Alexis Kenney Ms.

Duryea APUSH DBQ 1/14/2013 Richard Nixon inherited the leadership of the United States during a very chaotic time. Not only was he faced with difficulties and war abroad, but discontent and protest demonstrations at home. Nixon did exceptionally well in handling foreign issues, but that did not help the issues domestically. The greatest problem that Nixon inherited was a long and costly war in Vietnam. With having no clear objective and no specific plans for an exit strategy, the war threatened to go on continuously as an embarrassing stalemate. This was a success for the guerillas in proving that they could hold off the U.S. and to continue to fight them was their only goal at this point. For the U.S. it was a troublesome and overwhelming war they were facing at home. The Nixon administrations strategy in showing the war on television brought great controversy in showing families the casualties and horrors every night in their living rooms. Nixon became determined to find a way to win the war, however it didnt quit go as he hoped it would. In the end it resulted in a treaty, which gave the North Vietnamese permission to keep their troops on southern soil and then the American troops to then abandon South Vietnnam. This was then followed by a cheap declaration of the administrations creation of a lasting peace, which was almost immediately violated by the North Vietnamese. The Nixon adminstration managemnt of the Vietnam War ended in a long and costly failure due to a loss of public support, despite his appeals to the silent majority that supported him. The Nixon administraration also struggled with OPEC rising all it prices against the U.S. for food, fuel, and transportation. The biggest increase was seen after 1973, where the prices shot up. This embargo that was seen againt the U.S. was mainly due to the American support towards Israel. This support mainly hurt the economy due to most of our resources coming from the middle eastern countries. The Nixon administration worked to rise to the occasion imposing a national speed limit and gas holiday beginning the as yet unfulfilled presidential crusade to vendue American dependency on foreign oil. The maerican peoples reaction to this call, as it has always been was a lack luster. Despite the Nixon administrations rather able handling of this crisis, it lost political favor with the American People. Nixons presidency was several times rocked by scandal as sensitive information about its activities came to fight. The administration attempts to cover its track in these scandals often backfired horribly causing disgust with the political machine among the people. Misleading information over the war in Vienam such as the Pentagon Papers, the Tet Offensive, and the secret bombings in Cambodia led to a loss in confidence over the honesty of the American Government. This revealed the suspicious beginnings, growing resistance of the Viet-cong and Viet-Minh forces, and the mis information used to hide these actions. However the scandal that was

the final draw of Nixons presidency was the Watergate scandal. In an attempt to spy on the democractic headquaters in the Watergate building, ex-CIA agents were arrested. Through the investigation it was first revealed that many Nixons aids had known about this illegal activity and that the CIA had illegally tried to cover it up. The conspiracy finally worked its way back to Nixon despite his attempted evasions through sacrificing partners and eventually giving up taped conversations. Nixon was forced to resign the presidency and submit to enormous backlash from the American people. Despite its adept handling o the energy crisis in 1973, the Nixon administration was overshadowed by the fallings of the Vietnam War and the scandals and coverups that came to light. To its peril, The Nixon administration failed to hold the trust of the silent majority or satifactoiy resolve the conflict in Vietnam or Cambodia. These Failure darken all of Nixons successes and hang over Historys recollection of him to this day.