The Watergate scandal, for many, is considered the greatest federal political scandal in the history of politics American. In 1972, the United States government was at the center of a political scandal involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. Although there is debate about then-President Nixon's direct involvement in Watergate, there is no doubt that with his attempted cover-up soon after, he has now firmly inserted himself into the scandal. As a result, the highest office in the land is now headed by a criminally involved president. This assessment will explain why the consequences of Nixon's actions affected the way the American people now viewed government policies, and how the Watergate scandal had negative evaluations of government that damaged long-term trust in the government. American political system. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Several factors contributed to the undermining of political trust, and this essay will analyze each of these factors individually while ultimately justifying how the consequences that followed can be attributed to the Watergate scandal itself. To answer the question posed, this essay will use the work of scholars such as Kim McQuaid and James Patterson to assess the damage to trust in America. Additionally, we will draw facts and opinions from credible journal articles by scholars such as Karlyn Bowman and Troy Zimmer, while fairly assessing the damaging political fallout caused by the Watergate scandal. When Nixon took office in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972, he ushered in a period heavily dominated by Republicans in presidential elections, who won seven of the next ten elections. One argument that the scandal so damaged political trust is that, despite clear evidence of wrongdoing and high crimes on the part of Nixon, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott believed that there were only 60 votes in the Senate, 7 votes short of the 67 needed. to impeach.2 B, Woodward and C, Bernstein, “The Final Days.” This statistic indicates that there were still many Republican senators on Nixon's side, who saw the growing distrust of the American people as a direct result of their support. Despite the fact that the 1976 election would put Jimmy Carter in the White House, while Gerald Ford was not involved in the Watergate scandal despite Nixon's pardon sparking strong reactions, many Americans still believed that the party Republican was always tainted. Nonetheless, the American people quickly returned to Republican Ronald Reagan to lead the way just four years later, but that doesn't mean the damage to political trust has gone away. To determine precisely when the damage to political trust began exactly after the scandal is difficult to pin down, however, throughout its investigation it is crucial to note that it only took a mere two years for it to have a significant impact on the country, since it then led the Democrats to collect around forty euros. -nine seats in the House of Representatives in the 1974 midterm elections. Once again, Hugh Scott's judgment is attributable to the question of this essay, asserting that the office has lost ground - including in relation to in Congress. If a Senate leader could see this, theAmerican people could too. This is further proof that confidence in the political system has been largely weakened. The American people wanted change, a view that many did not match. In an article published in Forbes, political contributor Karlyn Bowman believes that the link between politics and corruption has long been associated by the American people, notably in 1974. Bowman goes on to state that in a poll conducted by analysis firm Gallup , 49 percent of respondents thought the Watergate scandal was a "very serious matter" because of its exposure of corruption within the Nixon administration. In addition to the argument that supports Bowman's, James Patterson notes that there has been an overall decline in trust in government - data revealing that in 1975, just three years after the outbreak of the scandal Watergate, trust had fallen to 45%, a total decrease of 15% from 1960. Professor Richard E. Neustadt of Harvard stated in his article "The Coercion of the President: The Presidency After Watergate" that, for Democrats, 1972 revealed the end of the old regime.7 A regime that saw Nixon obstruct justice. and abusing his presidential power would only further weaken the party system, political structure and trust that the country had spent years building. When Nixon resigned – thereby avoiding impeachment – ​​Vietnam was not yet over and America needed a strong leader which it did not have. While Kim McQuaid says America was divided during the Vietnam War, she also adds that the Watergate scandal made America a joke and a ridicule in the eyes of its own people. And if it's one thing Americans hate, it's being a laughing stock. Theodore White proclaimed that Nixon left a weakened presidency while America was in the midst of an economic and military crisis. New York: Dell. This helped the American people and gave them the ammunition they needed to throw political confidence into disarray. Arguably, Nixon's resignation was the starting point for distrust, but at a minimum, it was where the damage to trust in the political system began to be felt. The Federal Times chastised Nixon for his decision to resign, believing that impeachment was what the American people deserved. The policy was lost among the American people shortly after the scandal broke, according to Jill Aitoro. Aitoro publicly reflected on the effect that Watergate had on Americans and summarized that despite Nixon's attacks on the media, the government realized that the press "might not be so easily contained." A major factor in the Watergate scandal that President Nixon's wiretapping of private citizens between 1969 and 1971 not only increased the damage to political trust, but may very well have been the catalyst for it. . The repercussions of Nixon's violation of his oath of office are unimaginable considering how betrayed the American people felt by this blatant abuse of power. The actions of a sitting president have undoubtedly broken the trust of the American people. Other acts committed that became public once the articles of impeachment were drawn up were further abuses of power in subsequent cover-ups; violated the constitutional rights set forth in the article and the obstruction of justice which saw Nixon refuse to turn over the incriminating tapes to Congress following a congressional subpoena. President Nixon was known for misleading the public. Once Nixon.