Nixon and an Infamous Legacy

                Richard Nixon was the 37^th President of the United States of America. Nixon became President in a very crucial time of American history. The United States was in the middle of the Vietnam War. Politics were raging, the people protesting, and Nixon scheming.

                Lyndon B. Johnson, the President before Nixon, had gotten the U.S deeply involved in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese and the Viet Kong were proving to be well disciplined, skilled, and worthy opponents. The U.S had stuck out the years in Vietnam; however troop morale and citizen tensions were not in favor. Nixon succeeded into a Presidency that involved the general public protesting, advances made by the enemy combatants, and political tensions were growing between the political parties.

                I think that Nixon did some really great things related to foreign affairs. His angles in the Vietnam War were a little far-fetched and didn’t work very well, but I think he did rather okay for being handed a war. Some things that Nixon did very well were opening relations with other countries. With Nixon pulling the U.S out of Vietnam, some tension was relieved on not only the U.S, but the entire world. Countries were fonder of the U.S, knowing that they were done with Vietnam. Nixon also helped the U.S gain new relations with an old arch nemesis, the U.S.S.R. The Cold War enemy had been in a standoff with the U.S for years; Nixon became friends with the U.S.S.R. and opened up relations with them. Another country that Nixon really connected with was China. China had been a shut-out nation that kept to itself for a very long time. Nixon was bold enough to even visit China, just to make good relations with them. Nixon also staked international claims in South America, and the Middle East. The Middle East is very important because we get most of our oil from that region of the world. We may not have been able to do this if Nixon would not have been gifted in the area of Foreign Affairs.

                Nixon did some great things as President of the United States. However, Nixon also had is bleaker moments of presidency. Nixon took quite a bit of flak from his decision to make a military move on Cambodia. He also got many other bad vibes from the American public on his political decisions. Nixon made one big mistake; it was big enough to cost him his career. Nixon was involved in a plot to eaves drop on the democrats in the Watergate Building. The people that were planting the “bug” got busted, and the scandal flew wide open. Nixon received most of the fire, but denied it all until after he had resigned from office.

                I believe that what Nixon did is wrong, however, I do not believe that people should label Nixon for the one mistake he made. When was the last time you saw a flawless politician? Never! So, when people think of Richard Nixon and his presidency, fifty percent of what they think about should be good things. Not one hundred percent bad things such as Watergate. Nixon was a great president, he got work done, did great with foreign policy, and made some mistakes. In my mind, he was just another regular human being.