were patriots.
4
The GOPPERS got it partly Right. It actually IS a "Which" hunt...as in which FBI guy/gal do we trash tomorrow. I imagine them flipping a coin before heading for the conference room to break ties as to their favorite candidate of the day.
Well, at least we can paraphrase Shakespeare: You can lie and lie and still be one helluva villain when it comes to having the interests of the United States at heart.
There's always Chest-Thumping as a diversion if you can't remember what the agreed-to game plan was.
Then there's throwing red raw meat on the table. Hey, how about this one? "Hillary etc. etc."
Play to the ignorance of the voters. That's been the GOP's Trump Card for a number of years. Indeed, the GOP has become quite adept at over the last 50 years at finding a Democrat who personifies what the GOP faithful's can work up a snarl for.
Maybe they could arrange for a Nixon to make a cameo appearance, the beads of sweat racing down his greasy nose and dripping from his upper lip. Then there's always the saddened faces of the Nixon children caught in the midst of such shameful behavior.
Only Trump's kids actually seem to be riffing a good Nixonian tap-dance of their own. Maybe they could have a "children of national traitors" Saturday brunch somewhere together. Only question: which corporation will pick up the tab this time?
Yessiree! The GOP knows how to slime its way through shame and come out. Practice, practice, practice is all it takes. And they've had plenty of that.
I'm getting tired of the Watergate comparisons everywhere. Watergate was about a specific incident and its cover-up. The current administration's actions are treasonous, out in the open, and seemingly unending. I challenge anyone here to read the Declaration of Independence - basically a list of complaints against King George - and realize how many of those things are being repeated by this administration. You might be surprised.
1
thanks, gentlemen. I have been trying to explain this to my younger friends. The main difference now is the media. There were left and right wing newspapers in the seventies, but there was no treasonous fox news. Too bad we didn't deport Rupert when we had the chance.
4
Thanks. It's annoying to keep hearing certain news anchor people calling the Republicans the "heroes of Watergate".
The lesson of the Watergate and Russian interference investigations:
The "Power of the Party" reigns supreme—
And that has to change.
Best example of a "post-Party" era—Bernie Sanders.
They never turned on Nixon - they just let him know when it was going to be politically expedient for them to pretend to, since they knew they were going to lose.
2
Robert Mueller is in the unenviable position held by Archibald Cox back in the year. Mr. Cox did his duty with honor and distinction until he was fired.
At least his firing has led a few modern Republicans to balk at the notion of firing Mr. Mueller. History will be kinder to them than it will be to their fellow politicians who put politics before country, legitimacy and the rule of law.
3
This is a helpful corrective. Also helpful to keep in mind: per Gallup, Nixon's overall approval rating stood at 24% the week before he resigned. And at 50% among Republicans.
For me at least, that's a useful baseline when reading the current president's numbers.
5
I am just reading "The Final Days," and am struck by how few Republicans were willing at first to break with Nixon. But let's be clear: the key House Judiciary committee articles of impeachment picked up numerous Republican votes, and even longtime Nixon loyalists in the Senate made it known before the "smoking gun" tape was made public that they favored removing Nixon from office. So the bipartisanship is largely but not completely a myth.
2
For as long as I can remember, the GOP was "self over constituents" and "party over country." Trump as elevated this to "me over everything and everybody." None of these guiding principles ever contributed to America's greatness.
5
VERY eye-opening. And it would seem that current Congressional republican behavior and rhetoric isn't all that far out of line in comparison, especially considering that today they control both houses - at least right now.
The scary part is that it seems it was really the SCOTUS that finally brought Watergate crashing down around Nixon's head. Hopefully our current Supreme court sees fit to play a similar role if needed.
1
This cuts both ways:
Then, as now, nearly all Republican politicians, and the bulk of Republican voters, stood by their crook till the bitter end.
And then, as soon, it all came down and suddenly all but a tiny sliver of his supporters were tight-lipped, except for mumbled cliches about "this national tragedy finally ending".
There will be more noisy pro-Trumpers after his fall: he has a very different flavor of charisma than King Richard's hunchbacked paranoia, with more appeal to macho yahoos. But the vast majority of his 63M voters won't want to talk about it, any more than the paying audience for the "king and dolphin" in Huck Finn.
The great challenge will be for Democrats to distinguish themselves both from Trump and from the Corporatist wing of their own party, and gradually win the trust of a large chunk of those 63M by enacting practical reforms that make life better for the majority.
4
@Dan Coleman
I had to hit recommend, if for nothing else, that great Mark Twain reference.
1
The difference between now and then? The money.
Now we have a "billionaire" president who has gotten his friends and the top five percent even richer than they were.
That's all they care about.
Nixon wasn't dealing with such a polarized nation. And certainly not this level of wealth.
Trump could be clinically unfit for office—if he isn't already—and they would fight to the death for him to keep his job.
The ONLY chance the Democrats have is to fight the gerrymandering and prevention of minority voting by doing all they can to get as many people as they can to the polls in November.
4
I remember Watergate very well. I was in my 20s when it occurred and I followed it closely.
One major difference between what happened then and what is occurring now is this: when Richard Nixon was caught in his lie to the country his support in Congress evaporated and he was forced to resign.
In the White House today we have a serial liar, a man with no moral compass, no ethical center, an adulterer, an alleged racist and misogynist, a scoundrel and a boor. Has his support in Congress evaporated? Has his support within the Republican Party lessened?
The answer is no to both questions. If anything, support among Republicans for this man has increased, with over 85% of Republicans approving of the job he is doing. Huge difference from the Watergate era.
The bottom line? Republicans in the House and the Senate would back away from Trump so fast their backs would give out if his support percentage began to drop, as it did with Richard Nixon.
5
When I kept hearing that during Watergate, Republicans were somehow more moral and stood up to Nixon, I thought to myself, "Which Watergate are they talking about? That's not how I remember it." That you for this article reminding people that Republicans then were just as feckless as republicans now the only difference being that, now, Republicans are in power and will yield nothing to righteousness, justice or integrity. If they could elect and support this vile and disgusting man after all we knew about him, I doubt they are going to let a little thing like criminal activity diminish their support now.
80
Everyone does it. Nixon just got caught.
in fact, there is no end to this.
I site the case of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is so hated by Republicans to this day, as she was as Sec. of State, as Senator, and as First Lady, going back to her youthful original sin as part of the investigations into the sleazy underbelly of the Nixon White House.
those elephants never forget, never forgive, and don't work for peanuts.
3
During the Watergate hearings Sen Lowell Weicker said, "Let me make it clear. Republicans do not cover-up; Republicans do not go ahead and threaten; Republicans do not go ahead and commit illegal acts; and God knows Republicans don’t view their fellow Americans as enemies to be harassed but rather, I can assure you, that this Republican, and those that I serve with, look upon every American as human beings to be loved and wanted." He got that dead wrong.
51
LBJ had no intention of walking away from Vietnam. He was beholden to the military-industrial complex, which would never accept defeat (and still refuses to characterize it that way even to this day).
Nixon sought peace, but only with honor (meaning, no defeat and a self-reliant South Vietnamese government). The complex saw that as more pragmatic and achievable.
In the end, Nixon withdrew 540,000 troops from Vietnam in three years (following a surge in 1969). George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and now Donald Trump haven't been able to withdraw 10,000 troops from Iraq and Afghanistan in twenty years. Don't say Nixon didn't keep his promise to end the war, and he brought the complex along with him, something LBJ would not have been able to do.
What are our leaders afraid of in Iraq and Afghanistan today? Are they, too, captive to peace with honor?
2
The GOP never got over Watergate. Every Democrat elected to the presidency since Nixon has faced obstruction and threats leaning towards impeachment. Cooperation and bipartisanship stopped after Nixon was forced to resign. There have been a few sparks of it here and there but, for the most part, the GOP has been against anything the Democrats are for.
Nixon broke the laws. LBJ knew that Nixon had been in contact with the South Vietnamese government to stall peace. He told them that he (Nixon) would offer them a better deal if they refused to deal with Johnson. Nixon knew all about Watergate. What he didn't know was that some of his henchmen didn't like being thrown to the wolves and forced to bear the blame.
Trump and Nixon have a lot in common. Like Nixon, Trump thinks that he's above the law. Like Nixon, Trump comes across as paranoid and petty. Like Nixon, Trump loves power. Unlike Nixon, Trump has no idea of how government works and he is incompetent, to say the least.
2
"When Mr. Baker famously asked, 'What did the president know, and when did he know it?' during the Watergate hearings, he meant to protect Mr. Nixon."
Exactly. Baker was trying to help Nixon with the cover-up. But as things developed, he accepted the revised interpretation.
As I recall, on the day Nixon resigned in disgrace, he had the approval of one in four Americans, about the same number as those who had no opinion.
1
George Washington said it all in his "Farewell Address:
"They serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration
the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests."
Every year the Senate has a reading of the "Farewell Address" and every year almost all of the Senators do not attend. I guess they are too embarrassed to be reminded of their partisanship.
You can find a copy of the "Farewell Address" at senate.gov. You might ask your Senators if they have read it lately.
2
Those “32 people and three companies indicted” have nothing to do with Trump - Russia collusion.
Sorry.
1
Some things never change.
2
Democrats still defend Bill Clinton’s behavior. Numerous White House officials lied under oath to The Independent Counsel. None went to jail.
1
Like all big things that fail, like the Berlin Wall,Trump will tip remarkably slowly, then fall remarkably fast. This time, when it is finally over, and the malignant atrocity Putin installed is lead away braying, we need to remember who put a bucket over their head and said "I don't see a thing." Nixon thought he had an enemies list? Unfortunately for him, they were merely his enemies, not ours. We need to keep a list of true "enemies of the people", the politicians from dog-catcher to the Cabinet who pretended not to see what my five-year-old grandson saw three seconds into his escalator ride ("He's bad, isn't he Grandpa?), and do everything we can to make sure their shame is deep and permanent, and that they never, never again are privileged with the public trust and a government paycheck.
3
Trump is more a cult than a politician. His voters are being not so subtly brainwashed via Fox and Twitter. Repeat a lie often enough and they will beljeve it. Nixon didn't have the advantages of direct contact to vast numbers of misguided undereducated folks.
5
“It remains to be seen...?” Ridiculous! Today’s gop are a bunch of syncophant wannabes. They think, “Oh, if I could only bottle his lightening.” They hope to only retain their seats to weather whatever storm is coming. You have to remember that is what is important to them.
2
In other words it’s party over country. Which makes it clear there is no true balance of powers. That’s a very scary thing for at times Donald Trump can seem unhinged if you base you impressions on his tweets. It would not be unimaginable envision him as completely untethered.
4
Bipartisanship was not a trait of the Nixon Impeachment. Nor was a religious cult like worship of the President. Frightening times ahead as the Grifter in Chief blunders on, unchecked by the GOP. What is wrong with this picture?
3
Along with the State TV of Fox News, Republican voters would never forgive those who stray from the tribe by not voting party line. The Democrats are not nearly as unified or forceful in keeping people in line. Thus many Democrats run away from the Nancy Pelosi attack. No one is the Republican party was ever as unfairly tarnished as the Clintons. Investigated and hounded, nothing ever proven, not even a reliable narrative constructed of corruption, the Democrats turned on them using the label of neoliberal. The Republican just decide who is vulnerable in the Democratic leadership camp, and see what can stick. But they themselves stay unified in defending the most corrupt administration ever.
2
This "Opinion" piece exposing the myth of GOP Watergate bipartisanship covers historically relevant, yet rarely published facts and events.
Why?
By the accounting of the Republican Party leadership, Mr. Trump can do no wrong. Law is a simple matter of interpretation to this group of GOP stalwarts. To lie, to cheat, to steal is to be a Republican leader. Racism and misogyny are minor elements the GOP heavies practice along the way.
3
I should think that the republicans that go too far obstructing Mueller will face indictments for obstruction of justice.
5
Republicans dedicated a massive effort in the attempt to crucify Hillary for breaking an email server rule yet are willing to turn a blind eye to Trump's treasonous collusion with Russia to help him gain office. In fact, the GOP and Putin sought the same result and are Republicans are unwilling to antagonize Trump's voter base that they heavily depend on.
Mueller must continue to investigate Trump's financial ties to the Russian's and Putin via the the money laundering Bank of Cyprus (where Wilbur Ross has had a major role), Deutsche Bank, and Russian investors in his property. And by the way, where are Trump's tax returns?
It is no coincidence that there are such strong links between Russia and Trump's cabinet members and associates including Wilbur Ross, Felix Sater, Roy Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Mike Flynn, Carter Page, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort ( will he spill the beans ??), Roger Stone etc., etc., not to mention Jared Kushner, Ivanka and Donald Jr. Trump has even admitted Donnie Jr. met with the Russians to get dirt on Hillary although he himself "knows nothing about it".
The difference between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.
Nixon said "I am not a crook!".
Trump says "I am not a crook to the best of my knowledge".
Most importantly, we must completely reject the band of cowards known as the Republican Congress for attempting to protect Trump when they know full well that he has been bought and is owned by the Russians.
6
Thank you for the historical reminder.
This is further proof, as if any was necessary, that Republicans, any Republicans, all Republicans, cannot be trusted under any circumstances. Remeber that and VOTE.
5
At this point the Republicans are so used to using their offices to conduct political witch hunts--Whitewater, Benghazi, etc--that they really do think that all investigations are witch hunts.
7
It is true until the moment that the Republican leadership realized that they were going down on the same ship they supported Nixon overtly and covertly.
Then they were the first rats off of the ship they realized it was sinking.
1
Absolutely. The republicans stood with Nixon until the "smoking gun" was found. Mueller will prove treason and more crimes that will dwarf Watergate, and the republicans will have no choice in the matter.
2
Today, no evidence can weaken GOP support for their Leader: they'll claim it's phony - like the 'phony' evidence for global warming or for evolution or whatever else challenges their illusions.
4
Nixon taught those of us who grew up in the '60's that the president can be dishonest and of bad character. Nixon's lies taught us to not trust the president. He was the focus of the tragedy. Trump's lies are so voluminous and the administration such a cesspool it teaches us to not trust the government. That's the real tragedy.
4
It is sad that the Republican party likes to pretend that it is the defender of both American ideals and Christian virtues when that is blatantly false. Republican politicians during both the Nixon and Trump eras showed that they value alignment with the political power of the President more than they value integrity and the rule of law. Shameless hypocrisy, thy current face is Mitch McConnell.
6
Yes, I agree. Seems the public is quicker then our elected congress persons when it comes to smelling a rat. Most likely Trump will go the way of Nixon, but the stench will have to get so bad that even a Republican will get this figured out. They are also trying to save their own skins and when polling indicates their voters have had it, they will come around. Painful process, but that's how it works in America.
2
Independent of Mr. Mueller's finding 're' collusion and/or obstruction of justice, Donald J. Trump's behavior remains despicable; a racist, and seemingly proud of it; a xenophobe of foreigners not with a skin color of his liking, demeaning of women's worth, and persistent in governing by sowing fear, hate and division. Deeply ignorant (by choice, as he refuses to learn), and exceedingly arrogant, he continues to trample on the rule of law; this, with the distinct complicity of the republicans in Congress, akin to what they did in defending Nixon...until the evidence became overwhelming. And now, they stay with this beast in the Oval Office, all to keep their miserable seats. How long can this pluto-kleptocracy survive, before the people throws them out, corrupt as they are?
4
What got Nixon into big trouble was the coverup not the burglary itself. Same problem for Trumpadoodle. It's the Russian thing is why he fired Comey, the Russian meeting in Trump tower was about adoptions, Sessions, I want you to end this Russian thing now...
1
We'll be reading something that very closely resembles this article in 40 years, except with trump, ryan and the gang.
Hopefully the russia-gate POTUS meets the same demise and watergate POTUS
So interesting how history repeats itself
2
All true, and further proof that we need to flip the House if we want to rid our nation of the scourge this administration. Register and vote for Democrats!
4
@Miriam Lang Budin we need the Senate too to remove him.
2
At the timeNixon resigned he still had about 25% support. What we might call the deplorables today. Unfortunately their descendants control the Republican party today
4
@Mark Schenkman
Who knows, if Nixon had had more charisma, better hair, and a spray-tan, he might've gotten to a 35% approval rating.
That sock-it-to-me appearance on 'Laugh In' apparently didn't really help.
1
This Russian scandal is far worse than Watergate.
After all, we're talking about treason.
I look forward to the day when Trump is of no value to Putin, and Putin releases all that he has on him for a victory lap.
3
Clear-eyed memories -- of a very traumatic time. By and large the GOP (and the "silent majority") stood by their man until the bitter end. Can't listen to Lenard Skynard today and not recall the depth of the divide that existed between fact and faith in a "law and order" president. "Watergate does not bother me. Does your conscience bother you?"
Makes one wonder who will reprise the role of Martha Mitchell, the wife of the (soon-to-be-convicted) Attorney General and chairman of CREEP calling reporters in the middle of the night. Ah.....good times!
2
If history teaches us anything it is that Republicans become more Republican as time goes on. After all, how could they possibly have come up with a more deceitful, untrustworthy and divisive president than Nixon? But with Trump, the GOP has outdone itself and broken the bank with an officeholder who has proven truly breathtaking in his brazen contempt for the rule of law. His audacity for corruption moves even seasoned phonies like Mike Pence to tears of gratitude. But he didn't do this alone, and unlike Nixon, Trump can count on Fox News to support him no matter what crimes of his are revealed. Never say that Republicans don't learn from their history!
92
Like other lessons, misplaced, ideological allegiance is a lesson we have to learn again, and again. The saddest thing of it is that unlike other more overt historical events, it is harder to discern who was on the wrong side of history. Ex: Voting against the Civil Rights Act makes it obvious who was on the wrong side of history. Politicians not forced to show their hand in favor of propping up their ideology at all costs are practiced at being slimy so as rarely to be tarred with depravity like propping up Nixon. So, this is why in cases like this, we are unlikely to ever learn from the experience.
21
This is an excellent historical reminder on a few counts.
First, the investigation must be allowed to complete. If Trump interferes in any substantial way - firing people to get to Mueller, issuing orders, whatever - he'll be gone. Republicans in Congress better not touch that third rail as well.
Second, politicians become morally seduced by power. They will do almost anything to stay in office and achieve a majority. They will compromise their personal ideals and even the U.S. Constitution. And this is the most dangerous thing about our democracy. There are not enough safeguards in the hands of the voters. Gerrymandering, donocracy (gov't run by donors), voter suppression, abuse of power (think McConnell's theft of the Supreme Court seat), etc. are cancers killing our democracy. We need structural changes, even constitutional amendments, that enforce different rules on elected and appointed officials.
108
Sure, Republicans today are behaving in much the same way that they did during Watergate. But there is one key difference: the man in the Oval Office. On April 30, 1973, Nixon addressed the nation and said the following. Can anyone imagine Trump saying anything remotely similar?
“Whatever may appear to have been the case before, whatever improper activities may yet be discovered in connection with this whole sordid affair, I want the American people, I want you to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that during my term as President, justice will be pursued fairly, fully, and impartially, no matter who is involved. This office is a sacred trust and I am determined to be worthy of that trust.“
49
@NA And then he fired the special prosecutor. Come on man. Repubs gonna Repub.
3
Would Republicans today believe a smoking gun if you showed it to them? I can envision a future where Trump is impeached. That much seems realistic. However, I'm less confident the Senate still has the integrity to remove Trump from office no matter what the evidence. Some lawmakers are already campaigning on preventing Trump's impeachment. The conduct of Devin Nunes and others would seem to speak the point. Is there such a thing as undeniable evidence in the 21st century? Trump seems determined to compel us to address this question. I only hope we like the answer because right now, I'm not so sure.
45
Mr. Conway, Mr. Marshall,
What a stunning lack of understanding of the differences between the political climate existing today and the Watergate era. One huge difference is the turning over of the 'smoking gun' tape. Do you really suppose Trump (or anyone on his staff) would turn over such evidence under any circumstances? Surely not, he/they would destroy it and lie about it forever. Secondly, regardless of any/all incriminating evidence, Republican members of the House and Senate would NEVER vote to impeach Trump as they value party (and power) far more than they do the rule of law or for that matter, the United States of America. As an example, Mitch McConnell (and his many Republican cohorts in the Senate and House) would NEVER support impeachment or vote to convict, regardless of any evidence presented.
The issue is, Republicans do not value the republic any longer, they value only their own power and their narrow interests.
94
I am so glad to see this article. As someone who is old enough to remember Watergate, I have been astounded and annoyed by all the articles lauding the supposed bipartisanship that characterized those proceedings. The authors are correct that no such consensus existed. Most Republicans twisted themselves into pretzels in an effort to protect Nixon. I have always been perplexed by the near-canonization of Howard Baker, who did all he could, for as long as he could, to stymie the investigation. There were very few Republicans like Lowell Weicker, who always seemed determined to uncover the truth, whatever that truth was.
Those of us who would like to see our democracy survive have to hope that we get to a smoking gun in this matter, too. Only then will any of the lackeys in Congress even think about doing the right thing.
304
@cds333 A “smoking gun” is not required for a criminal conviction or for impeachment. We have the facts and now we just have to have the will and actions to move the politicians to impeach.
1
@cds333
The only way repubs will do the "right thing" is if it is politically expedient, to save their own skin. With so many of them in "safe", gerrymandered districts, it would take an electoral deluge by the opposition to make them see what is right in front of their nose.
4
I don’t think the lackeys of today will do the right thing no matter what.
A key difference between Watergate and the Trump Miasma is that Watergate dealt with essentially a single incident (the burglarizing of the Democratic HQ) and its cover-up. There were some collateral issues that came up, but it was really about the break-in, Nixon's involvement and awareness of the break-in, and efforts to cover it up.
With the Trump Miasma, we have numerous concurrent scandals - including illegal election aid from foreign powers, money laundering, emoluments, obstruction of justice, and general unfitness for office (e.g., siding with Russia over US intelligence agencies, not speaking out against racism, racist statements, admitted sexual assault, perpetual lying, cronyism, etc.). The sheer volume of scandals makes the party-over-country wing of the GOP look much more ridiculous than they ever looked during Watergate.
123
@Shawn Hold on. There's a non-party-over-country wing of the Republican Party? I did not know that.
1
The foundation of the country, where we were and are the great experiment, is our democratic process.
Nixon attempted subversion of the democratic process both by his treasonous actions in 1968 to kill the Paris Peace Talks and his criminal actions and "dirty tricks" in to secure his reelection in 1972.
Nixon's removal was vital - both to protect the democratic process and to establish in fact that the President is not above the law.
If it is shown that Trump participated in subversion of the democratic process in any way, his removal is equally vital.
61
There can be a heavy political price paid by those who cling too long to the defense of a corrupt, criminal president. In the 1974 election less than four months after Nixon's resignation, voter anger over the GOP denial of Watergate as well as Ford's pardon of Nixon from federal criminal prosecution propelled the Democrats to a net gain of 49 seats in the US House, four seats in the US Senate, and four state governorships.
2
The republican party wasn't entirely devoid of people with any morals 40 years ago. We live in a different era.
1
@Bill smith as much as I would hope the majority were, nothing proves they were/are. Their lack of conscience disgusts me.
1
A great article comparing Republicans in the Nixon era and Republicans today. Parties will defend their presidents to the end. The question is: To what end?
With Nixon it was irrefutable evidence in the form of tapes and a Supreme Court that demanded that he produce them. With Trump, we will depend on what the Mueller investigation produces regarding his collusion with the Russians to help him win the presidency. Today Trump has Twitter to directly lie to the American people. And Fox News backs up his lies.
The Republicans during Nixon's era didn't have the Citizens United decision which allows oligarchs to control the election with vast amounts of dark money. Oligarchs from America are no different in their aims than Russian oligarchs. Oligarchs seek to control their governments with their money and to downsize government with their money controlling policies and politicians.
Republicans want to shrink the government. I'm sure Putin would agree with this goal to destroy our democratic country.
Trump is a wanna-be oligarch who never made the grade privately but now wants to make it through his presidency.
To fight this, vote democratic.
4
Be careful what you wish for. There is not a temperate Ford in the wings; only an ideological Pence.
6
“There is a big difference, of course, between the Watergate era and now.”
Understatement of the millennium. President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, and shuttered the nation’s system of internment camps, which Kennedy had kept open.
Nixon’s reasoning for shutting down the internment camps: “they are un-American.” Nixon didn’t exactly do much to mask his racism, either.
Henry Kissinger has still managed to help contribute to the problem, though.
1
Teaching in Ohio while opposing Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, I endured the umbrage of Delbert Latta who arranged a wire tap of my phone and eventually subpoenad me to testify at a HUAC meeting about legal gatherings he considered Communist infiltration of the education system. After the Kent State murders Nixon remarked that the dead students were either Viet Cong agitators or fellow travelers. What gave the lie to Nixon’s nonsense was a free press and at the end of the day Alexander Butterfield, a protege of Dick Helms at CIA, Helms the man who vowed revenge against Nixon for transforming CIAs role in South Vietnam from gathering intelligence to destabilizing the Diem regime by terror. In short Nixon was undone by his personal demons, the demons of others who despised him and a press willing to itemize those demons. There was no Fox News but there was ABC which held out longer than other outlets in condemning the Plumbers Unit. It was print news that led the way and that turned vengeful operatives into confessors, which we see weekly now. A man as corrupt and inept as Trump should have known better; the example of Nixon should have alerted him to the risk of parading his disorders before a dubious electorate. It was a Texas judge, Leon Jaworski, who followed the press lead and ended the long national nightmare before anyone in Congress postured to seem patriotic. We are lucky to have Mueller as well as inept criminals like the Trump clan.
4
If journalists read history, they might be aware that, in his memoir, Howard Hunt revealed the motivation for the break-in of the Democratic National Committee at Watergate, which he supervised. (Hunt had just retired from a long career as a senior CIA operative.)
The Nixon White House told Hunt they were searching for evidence for their belief that the campaign of Senator McGovern was receiving help from the Chinese and/or Russian governments.
The Watergate burglars were searching for evidence of Russian collusion!
Shouldn't the Democrats now celebrate them as heroes?
2
“What did the president know, and when did he know it?”
Everybody seemed to think that, by asking this question, Howard Baker was being a dogged investigator seeking to get to the bottom of Nixon's involvement in Watergate.
Instead, Howard Baker was asking this question exclusively of White House personnel who seldom if ever interacted directly with Richard Nixon, and was designed to elicit the perfectly true but rehearsed response, "To my knowledge, the president never knew of these matters."
They had no knowledge of what Nixon knew or didn't know, but to most viewers of the hearings and most reporters who reported on them at the time, it sounded like Nixon was not involved.
1
Mr. Conway:
Thank you for bringing historical clarity to us. I too suffered under illusions that the majority of Republicans had believed in the rule of law over politics. I too had thought that most Republicans valued integrity over career continuity.
But this retelling of the facts explodes those fantasies.
So the GOP really stands for power over truth and political ideology over democracy. Could any one of our founders be a Republican today? Ironically, maybe Jefferson.
5
Exactly. Anyone who listened to the Slow Burn podcast on Watergate understood this. It's important to understand how the bipartisanship myth developed, how it was embraced by the dominant media institutions at the time, and why it persisted for decades. Perhaps it was an attempt to reassure ourselves of the stability of our constitutional design at a moment when one of the parties tried to subvert and potentially destroy it. Much of what we see today is replay of the partisan dynamics and the win-at-any-cost tactics of the GOP. Win first, deal with the constitutional implications later (if at all).
13
Unless and until there are open congressional hearings with sworn testimony we will never have the whole story. The problem with a special counsel is only the highlights of the story become public. We can't delegate democracy.
The public must flip the House. The House must hold public hearings on both the 2016 election and Russian influence, and the rampant corruption of the current administration.
Let the chips fall as they may.
Register and vote. In 2018 and beyond.
35
Excellent article..! It exposes a myth that now is talked about like a "historical fact."
Another one is the popularity of President Ronald Reagan. The GOP likes to talk about him like he was a saint. In fact, polls showed his popularity was on par with other presidents such as Clinton.
Also, the GOP does not seem to remember Reagan's nickname of the "Teflon president" because no criminal activity would stick on him...even though many of his close associates were convicted.
Reagans defense when testifying was the very effective "I do not recall."
33
Reagan had that grandfatherly figure and used it very effectively to shield himself.
Can you imagine Obama using that excuse to get away with Iran Contra?!?
3
Biggest difference: in 2016, Trump had far fewer endorsements from elected Republican officials by far than previous GOP nominees. Elected Republican congressmen knew that Trump had the most questionable integrity, morals, ethics and competency of anyone that had ever run for the presidency. Yet they stood on party unity and supported a man most unfit to hold the union together. The GOP was already a pirate ship before they cowed to putting Trump at the wheel. A divided America keeps the GOP in power and they plan to keep it that way. Trump serves their need.
10
"Birds of a feather flock together" aptly applies in this context. The GOP is bound together by three principles: racial purity, Christian religious principles, and tax breaks for the rich. These principles have helped for a broad coalition of the white folks, evangelicals, and Wall Street business folks. They will not give up their support of a President even if he were found to be a common criminal. Just look at what Trump said on his campaign trail: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters." In other words even a murderer will be defended by this GOP crowd.
7
I think one of the other over-played themes of Republican "virtue" during Watergate concerns Barry Goldwater.
While it is true that Goldwater in August 1974 told Nixon he was finished, what is omitted is the intense personal animus between the two men that dated back to at least the 1964 Republican Convention. There is film footage of Nixon sitting with folded arms during Goldwater's (in)famous "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" acceptance speech, glowering at Goldwater while the Goldwater delegates at the Cow Palace went wild and gave standing ovations.
Whether Nixon detested Goldwater's ideology or his personality I don't know but I have always believed that Goldwater, a man known to hold a grudge with the best of them, drew grim satisfaction from delivering the estocada to a wounded Nixon. "La vengeance est un plat se qui mange froid," indeed.
4
The article correctly notes that 10 of 17 Judiciary Committee Republicans voted against impeaching for obstruction of justice. Of course that means seven voted for the charge, which is seven more than would vote that way on Trump today.
17
The difference may be that the Republican goose will be cooked for a several generations instead of only one.
1
The concept of “northeastern, liberal republican” wasn’t the unicorn it is today.
1
Don't also forget the role Billy Graham played in propping up Nixon during the Watergate investigation - suggesting righteousness and godliness. Like father like son today.
Once the undeniable truth does come out about Trump and he is impeached, will Pence do what Ford did and pardon him? More reasons why the republican party must go away and a party dedicated to truth, justice and fair play, rise in its place.
8
Sorry, while it's true that parties do/did what they do/did to protect their own, the comparison made here does not hold water. I do not remember Nixon turning on the US govt itself to attack justice and intelligence agencies on a daily basis, and it's hard to even imagine him doing such a thing. Congress itself was able to negotiate and pass bills that were fundamentally centrist (would now be considered extremely liberal by conservatives who have lost their reason due to swallowing the lies of Fox, Sinclair, etc). While the investigation itself may have been the usual party squabbling, in general governance did not have anything like the tone it does now (which largely started with Gingrich). I can't imagine Nixon standing with a foreign adversary and siding with him over the US govt. I also can't imagine Congress pulling something like Nunes or Trump did in releasing spun intelligence documents - there was still more respect for protocol.
7
I can't agree with the article's thesis.
During the Watergate era, quite a few Republican Senators had Republican voters who questioned, then abandoned Nixon (my parents included.) Those Senators still defended him, but had an escape route among their voters, if things went south. Republicans today seem to face a different mob back home, one that has them cornered. They'll fight to the death.
Nixon was paranoid. On the way to an election landslide he panicked, went rogue, and self-destructed. The Republican party didn't. But Trump isn't tragic. He is what he is: a fearful reminder of American failure. He expresses what his followers believe: we can't win unless we bend the rules. They don't pretend US products are better quality. We have to force foreign things to cost more. We can't work as hard as immigrants, so close the borders.
This extends to the Russia investigation. Calling it a witch hunt is a red herring. Quietly, many Republicans support Russian interference, if it gets Republicans and Trump elected. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. No Republicans believed breaking and entering the DNC Watergate HQ was necessary to defeat McGovern.
Right now, we're staring in the maw of a monster. Trump and his base have a yawning capacity to destroy things.
11
Another example of how 'good old days' nostalgia almost always sanguinely colors our view of the past: each of us seems to have innate talent for playing minister of truth within our own minds, when it comes to internal revisionist history. Here's another: the civil rights movement was entirely peaceful and, civil - when racists went low, they went hihgh. Um, no, that too is conveniently mis-rememebered history. Perhaps if liberals take off the rose-colored glasses, and look at the past more objectively, they will find the reality more instructive than the sanitized version peddled by boomers, who apparently would like younger generations to look upon them more kindly ("look how bipartisan we were, look how civil we were in our disobedience"). Yet I don't begrudge any supposed dirt, nor see any sound reasoning behind this need to see things that way - but then I recall it is human nature to do so.
I most definitely recall my father's reticence over Nixon's fall; he believed, at first tacitly, more outspoken about it later during the Reagan/Bush years, that history would vindicate Nixon as a great president, the victim of a partisan smear campaign led by those underhanded Democrats. Yeah, that rather faded away with more time, and yet once again he's decidely in the corner of the latest criminal bully. Some things never change, do they? Unfortunately so, so let's put aside the idealism, just focusing on getting along as best we can, as to preserve our democracy and freedoms.
2
At least Nixon had enough class to pay all his collaborators and conspirators with cash! The Oval Office was a mini Fort Knox.
Trump on the other hand- has his clumsy lawyers set up shell companies and issue third party checks. All of which can flagged and traced. It will ultimately be his undoing..
4
Yes it was true that the GOP defended Nixon to the end, but it also true that the press attacked George McGovern when he called the Nixon administration the most corrupt administration since Harding and the Teapot Dome scandal during the 1972 campaign. I remember the press saying that McGovern had over-reached and was greatly exaggerating Nixon's wrongs, when in fact the evidence which was ultimately uncovered showed Nixon to be the most corrupt president until now. Let's hope that a strong and free press will continue to unveil the extreme levels of corruption, deceit,and treason committed by the Trump administration.
7
I am looking forward to tomorrow's editorial in which you discuss all the Democrats who voted for Clinton's impeachment. I hope you will discuss in detail the Democrats who called for Bill's resignation and especially those who defended the women who accused him of abuse. When you are finished with that, please say a few words about the Democrats who sought an investigation into Hillary's use of a private server while in office and those loyal members of the Democrat Party in Congress who called for an investigation of the Clinton Foundation acceptance of funds from foreign governments. It is shocking as you indicate that Trump has loyal followers. What he needs more of are the kind of fair weather friends and "followers" who drop you when you need them most. Maybe he should be advisers to ask Obama where to find them.
2
It is true that no Senate Democrat voted for conviction. One way to think of these decisions is to understand that the very thin constitutional directives on impeachment sets up a tension between a criminal act, including treason and bribery, and removal from office. “High” crimes is the standard for removal. So the question Democratic Senators asked themselves was whether perjury about an affair rose to the level of a high crime, thereby warranting removal. A vote against conviction could mean a belief of innocence or that the crime does not warrant removal. Senate Democrats chose the latter.
Something similar could happen to Trump. He may be found to have committed a crime but is it a crime that warrants removal from office, canceling the acts of Electoral College members to have him serve as president for 4 years?
5
This important work chronicles how venal Republicans were during Watergate. However, there's every reason to believe that "current party leaders will support Mr. Trump no matter what evidence Mr. Mueller's investigation unearths." Republicans will defend Trump even if a truckload of smoking Kalashnikovs prove his criminality. Evidence proving Nixon's guilt was obtained only because the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Nixon in United States v. Nixon. It held that "Neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications...can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process." The ruling being unanimous was central to its legitimacy. A similar ruling is impossible today. Three of the Court's Right-Wing justices, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, would protect Trump, while a fourth, Roberts, could as well. Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh sees Presidential power as effectively unlimited and has stated that the Court should have ruled in Nixon's favor, and that Congress (meaning Republicans) should shield Presidents like Trump from prosecution. Finally, if the likes of Scott, Goldwater, and Rhodes visited Trump and told him he could no longer avoid impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate, Trump would never resign. He'd hold massive rallies of "his people" (nativists, racists, and fundamentalists), tell them they were under attack, and tear the country apart.
19
@Robert B
Agree. In addition, he will be re-elected in 2020. But he will not leave office at the end of 2024. At some point before that martial law will be enacted allowing him to remain in office indefinitely.
There is nothing much new under the political Sun. And it needs to be noted that much of my fellow liberals "the sky is falling" rhetoric about Trump is over things that have been done by other pols, and done just as badly as Trump. From insults to racism to lies to gall, Trump is has not introduced a thing to politics. Alas complaint loses it's excitement if you acknowledge that you are whineth just a bit too much. But if you read history it's all there, and often by our side, before.
1
@CK you must not be paying attention. Trump may not be original but he is easily the most inept and corrupt President we have had. Perhaps you suffer from Trump fatigue. Take some time off from the news and come back ready to pay attention.
1
There is significant difference with the Watergate era: the news media ecosystem ( "The big problem with comparing Nixon to Trump," 14 May 2018; https://www.vox.com/strikethrough/2018/5/14/17353444/strikethrough-probl... ).
From that Vox essay:
"But while the Watergate investigation led to Nixon’s resignation, Trump has support from a source that Nixon could never have dreamed of — a powerful conservative media ecosystem. As special counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump violated campaign finance laws or obstructed justice, Fox News and other conservative outlets have dedicated themselves to undermine the institutions that hold the executive branch accountable. ..."
The 1970 news environs was dominated by the major networks--NBC, CBS, ABC--and the sets of facts were mostly agreed upon by those outlets. Not so in our time, with the amount of disinformation and lies reaching levels that would never have been comprehended during the Nixon years.
Who knows what Nixon and his defenders would have done with Twitter and Facebook--maybe something close to what we see today?
17
@JSK
Excellent observation and thanks for the link to Vox.com. As someone else has pointed out, Fox News has virtually become state-controlled media -- the hallmark of an autocratic state.
For all their imbecilic shouting -- "Free-DOM! Free-DOM! Free-DOM!" -- it's unclear that Republicans and their base have any idea what freedom actually means or any idea of what it takes to preserve it.
1
Thanks for making this "perfectly clear".
6
@Alan Snipes: Great—now I have Nixon’s voice stuck in my head!
2
One big difference between Nixon and Trump: Trump would have destroyed the tapes.
7
WHEN NIXON RESIGNED, His job approval rating was 24%. The two parties may not have gone to Nixon as a group, but reportedly the leaders did meet with Nixon to inform him that they would all vote for impeachment if he did not resign. The Dick Cavett Watergate videos show that the GOP members were just as tough in questioning witnesses as members of the Watergate Committee. Now, I do wonder whether Trump's job approval rating is better than Nixon's at the end.
1
George W Bush had the same rating when he left office in January 2009
Rubbish. The reason Nixon was run out of office was because of the miserable “stagflation” (double digit inflation plus economic stagnation, two things economists said were mutually exclusive) caused by LBJ financing the Vietnam war by printing money and because of the widespread gasoline shartages and quadrupling of gasoline prices caused by the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Neither of these calamities was caused by Nixon, but he was blamed for them. I can assure you that if the economy were not humming along as it is, Trump would be long gone. If the economy had not turned around (aided by the end of the Vietnam war and reduction in gas prices due to increased non-OPEC supply), Reagan would have been gone too.
Nixon was re-elected in 1972 by almost 18M votes—still the largest pleurality in US history—with good reason: His accomplishments in office—both domestic and foreign—were numerous, mostly beneficial, profound, and of enduring value. There is not enough space to list them here. Suffice it to say that the good greatly exceeded the bad.
The Pentagon Papers, which did not cover Nixon, were allowed to leak by a liberal biased SCOTUS. This leak definitely gave the enemy an enormous advantage which was not stopped or punished as it should have been.
Foreign leaders, many of whom did far more egregious things than Nixon, were and are still bewildered as to why an effective leader was forced from office.
Republicans were slow to abandon Nixon because Watergate was a coup.
1
Partisanship is always a part of dealing with a President who is at best flawed and at worst a criminal.
But the difference with Nixon was that once it became clear that Nixon had indeed broken the law, several of them at lease, he lost support. And, another key difference: he knew he was done and he did the right thing and resigned.
The difference is that there is no indication that anything Trump does will lose him support. A dreadful President, who has surrounded himself with corruption and law breakers, is to be protected at all costs, lest those Liberals get a foot in the office. Trump really could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue with impunity. I don't think Nixon could have.
Back then, there was hope that beneath party politics were people with souls and a love for the country, who saw their duty to represent all of the people in the country. Now? I'd be hard pressed to name anyone who put country and integrity over partisanship. Individually, our representatives probably have a conscience and a soul.
But collectively? They check their souls at the door before they enter their offices. And ignoring the chaos and cesspool surrounding Trump is proof of that.
19
"Now? I'd be hard pressed to name anyone who put country and integrity over partisanship."
And note that those that do have already left or are "retiring".
4
That's one lesson Mr. Trump will take from President Clinton's playbook. He will never resign, so analogies to Watergate are futile.
3
What was missing from the mix in the Watergate era, and greatly enhances the Republican and Democratic divide today is Fox News and the rest of the right wing media and social media.
6
Proud to say that Lowell Weicker was my senator at that time. Sen. Weicker showed everyone the only thing he was interested in was the truth, a very unpopular stance then and a lesson in courage for today.
8
One might note that Democrats backed Bill Clinton to the end as well, despite overwhelming evidence of perjury, obstruction of justice, and sexual harassment (I include Paula Jones, Juanita Broderick, and Kathleen Wiley in that group). Outside of a mild chiding from Senator joe Lieberman, can you name one Democrat who spoke out against Bill Clinton?
Democrats even had a pep rally for Clinton on the White house law with female senators right behind him.
So, we should not be surprised when partisan politicians act in a partisan way. There is precedent on both sides of the aisle.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
As many of us have been saying all along, Trump and the clown car that is today's GOP are nothing more or less than the perfectly logical and predictable end of the road that the party started down 50 years ago. That was when they decided that they owed absolutely nothing to the country, but were just in it for the grift. That has been their sole motivation ever since.
4
I remember Chairman Rodino’s excellent stewardship of the Judiciary Committee, and the obtuse arguments of Republicans like Trent Lott and Charles Sandman. Trump is more dangerous to our country because while Nixon was a crook, his use of corrupt means was not, as far as I know, accompanied by utter disregard for and disloyalty to the United States. Trump appears to be completely indifferent at best to policies that would protect our country from foreign sabotage—including but not limited to elections.
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CDOC-106sdoc3/pdf/GPO-CDOC-106sdoc3-19...
9
I believe that Republicans overall supported Nixon up until the firing of Archibald Cox, That was the turning point. But it was a different time. Republicans had a philosophy. They still mostly did what they thought was best. Not like now. Also Watergate is nothing compared to what Trump has done. A third rate burglary that Nixon probably didn't even now happened. He tried to cover it up. But he wasn't a traitor. He lied, but not every word that came out of his mouth. And at the time it was a very heavy thing to impeach a President. Many on both sides of the aisle were very reluctant to go there. Nixon's great crime to me was bombing Cambodia & extending the war for too long. It led the way to Pol Pot who killed 2 million of his people.
4
If Republicans keep and House and Senate this fall, the investigation will end with a whimper and the country will be forever damaged.
VOTE.
33
@Will.
This country is already damages by Trump's presidency.
2
Nixon resisted resigning until the contents of the "smoking gun" tape had come to light. Bombing Cambodia, mis-using the IRS, campaign dirty tricks--he was not willing to resign over any of those crimes. How did this particular tape prove that Nixon had obstructed justice? What was its content? (He even played it for his wife and daughters to explain to them why he had to give up.)
This tape revealed that President Nixon had threatened the CIA that, if they did not go along with his cover up of Watergate, he would reveal their role in the "Bay of Pigs," which was Nixon's code phrase for the JFK assassination, according to his chief of staff, Haldeman.
And that was it. Nixon suddenly fell upon his sword & departed. Case closed.
That the US President felt compelled to quit in disgrace--rather than answer questions about the role of the CIA in the murder of his predecessor--should have been the start of the journalistic investigations. Not the end.
The media betrayed their public responsibility by bringing their Watergate investigation (of which they are so proud) to a screeching halt when it threatened to reveal truths that would completely discredit the system.
I know it probably isn't, but the person standing to Barry Goldwater's right looks an awful lot like Walter Cronkite...
@vacciniumovatum
I believe the man standing to Goldwater's right is Hugh Scott R-PA. Senate Minority Leader.
@vacciniumovatum
It's Senator Hugh Scott, of my home state of Pennsylvania.
President Nixon committed crimes but he did not conspire with a foreign enemy to get dirt on an opponent. And while he had Republican support at first, eventually decent Republicans convinced him he needed to resign. I fear that today there are not those same decent Republicans in Congress to convince this President to resign if it comes to that. Mr Mueller’s investigation is not a witch hunt or hoax but it will take time. If it clears the President he will love it, if not he will call it a pack of lies. Will Republicans stand up for America if the report goes against the President? America Deserves Better
6
Nixon's belly-flop into infamy was due to his personality flaws and criminal acts, but it also took a hard push from investigative reporters. Is it any wonder Trump's hatred for veracious journalism eats into his core?
America needs you more than ever.
Make that the world.
11
The GLARING difference being that Nixon's admin committed a crime of public record, with their wiretapping and taping, hence the prosecution. Trump and his admin are the VICTIMS of illegal surveillance - plus after more than a year and a half, NO evidence of any collusion (which is NO criminal violation anyway). Not to mention the fact that President Trump is immensely popular - exponentially more than paranoid and introverted Nixon....and the fact that were there an actual attempt to remove him for the purely political sour grapes the "left" are obsessed with, there would be EXTREME consequences from his 65 million plus followers
3
@Eyes Wide Open
Be patient and your eyes will open even wider. Now don't block those ears.
I don't like the idea that any US President has put his own wealth and political survival ahead of the country he swore to protect. I hope it ain't true. But it's not looking good. Doesn't Helsinki bother you just a little?
4
Second amendment consequences?
@Eyes Wide Open
You are ignorant of the legal implications of collusion, which likely is a composite of several crimes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/08/01/trump-s... ("Trump says collusion isn’t a crime. He’s right. It’s actually many crimes," 1 Aug 2018).
1
The "Firing Line" episode with Bill Buckley and George HW Bush in 1974 pretty much tells the whole story. And then we got Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Newt Gingrich. Oh, lucky us!
4
All this is quite correct, with the addition that most Republican persons in the US also supported Mr. Nixon. I know -- I was one of them, and stoutly denied any possibility that Mr. Nixon could have done anything wrong.
Later, as things developed, and I gained a sense of reason about the entire matter, my opinions were greatly modified, but it took years before I finally admitted to myself that I was wrong in my views of Mr. Nixon.
The current Republican population seems to be of the same ilk. I understand that, and them. I do hope, though, that once all the evidence is laid out before them, that some modification of their present closed mindedness will occur.
We can only hope. The current president is destroying our union.
8
I think the best Republicans who have stood up to trump and would have voted for impeachment have left or are retiring.
3
The authors note that that 32 people and three companies have been indicted so far by the special counsel, but neglect to mention that not a single American has been indicted for collusion with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election. The authors state, “It remains to be seen whether current party leaders will support Mr. Trump no matter what evidence Mr. Mueller’s investigation unearths about the conduct of the president and his aides.” It also remains to be seen whether Democratic Party leaders will continue to accuse Trump and the Trump campaign of collusion despite the lack of evidence.
According to the Muller indictments, Russia intelligence agencies were responsible for the cyberattacks while corporations owned by a Russian oligarch were responsible for a social media campaign. So far, no one has even been able to articulate what the Trump campaign might have done that constitutes unlawful collusion.
@William Case Let's see what unfolds. It seems unlikely that there will be no further indictments. Americans could be next. In any case, Mueller's investigation is hardly complete.
5
@Glenn
What criminal act do you think the Trump campaign committed, remembering that collusion is only unlawful if it is part of a conspiracy to commit a criminal act? Can you name the crime?
So, Mueller is texting you daily to fill you in on what he's doing and what evidence he has. Why do all Trump-lovers seem to think they are privy to such insider information? Is that what Fox News sells them? Just like Nixon-lovers back then, Trump-lovers cannot allow themselves to acknowledge reality lest their own carefully constructed little fantasy world collapses under the weight of its own ignorance and hypocrisy.
2
Thank you gentlemen for this important and very timely piece, particularly in putting to rest the often repeated myth of Howard Baker’s honorable placing of country over political affiliation. Same Republican playbook, only the sycophants have changed.
5
Republicans were slow to hold Nixon accountable for Watergate. Party loyalty is a powerful glue.
There is, however, a huge difference between 1974 and 2018.
Our present situation does not only involve Americans committing a crime against other Americans. That is certainly bad enough.
Now we are faced with Americans meeting with a foreign adversary to wage political war against fellow Americans.
At what point does party loyalty bow and give way to country loyalty? We have passed that point. Where are you, Republicans?
17
I'm sure readers will disagree but my recollection and opinion of Howard Baker 's performance on the Senate Watergate Committee was NOT of bipartisanship.
He was a smooth oily character who continually tried to blunt the testimony of and discredit the witnesses before the committee.
The evidence from the tapes was too strong for Baker's obstructive tactics.
11
This article reverses the argument about bipartisanship which was made at the time. Granted, two thirds of the Republican congressmen on the committee voted against impeachment. But one third voted for it, and that was enough to establish that the impeachment effort was indeed bipartisan--not just a partisan witchhunt. That mattered-- there was considerable suspense about that issue in the media before those Republican votes were announced. And his vote for impeachment had a very considerable effect on the later career of Republican Congressman William Cohen of Maine.
7
@Harry Schroeder: Good point. We tend to talk about "the Republicans" as a monolithic group -- as if they were all honorable back then then, and none of them now. Much more accurate to say there were a few honorable ones back then. And that tendency has been pretty thoroughly stamped out at this point.
10
I lived thru it and you are basically right.
Also people don't realize, there was a large period between the time the break in happened and when Nixon resigned, like two yrs so the Mueller investigation is following along the same lines.
The fact that congress in now controlled by republicans and not democrats is a key factor.
Mueller would have to come up with key criminal indictments of many more of Trump's entourage including himself if there is any hope of successful impeachment, trial and/or resignation.
Also the midterms can be key, if the republicans lose the house and or the Senate, the scenario above could be speeded up, more certain, if not the opposite.
Also, it is true, Nixon's only crime was the coverup, history will show that Trump by far will be the biggest criminal ever to sit in the WH imo.
24
"And that's the way it is, August 7, 1974." Walter Cronkite, 'The most trusted man in America') to his viewers in his signature style. What would he say today? Undoubtedly the very same thing, yet with a not so subtle grimace of sadness, anger and wisdom. This excellent piece also brings to mind another excellent Cronkite body
of work, the 'You Were There' series of reflective history of important moments. I've been fortunate enough to witness both of these eras and, as shocking as this current situation is, can only hope that years (perhaps decades) from now it can recalled as ushering in a more positive future for our democracy.
11
It would seem there were two Howard Bakers.
One, the newly revealed one, snuck around and carried tales to Nixon.
The other, the one we've admired for 45 years, whatever his motivations, was an electrifying critic of the President and played a main role in mobilizing the outrage of the country.
Ultimately, it was this outrage that led Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott, and the House Minority leader to "lay a pistol" on Nixon's desk on 7 August 1974.
What to do? The Public Baker was more important. But we adored what we thought was the Inner Baker.
4
@alyosha This would be the same Howard Baker that decades later took up the case of Bush v Gore and succeeded in overthrowing the Democratic process and convincing the Supreme Court to gift the Presidency to George W Bush, the first step in the neoconservatism that has ballooned our national debt and turned our nation into a security state of perpetual military action.
Hold the praise, please. There is no honor in thieves.
7
@Wesley Brooks,
There was Senator Howard Baker of Tenn. who is referred to in this op-ed column.
It was James A. Baker, III, who was Sec. of State for George H. W. Bush and who became the legal adviser for George W. Bush during the 2000 recount. I've provided a link to wiki for anyone interested.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker
The back-story on Howard Baker is most disappointing, as is the additional information in this excellent review. What comes to mind is the overwhelming Power of the Party.
In our digital and social-media age, is it not time to finally get past the "Party"—
And "caucus" (discuss, interact, organize) on the issues.
Bernie Sanders is a perfect example of what "post-Party" should look like. [And no more "Party" conventions and platforms, etc.]
12
The 93 Congress 1973-75 was controlled by the Democrats.
House 242 DEmocrats 192 Republicans
Senate 56 Democrats 42 Republicans 2 independents.
It requires 67 Senate votes to convict.
In 1974 the Democrats had enough votes to impeach in the House where only a simple majority is required.
After the tapes were released the Dems could clearly have gotten the additional 11 GOP Senate votes to convict.
Today even if Dems regain control of House after the 2018 election, the Dems will still be far short of the 67 Senate votes for conviction.
Suppose the Dems have 52 Senate seats after 2018.
I do not think the Dems will get another 15 GOP Senate votes.
The GOP desire for tax cuts for the rich and slashing social programs and gutting financial and environmental regulations is sufficiently strong to over ride anything Mueller investigation documents.
39
@david Lets hope your calculations are wrong and that the
Mueller investigation will so clearly and definitively document the corruption of this Trump swamp and these
ethical violations will stand so justice will win out. There might be a ground swell in this country toward a correction
in our government despite your "Reps" intransigence and enabling of the worst President in our history. They've already had their ruinous tax cuts for the rich and are de-regulating at a feverish pace all the effective laws Obama gave us to protect the population and our environment. I can't believe our country will continue to allow this destruction of our history , our values, our decency to fade into the darkness of this Trump fiasco.
4
I was in Junior High at the time and while I watched quite a bit of the subsequent hearings on TV I can't say as I really understood much at the time.
I have never read the book 'All The President's Men' either, but I have watched the movie several times, not when it came out, but only in the past five years or so, in the wake of George W. Bush's presidency when it became so evident that Republican rank and file were willing and able to believe any lie and continue to support the lie even after the evidence against it accumulated to the point where no honest or at least rational person could deny what was sitting in plain sight.
And so it struck me as astonishing really, if the movie is an accurate depiction of the book, and the book was an accurate depiction of the actual course of Woodward and Bernstein's following of the money and chasing down of the story, that it seemed to be a fairly large number of rank and file Republican volunteers and campaign staffers who placed country above party and told the truth, or what part of the truth they knew, that enabled the larger truth to finally come out.
So while the Republican politicians might not have acted so objectively, and I suppose millions of run of the mill Republican voters continued to believe the lies up to and after Nixon's resignation, it does seem to me that at least some appeared to be able to answer a higher duty, a thing which today seems to be so difficult to imagine happening.
25
@Dan
Seconded. I was struck by that part of the movie where Woodward and Bernstein are knocking door to door and one of the ladies who agrees to talks to them starts by saying, "I am a life-long Republican and this stuff disgusts me", or words to that effect.
4
Excellent. Love history. Of course, they backed Nixon like they back Trump now. Nixon didn't have Fox News and the tax cut financed vast right wing noise machine, either.
33
Very interesting history lesson.
So, what is going on now has been done before. That makes me feel a tiny bit better.
Thank you.
5
This story ignores the fact that Nixon voters, and I was one, weren't committed in an almost religious way to Nixon. I remember listening to the hearings on the radio during the afternoons, I 'knew' that Nixon was guilty. I assume that many Nixon voters gave up on him as the evidence came in.
Trump voters seem committed to Trump for the duration. Nixon voters were committed at all.
19
@Jerry M. The hearings for Watergate were on tv and radio and the nation was riveted. Most of the hearings concerning Trump occur behind closed doors and I would guess a lot of Trump supporters do not know or care about them. During Watergate there were 3 major networks that reported facts. Now we have Fox "News" which is basically State TV to support and spin for Trump at all costs.
30
This is a very appropriate and necessary piece.
The political polarization of today is likely worse than it was decades ago, but putting party over principle is certainly nothing new, and the GOP clearly did that in the 1970s.
It is worth mentioning, as this article does. that the Democrats controlled Congress during the Watergate era, which allowed them to keep investigations going. The GOP obstructed as much as possible. However, Democrats are not innocent when it comes to investigations into presidents. Recall a similar dynamic in the 1990s: Democrat Clinton was investigated by a Republican-controlled Congress, and liberals jumped around attacking Kenneth Starr's team. The "witch hunt" of today was the "vast right wing conspiracy" in the 1990s. It would not be difficult to find other parallels. I am sure.
This is the challenge we face as a nation: can we rise above the political fray to solve problems? Until the recent intense polarization era, likely beginning in the 1990s, this has become more difficult and now almost impossible.
Presidents like Trump and Nixon, true dividers who seem to come along just when we need a leader of better temperament, more reflect the electorate than we would like to think. Recall that Nixon became president at the height of the divisions regarding Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the women's movement. We now have different issues, but the same intense division.
Expecting our leaders to be much different than us is not realistic.
16
@Paul Ken Starr's investigation into Whitewater (a land deal in which the Clintons LOST $50,000) lasted over 4 years and found NOTHING wrong. The Starr investigation was one of several launched by the right - Travelgate (nothing found), Vince Foster "murder" (nothing found), the First Lady's former employment at the Rose law firm. In total, 8 years of wasted time and money on what some would, quite rightly, call, a witch hunt. They finally tripped Clinton up was a question from out of left field about a reported relationship to a White House intern. Starr had learned that from Linda Tripp, a woman in whom Ms. Lewinsky had confided, and he worked it into his question. Never found any witches, but the man was finally gotten on "perjury" about a private indiscretion with a willing young woman. If it wasn't a "witch hunt", it was certainly a "fishing expedition".
I wouldn't put Clinton's personal indiscretion in the same league with the Trump campaign colluding with a foreign government to subvert our election or a President who seems in Putin's pocket.
5
@Paul
Some good points, but...
Compare the "crimes" of the Presidents you mention and your argument is a little weaker. And none of the comments mention the Iran Contra affair, which, although didn't help Reagan's reputation, was pretty much hidden and killed by the ideology of the GOP.
3
@Paul
Well, the big difference is that Clinton lied about having sex with a consenting adult. That had nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with White Water ( which was a "witch hunt" ) and Starr came up with nothing - nothing whatsoever - on his witch hunt.
Today we know that Trump DID know about the Russian meeting at Trump tower. We now aslo suspect that there are other crimes having nothing to do with Russia (i.e. tax fraud) but that may soon come out about Trump. In both cases, these are crimes. Crimes. Being an adulterer is not a crime. Despicable, yes, but neither criminal nor impeachable. That is a very big difference between the Starr Clinton investigation and Mueller's today.
3
The most important difference between the Watergate scandal and the investigation of President Trump is that in 1972, there was an actual crime: a burglary. The intelligence community did not allege a group of burglars committed a crime without providing any evidence whatsoever of an actual break in. Special Counsel Robert Mueller can indict any amount of people who will never see an American courtroom he desires. That is not evidence that anyone committed a crime. I thought people indicted are innocent unless proven guilty, or is this a silly little sentiment we no longer really believe?
Another difference between Presidents Nixon and Trump: the time between the burglary of the Democratic National Committee office and Nixon’s resignation was about two years. Archibald Cox, the first special counsel in the Watergate case, was appointed a year and a few months before President Nixon resigned. I expect we are doomed to unresolved Trump investigations until 2020 and maybe beyond.
Senator Baker’s question only backfired when “evidence mounted”. The key word is evidence. Politics is what it is. Should we really expect a president’s fellow party members to depose their leader especially in this odd time in US history? The steadfast support of a political leader’s followers has indeed happened before, since the dawn of human history.
What’s worse than having Donald Trump as president? Ignoring bedrock principles of our legal system to force President Trump from office.
8
Mueller's investigation has led to 27 criminal indictments to date. True, several of these were to Russians that will never set foot in a US courtroom, but to suggest that Mueller would succeed in securing indictments without evidence borders on conspiracy theory.
Robert Mueller is too honorable a public servant (and a registered Republican, may I remind you) to stoop to that level, and such statements are insulting to anyone who still believes that there are good people in government who take responsibility and conduct themselves honorably and professionally, and most of all an insult to those few public servants that put country over party ideology.
17
@KD:
Conspiracy with a hostile foreign government isn’t a crime? Trump is now on the record admitting that Trump Jr. did, in fact, attempt to conspire with the Russians; he’s gone from “there was no collusion” to “I didn’t know about until afterward, and collusion isn’t a crime anyway.” Pretending that it isn’t criminal is just hand waving, which is par for the course for this presidency.
Still, it’s interesting to see how Trump supporters are willing to forgive anything, even getting in bed with with Russia. There was a time that doing so would have been the kiss of death for a Republican, since the USSR was enemy #1 to them. Now it’s “Party First” all the way.
5
Hacking into DNC servers is just as much a crime as breaking into the DNC office at the Watergate.
2
finally......I was 24 when Nixon packed it.
I've been wondering if my memory was completely flawed.
I guess it wasn't.
15
The biggest difference between then and now is not that congressional Republicans are now more sycophantic, nor that the media are less objective, but that today there is almost nothing that Trump could do that would seem wrong or even embarrassing to his base - or to himself.
56
This is a timely article to remind those of us who remember the Watergate era that there was indeed a lot of Republican support for Nixon.This was in the face of overwhelming evidence of wrong doing.Some 69 people were indicted and 48 went to jail.Mr Nixon was not able to use social media but he did go on television to declare, "Your president is not a crook".The turn over of the tapes was the bombshell.Without them all the other overwhelming evidence might have been explained away.Mr.Nixon had insulted himself from direct involvement.It was a tense and dispiriting time, much like today.I hope the Mueller report is convincing with airtight arguments.
27
I think all of us Americans are starting to truly understand, how exceptionally we have always believed our own myths.
28
Finally, the American political discourse has reached the level of debasement of many other countries.
American exceptionalism was just a self delusion, anyway.
24
Political parties (in this case, the Republicans) want to hide what and who they are, and a majority of the media and the people go along with them. So what and who they are does not get fixed, the citizens who elected them are not given reason to question their judgment and their ways of making political decisions, and with only minor consequences it just gets worse.
There was a reluctance by both parties to inquire about Vietnam. In the name of healing the country, we did not make Nixon or his supporters face what had happened and draw lessons from it. Carter tried to fix things by personal rectitude, but without opening old wounds and cleaning them out.
Reagan fixed things by leading our citizens to pretend that nothing had happened that needed examination and that the only thing wrong was that too many people were critical. He damaged the effectiveness of government by disparaging and downsizing it rather than fixing it, and with a politics of shiny images rather than messy reality. His approach culminates in Trump.
Both parties are loyal to the system and its various corruptions (Hillary certainly was) and fight within it rather than fighting it.
Many citizens are increasingly unhappy with the system, and that is how Trump got elected. Republicans want to roll back the New Deal but cant say so openly, so they are forced to adopt a policy of imagery, propaganda, and anything goes. They support Trump because he is helping them with this.
15
As a Democrat, I have to say that for all his many faults and his deserved premature exit from office, he was in retrospect quite progressive for a Republican. Not like the present day crowd who are not only personally corrupt but are busy dismantling many programs Nixon had no problem presiding over - notably the EPA which he signed into existence.
46
As with other commenters, this is closer to how I remember it. But an important difference is this: although racial issues were burning then - it's how Nixon won in the first place - I don't recall that Watergate was viewed by either side as a conflict about race in America. Nixon's fate was not seen as being about white power in America. Trump and the conflict over his (so-called!) presidency *is* about race in America, more than anything else. I think that accounts for the stubbornness of his supporters, no matter what he does, whether it's take away their health insurance or sell out the United States to Putin. They perceive him as being against the blacks and Hispanics - that's really the bottom line for his people. That's what they want and that's good enough. It's all the sincerity they feel they need from him.
42
@XXXI agree that racism is an important motivator for the base. However there is a long history of anti government, anti authority, and anti elite in this country dating from early on in the history of the American Republic. A large percentage of the American people has always not trusted the judgement of politicians based just on their social class or special areas of competence, or political office. See almost any book of Gordon S. Wood, the foremost historian of the American Revolution and its significance, but especially The Radicalism of the American Revolution for the evidence. In the main this has been a good thing for the American democracy, The case of Donald Trump is a striking example of the bad that can happen from this distrust of government. In the case of the Vietnam War it was a good thing.
7
Thank you for this article. I was getting old enough to be politically aware during Wategate-14 when he resigned. My memory agrees with your assessment. I was getting irritated with the talk of bipartisanship during the Nixon/Watergate investigation. If Dems had not controlled the levers of power Nixon's infamy would never have come to light.
25
@Steve G We should give some Republican leaders their due. All the important leadership in Congress supports the Special Counsel. They also pander to Trump's base, which is unfortunately the Republican Party now, as they want to maintain their power to win elections. But they are openly against firing Mueller. I thought the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, did an outstanding job. The worst of the bunch is David Nunes of California, shameless in his chosen role of carrying water for Trump.
4
"During Watergate, most Republicans in Congress supported Mr. Nixon until the tapes provided undeniable evidence that he had obstructed justice. "
The Republicans did not tell Nixon he had to go because he committed crimes; they told him he had to go because he lost his political support in Congress.
Trump is making sure NO MATTER WHAT that he does not lose his political support in Congress.
51
This selective public memory seems to happen all the time.
When Ronald Reagan died he was touted as a great president. He lied and lied and lied to Americans. We’d listen to his speeches and keep count.
As each conservative passes away, their obits praise their civility but ignore their policies that damaged the middle and lower classes in America.
There are a few of us out here with long memories and I hope we will be ready to remind the younger generation.
To current news people and obit writers: read your history.
185
@Public Memory
Hard to imagine Trump will get good obits for civility.
3
This is why it's imperative that the Democrats regain control of Congress, at least one chamber, this November - and why that, I think, outweighs virtually any other issue associated with these elections. NOT "in order to impeach the president." Rather, not to REFUSE to do so despite a smoking gun, IF in the end the majority of Americans are convinced that such has been produced. Because the Republicans WILL refuse, even in the face of irrefutable evidence - this fact is beyond debate.
139
Thank you for this helpful perspective. For further historical perspective, I would add that Nixon actually did commit treason during the 1968 campaign when, as a private citizen, he secretly arranged with the government of South Vietnam to delay peace negotiations until after the election, thereby conspiring with a foreign government directly contrary to the position of the government of United States.
228
@J P as did Reagan, when he told the Iranians not to release the hostages. Seems like a republican pattern: treason.
1
This just reinforces for me the notion that Republicans value party over country or Constitutional due process. I view them as uncompromised, cynical hypocrites.
90
@Aaron of London
As evidence for your statement, Exhibit A is the tape that recently came out from a private Republican fundraiser, in which Rep. Devin Nunes said it is vital for the Republicans to retain control of Congress in order to protect the President.
Evidently protecting constitutional due process never occurred to him.
112
I am old enough to remember well the Judiciary Committee hearings and the various partisan volleys that occurred before and afterward. I find it remarkable, to the point of stunning, that the authors here would attempt to make an equivalence between Republican Party behavior then and now.
Bottom line, this is historical malfeasance. The quotes here are cherry-picked and meant to echo a semblance of what passes for hyper-partisanship today. But seriously, show me the Devin Nunes of Watergate, a pol in charge of a committee so blatantly putting his thumb on the scale, beyond all reason and logical argument. That is just one of dozens of ways I could puncture this truly perplexing article.
Do better next time New York Times. If you don't know how this thing you published is full of holes, you should.
16
@PBR You can't point to a Devin Nunes of Watergate because the Republicans didn't control Congress and chaired no committees.
15
The enemy of the perfect is not the good. Goldwater had brass to visit nixon as he did. Many Americans felt Watergate vindicated our system. Not one republican today compares to Goldwater; few on the left today hope for a peaceful outcome this time. I say this as a left wing historian!
6
@heyblondie However, we did have "Two future GOP presidents, George H.W. Bush (then chairman of the Republican National Committee) and Reagan (then governor of California), called Nixon and assured him that he could get through the scandal." https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-the-biggest-scandals-cant-kill...
The very fact that most Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee had voted against the articles of impeachment is what gave them credibility to partisan Republican voters when those congressmen then all turned against Nixon and said he should be impeach for obstruction of justice. When Nixon's ablest defender, Congressman Charles Wiggins, read the "smoking gun" tape transcript and then announced he would support impeachment, and then others like Trent Lott followed his lead, that ensured that Nixon's removal would not be seen as partisan. A reasonable argument can be made that there was enough circumstantial evidence warranting impeachment before that tape's release, but the way it actually played out was better for the country -- removing any doubt that impeachment was justified on a non-partisan basis.
14
The biggest difference between then and now is that we no longer have democracy in this country. We have one-party rule, thanks to gerrymandering, vote suppression, and Russian interference, and the ruling party will never abandon its Strong Man.
91
I was a high school student when the Watergate hearings occurred. Although I didn't support Nixon for President, I didn't believe John Dean's testimony. You are right that we needed the taped conversations to understand President Nixon's role in the coverup. But as I listened to the hearings and followed it in the papers and debated it at school, several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee accepted the facts that President Nixon was involved in covering up crimes and deserved impeachment and conviction, on at least one count of the articles of impeachment.
The eight years of Republicans 'won't agree to anything President Obama recommends' has led us to this point where all but a (smaller than in Watergate) fraction of Republicans are, wrongly shielding the President, no matter what they find out about candidate Trump's actions.
Many Republicans did not agree President Nixon deserved impeachment, but there was enough to form a national consensus. There was more movement than we are having now.
41
I have vivid memories of Nixon's resignation speech, broadcast over the radio in a restaurant where I sat with my Republican parents and their Republican friends. I secretly cheered, the hidden Democrat in the midst.
I do hope that my son, who is now around the same age as I was then, can have memories of a Trump resignation speech. This time, however, he'll be with his Democratic parents and their Democratic friends.
71
@HN I'm hoping your son will remember Trump's lawyer's comments at the sentencing...
@HN I remember well the day it was announced.... I was working at a tavern in The Fremont district in Seattle. The owner called and told me drinks were free for the rest of my shift but it was so loud from the cheering I could barely let the customers know. It was a great day
2
If FOX news, the brainchild of Nixon's machiavellian sexually-assaulting crony Roger Ailes, had been around during Watergate the Republican congress would have been too intimidated to vote for impeachment.
94
The biggest difference now is that when the worst evidence against Trump finally comes out, Republican Senators and Congressmen won't have to abandon him. Their base will believe whatever they tell them to believe. Trump really did fire Comey to end the investigation? Fake News! Don Jr. had follow up meetings with the Russians? So what!?! Democrats are worse!!
30
Republicans FIRST, in all things. Useless, arrogant, “ Christian “, white males, consumed with obtaining, and maintaining power. And, the incredible, unearned benefits that last a lifetime. Actual service to our Country and People is really low on their priority list. See you in November, Boys. Seriously.
74
In international affairs Nixon and Kissinger created many the problems that USA faces today. Recognition of the brutal regime of China, ignoring the genocide on Bangladesh, cozying up to Pakistan were all the 'accomplishments' of this rogue team.
9
The biggest difference between the Watergate era and now, is that, then you had three networks who treated their news divisions as jewels in their network crowns. They held the public trust in their hands and treated their journalism with integrity, respect and professionalism. All of them lost money for their networks but they acted as loss leaders because of the special place the news departments held with the American people. For decades the most trusted man in America was the newsman Walter Cronkite. Before him it was another newsman, Edward R. Morrow who confronted Sen.Joe McCarthy and his witch hunt. Somewhere in the 80's the news departments were folded into the entertainment divisions of the networks and they were required to show a profit. At that point, with the elimination of the fairness doctrine and the new 24 hour news cycle, news became entertainment. A reality show with heroes and villains, mysteries and intrigues, gossip and opinions and, of course, legs and blond wigs. Really, how long did we think it would take before FOX news just decided to get rid journalistic rules all together. The balkanization of news is now complete and those that watch FOX don't ever have to admit that Trump is a liar because it is never reported that he is. I fear we are in uncharted territory when it comes to factual news gathering and it's not the Breaking News that scares me, it's the fact that our news is broken.
313
@Rick Gage -- Wow, Rick -- Comment of the Year!
What a concise summation of the Death of the (once-vaunted) Fourth Estate. I miss her.
And Hunter S. Thompson.
5
@Rick Gage
On the other hand, it took years for the three networks to go public with the doubts many of their correspondents had about Vietnam and the official version of how the war was going. Criticism of the goals or conduct of the war are seen as treasonous attacks on the armed forces and the country itself, and many people still see them that way and watch Fox because Fox shares their orientation.
3
@Rick Gage
In addition, Nixon's ally, Roger Ailes, was fascinated with the possibilities TV presented in swaying public opinion. And after the Fairness Doctrine was knocked down under Reagan, he was free to head up Fox News and try to turn the country R.
4
Nixon was at least competent at his job as president. Trump is a crook and a conman of the first order. While its true that Nixon cussed in the White House, he appeared to behave toward women like a gentleman. Nixon actually believed in governing. There are so many differences between these two men. I can't believe I am defending Nixon. I came of age in the 60's.
Linda Selvia
94
@Jack Selvia
As a 73 year old who remembers it well I agree. The sadist part was that Nixon was a very gifted man and all that he could have done for this country was wasted. Remember who gave us the EPA.
5
thanks for the refresher course. I followed Watergate as a young man and while I knew
that many Republicans supported Nixon
until the smoking gun tape was released,
I thought Howard Baker was braver than
most of them.clearly I was mistaken.
Republicans then and now never devour
their own. they leave that to the Democrats.
32
Great article. It reflects what I remember seeing, from watching hours of the hearings, reading the Times and the Post and watching Uncle Walter. Even after Nixon resigned, rank and file Republican voters could never be convinced that he did anything wrong. I have no proof, but I always wondered whether part of the motivation for the Clinton impeachment (which seemed doomed to fail in the Senate) was a "you tried to impeach our president and forced him to resign, now we're going to impeach yours" mentality.
67
Has anyone truly researched why history continues to repeat itself? Why are we, as human beings, unable to retain enough collective memory to end the merry-go-round ride and actually progress without regressing backwards time and again?
19
@Laura
History is an independent, intangible thing that doesn't repeat itself any more than an automobile accident occurring at a given intersection more than once is that intersection repeating itself.
2
All true, all as I remember, and all very disturbing. However, the Republican men cited in this article had a minimal semblance of honor, while todays GOP leadership is completely devoid of honesty, honor, patriotism, or any concern for the rule of law. This is why the problem of a lying, cheating, dishonest President is far worse today than in my youth.
118
Finally; a correction of the 'bipartisanship' hagiography !
55
This is the type of thing that gets lost as the people who were around when it happened get older and some pass away. There was no internet back then to archive practically everything. I remember Howard Baker pretending to be evenhanded but doing all he could to distract and send the Senate inquiry down rabbit holes. At one point he went on and on about the diameter of the tape reels, and if they existed. They won't admit it now, but many if not most, Republicans did not think what Nixon did was such a big deal.
126
@Clovis My father thought to his dying day (in 1999) that Nixon got a bum rap. He wasn't a stupid man, but he wouldn't see what he didn't want to see.
12
Unlike the 1970's, in 2018 Republicans will demand a video of Trump sitting down personally with Russians and signing conspiracy documents which would also be required in evidence. Without absolute proof they will insist that this is a witch hunt.d
This is in spite of the fact that criminal courts in the country do not require absolute certainty with no possibility of any doubt. It is merely "beyond a reasonable doubt" and circumstantial evidence is allowed in court.
40
Even more disturbing than this historical truth is the fact that there is a large school of GOP revisionism out there that implies Nixon did nothing wrong except for the cover-up.
As Carl Bernstein consistently points out, Nixon was a criminal President, and Trump will ultimately be found to be worse.
272
Can you name the actual crime that Trump has committed?
1
It's important to remember history as it really was. Republicans overwhelmingly supported Nixon until after the "smoking gun", although in those long ago days several Republican leaders still had spines. Admittedly Republicans in Congress have sunk lower morally since then, but at the very end even a pack of these rats will abandon an obviously sinking ship.
83
@Marvant Duhon: Trump is doomed. It's obvious from the way he's behaving about Mueller that he's guilty of something serious. It will be fascinating to see what the smoking gun turns out to be and where it comes from. It could end up being something as silly as a really, really incriminating Omarosa tape.
1
The frustrating thing about America is that sheer dignity is the major factor for my political choices. I really wish I could support a party based on their political ideologies but the G.O.P makes it difficult. In the past 40 years, every G.O.P president has been a disgrace, Nixon, Bush and Trump are going down as some of the worst presidents we have ever had.
and I wish I could look past that, but they embody the core of the Republican party, the white nationalist core. A core that no matter what policies they bring forth, as a black person, an immigrant or as part of the LGBTQ community, you can't in good faith support them.
121
@James: Women can't support the Republicans either. Look at who the leader of their party is now. He bragged on the Access Hollywood tape about habitually committing sexual assault, and they continued to support him anyway. Disgusting.
37
@james -- " ... the white nationalist core ... that no matter what policies they bring forth, as a black person, an immigrant or as part of the LGBTQ community, you can't in good faith support them."
Which is why, being such sore losers, they must gerrymandeer voting districts, suppress the Electorate, and OWN the voting machines. They're not stupid.
For letting them get away with that?
WE are.
2
Bravo for this article. It is roughly the way I remembered it, the Republicans abandoning ship when it became obvious that the ship was going down. They will do so again, after the blue wave has drowned most of them.
146
I needed this corrective, even though I watched virtually all of the Watergate hearings. I suppose my memory was distorted because there was Lowell Weicker, and because Howard Baker conducted himself like an honest broker in the hearings, by and large -- unlike people like Nunes, Gowdy, Goodlatte, etc. And then ultimately when Goldwater delivered the news to Nixon.
I have no confidence the current crop of Republicans will find even that level of honesty, decency, and patriotism.
3