Staggs 1 Ryan Staggs Virginia Murphy English 102 19 March 2010 Word Count: 1288 Student Reactions After

Watergate Scandal/Nixon Resigning At 2:30 A.M. on June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into and trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National committee at the Watergate hotel. Later, President Richard Nixon was caught as being the head of this operation. He appointed government officials to break into a building to get specific documents. The only problem is that eventually, Nixon got caught red-handed. After the news concerning Watergate broke out on campus, the students mainly reacted in a way that is degrading to Nixon. Some different reasons for these reactions include the students did not trust him anymore, some disagreed with him from the start of his presidency, and they wanted Nixon out as soon as possible, hence them being satisfied when he resigned. This is shown in multiple issues of the Daily Beacon newspaper by the fact that all of the articles in use have a negative bias towards Nixon. Even the photo being used shows strong negativity. Overall, the majority of the students on campus did not support Nixon after news of Watergate broke out, shown by their reactions. President Nixon could not be trusted after this event occurred. As a matter of fact, no single person could be trusted after committing a criminal act like this. Many people became scared of Nixon remaining president after this, as these events were unbelievable to them. Referring to the events that took place on Saturday, October 20, 1973, (also known as the Saturday Night Massacre) assistant professor June Adamson of the College of Communications said, Saturday's events frighten me. I was stunned (Crowder). This reaction shows how scared

Staggs 2 she became of Nixon being in control after this event, and this is just a preliminary event to the news of the actual break-in. After the news of the break-in gets out, there is no doubt she will be completely terrified. Another example that shows fright, and disapproval of Nixon after this event is when Buddy Thomas is asked about how he and his friends felt the day they found out about Watergate. He said, I have a big interest in politics, which caused me to be outraged. I did not understand how the President could do something as stupid. My friends were all just confused at how something like this could happen, and they could not even imagine what was going to come next (Thomas). This shows how people became even more frightened after the news of Watergate came out. When Thomas's friends say how scared they were that something bad might again, this implies they want Nixon out of office as soon as possible to prevent anything like this from happening again. A third example that shows the students do not like Nixon's actions is the creation of the fast-growing group Students for Impeachment of President (Daily Beacon Staff). This shows how it took nearly no time after hearing the bad news about Nixon for students to form a group to combat his actions, proving the fact students feel about Nixon in a strong, negative way after what he has done. There were examples of this shown around campus everywhere. One place was on the McClung Tower where a student spray painted Nixon Justice Department with the x in Nixon as a swastika, meaning whoever wrote that compares his actions to the actions of the Nazi Party (See page attached at end of paper with the picture). Clearly, after the news of Watergate broke out on campus, people became scared of Nixon being president and remaining to have the power granted by that position. Another factor that certainly did not help Nixon's case any is the fact that some people did not like how Nixon was handling his time at president since he started. Part of Nixon's platform when running for president was that he is going to end the war in Vietnam. Soon after

Staggs 3 he was elected president by a landslide election, he did not keep his biggest promise. He instead expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia, frustrating people. He did eventually get the war to a cease fire, but people were still upset he took as long as he did to accomplish this. Also, they were upset with the fact he expanded the war before he ended it. This is shown in the interview with Buddy Thomas when he says, When I heard that Nixon was expanding the war into another country, I was pissed. This was the one of the main reasons that I voted for this guy. He did calm me down a little bit by officially ending the war eventually, but I was still angry at how he made all of America look foolish for electing him president based on him ending the war (Thomas). This shows how he was already upset with how Nixon had performed, and the next little thing Nixon does will provoke him to be completely against Nixon in every respect. This is also shown in the newspaper where there is talk about a possible war protest over this same war expansion. The newspaper reads, A Student Government Association resolution endorsing a proposed Vietnam Moratorium Day heads the agenda... (Brandon, Hight). Since the SGA is made to represent the student body, this shows that she student body as a whole views Nixon's actions in regard to expanding the Vietnam War as wrong, and they are all upset over this. This causes them to act in an outraged manner when Watergate breaks out, making the chance for Nixon to get any support after his mistake slim to none. Overall, since people already had an overall negative attitude towards Nixon, after Watergate they were completely outraged by Nixon's actions. After all this has happens, Nixon is forced to resign to avoid getting impeached. As a whole, the students on campus are satisfied with this action. They finally show some support for one of Nixon's actions about Watergate. One reason for this support is because this is what the students on campus have been asking for since the breakout of Watergate. This is stated clearly in the newspaper article titled UT welcomes resignation which says, UT students interviewed

Staggs 4 by the Beacon welcomed the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, though many expressed disappointment at not seeing the impeachment process run its course (Edging). This shows even though Nixon resigned much to the liking of the people, they still are asking for more with their wishes for impeachment. Considering this, there were few if any people who wanted Nixon to stay, making his decision on resigning as President important because it stopped all of the negative actions people were making from the outbreak of Watergate. All in all, Nixon's resignment as President finally caused some positive reactions and approval from the students on campus. To sum up Watergate in a nutshell, Nixon appointed government officials to break into a building to get documents, and the police caught and arrested them that night. Detectives later found out Nixon's ties to the Watergate scandal. Nixon's reactions concerning Watergate brought on all negative reactions from the students on campus. The main reasons for this disapproval were the lack of trust in Nixon after Watergate, the fact people had a negative attitude towards him after he made some bad decisions concerning the Vietnam War, and the students wanting Nixon out as president as soon as possible; this causing them to be happy when he did resign. There are many examples that back up these reasons in personal interviews and the Daily Beacon newspaper articles. All in all, President Nixon's actions with regard to the Watergate scandal caused negative reactions from the students on campus.

Staggs 5 Bibliography Brandon, Lissa and Bruce Hight. SGA Considers War Protest. The Daily Beacon. 15 October 1970. ~This source gives background information concerning Nixon. It tells how students react to one of his other decisions about the current war. It is important to know how the students felt about Nixon prior to the event, also. Crowder, Charlotte. Campus feelings strong over latest Nixon action. The Daily Beacon. 22 October 1973. ~This source gives information about how the campus as a whole reacted to the events preceding the breakout of Watergate. This is important because it tells about one of the most important events in the whole Watergate scandal. Daily Beacon Staff. The time for impeachment is NOW. The Daily Beacon. 23 October 1973. ~This source tells the newspaper staff's opinion on the whole matter. This is important because it is good to know as many people's opinions as possible. Daily Beacon Staff. Students for Impeachment of President meet. The Daily Beacon. 23 October 1973. ~This source tells about one group that formed because of this event. It is important to know about all of the reaction groups that were made as a result of this event occurring. Edging, Marcia. UT welcomes resignation. The Daily Beacon. 9 August 1974. ~This source tells the part about Nixon being forced to resign. It's important to know how the students on campus felt about Nixon resigning and how it took place. Polk, Richard. Impeachment. n.d. The Daily Beacon. 23 October 1973. ~This is a picture of a student's drawing on the McClung Tower. This is important

Staggs 6 because it shows how bad some people thought of Nixon after this event. Thomas, Buddy. Personal Interview. 28 February 2010. ~This information comes straight from the source. He was at the University during the time, and he can recall exactly what it was like back then. This relates to the topic by telling me exactly how he saw the student body react after this event.

Staggs 7 Picture of Spray Paint on McClung Tower