Richard Nixon

what was Nixon’s personality like?

Nixon rarely related well to those he met. 'People don't like him', said Eisenhower. His leadership style would be neither 'man of the people' nor charismatic.

what was Nixon like in domestic matters?

Nixon rarely attempted idealistic and/ or optimistic leadership.

how had he long won votes?

by playing on people's fears. In 1946, he suggested that his Democrat rival for a congressional seat had Communist sympathies. He privately acknowledged this was untrue but said, 'Thad to win.

was Nixon cynical?

he was cynical. He knew US politics could be a very dirty business. Dubious Democrat electoral practices in Mayor Daley's Chicago and Johnson's Texas might have been decisive in Kennedy's narrow victory in 1960: 'We won but they stole it from us', said Nixon. Such experiences would contribute to his particularly paranoid style of leadership.

how was Nixon’s campiagn rhetoric difference form his leadership style?

Although Nixon's campaign rhetoric was often extreme, his leadership style was frequently as moderate and pragmatic as that of Eisenhower. Despite many coded campaign references to black Americans who rioted or existed on welfare, President Nixon promoted affirmative action.

what did Nixon leave in tact, that other expected himt o destroy?

Furthermore, although his campaign rhetoric led some voters to believe he would dismantle the welfare safety net established by the Democrats, he left it intact.

what rose during Nixon’s presidency?

expenditure on welfare rose during his presidency. He was not uncaring. He knew what it was like to grow up in a family with financial and health problems two younger brothers died young from meningitis and tuberculosis respectively).

what did Nixon’s pragmatism contribute to?

frequently statesmanlike leadership in foreign policy. This was demonstrated in his development from one whose political career was built on militant anti-Communism (some called him a white-collar McCarthy) into a President who effected detente with the USSR and China.

what di dNixon take care to ensure?

his statesmanlike leadership was properly televised: on his return from China in 1972, he waited for nine hours in Alaska so his plane could land in Washington at the 9p.m. prime TV news hour.

what was Nixon criticised for?

Although Nixon won great praise for his detente policy, the methods by which he extracted America from Vietnam have been greatly criticised

what was Nixon accustomed to?

acting independently of Congress in foreign policy and sought similar freedom from constraints in domestic policy.

what was Nixon unfortunate in having?

to face a Democrat Congress throughout his presidency, but could not even get on with congressional Republicans.

what had Gerald Ford said?

Nixon could not hide his disdain for the Congress. Nixon described it as ‘cumbersome, undisciplined, isolationist, fiscally irresponsible, overly vulnerable to pressures from organised minorities, and too dominated by the media!

what contributed to Nixon’s downfall?

successful presidential leadership required good relations with Congress and the media, and Nixon’s failures

what cost Nixon his presidency?

The combination of Nixon's desire to win, his negative and suspicious nature, and the pressure of trying to end the Vietnam War, Watergate

what did Nixon worry about in terms of ‘leaks’?

After the press learned about his secret bombing of Cambodia in 1970, Nixon worried about leaks' and in 1971 set up a Special Investigation Unit (better known as 'the plumbers') to stop them.

what did Nixon fear in 1972?

the unpopularity of the continuing Vietnam War might stop him getting re-elected contributed to his administration's engagement in criminal surveillance and political subversion, notably the two break-ins into the Democrat National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington DC. The second was discovered and the plumbers were arrested.

why was Nixon forced to resign?

The press and Senate pursued the issue until Nixon was forced to resign due to the threat of impeachment on the grounds of obstruction of justice, for example, his participation in the attempted administration cover-up of the break-ins abuse of power, for example, criminal surveillance using federal government agencies.