Richard Nixon died
in 1994, leaving behind not an iconic legacy that was well-deserved, but a
legacy of political, military, and moral tragedy. I believe that one could view
this argument in two ways. I think that Nixon should be remembered negatively
in history for some of the things he did, such as covering up Watergate.
However, he did things that immensely helped out our country that he should be
recognized for as well.
Nixon did some
very positive things in his time as president, one of them being his Foreign
Policy. Nixon’s Foreign Policy did three major things for our country that
included getting the US out of Vietnam, re-opening relations with China, and
armed control with the Soviet Union. Nixon focused on using peaceful
negotiations and relaxing tensions, otherwise known as détente. He also made a visit to China, which made him
and a few others the first Americans inside the borders of the People’s
Republic of China. The American Ping-Pong team received a surprise invite to
visit the PRC, which was later known as Ping-Pong Diplomacy.
Another one of
Richard Nixon’s successes was in the USSR where he limited production of
missiles, eased tensions, and opened up foreign relations. SALT I (Strategic
Arms Limitations Talks) was what limited the antiballistic missiles and
prevented a situation that could’ve gotten much worse. I think that Richard
Nixon should be remembered positively for helping out our country in all of
these areas. He was a confident person and did what he felt was needed to help
our country.
However, along
with Richard Nixon’s successes came many failures, which he will always be held
responsible for. Some of Nixon’s failures included causing a recession by
cutting off the government spending and causing stagflation, which is a combination
of inflation and unemployment. Some people also argue that Nixon didn’t fully
succeed in Vietnam because some countries also fell to communist forces, and
Vietnam established a Socialist Government. Nixon should also be looked upon
negatively for the bombings in Cambodia. He bombed Cambodia in attempt to
weaken supply routes for North Vietnamese army, but resulted in killing many
innocent people. Another one of Nixon’s major downfalls was causing an oil
crisis due to involvement with Israel. At the time, Arab nations wouldn’t sell
oil to the US. The oil embargo had a devastating impact on the US economy. This
also caused the price of oil to increase, and in the future the price of oil
will most likely continue to climb due to the past oil crisis.
Richard Nixon’s
legacy he is most widely known for is the Watergate Scandal. Five men were
caught attempting to bug headquarters of the Democratic Party inside the
Watergate building. Nixon tried to cover up the entire scandal behind
Watergate, but the truth eventually became known to everyone. Nixon resigned
from presidency on August 9, 1974. Due to the Watergate Scandal I think that
Nixon will always be remembered negatively. His morals at the time of his
presidency were not always where they should’ve been, especially in the case of
Watergate.
Overall I believe
that Richard Nixon did some very positive things for our country during his
years as president. However, I think that the negative factors have a greater
effect on our country and its people. For this reason, I think that Nixon leaves
behind a legacy of political, military, and moral tragedy rather than a good
legacy. Nixon’s actions with bombing Cambodia, the oil crisis, causing a
recession, and Watergate, are too great to be simply overlooked and he will be
stuck having a negative legacy with his name due to his actions.
