General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Nixon Tapes: 1971-1972 [View all]Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)I watched the Watergate hearings when they were televised on national tv during the summer of 1973, just before I started my senior year in high school. And I have to admit Nixon was fascinating, if for only one thing . . his self-absorbed proclivity to gain power.
He was like Hitler, totally obsessed by his own bloviated opinion of himself, falsely positive that he was the only one who could be the leader of whatever group he was with at the time.
How he ever got re-elected in 1972 is beyond me.
When Watergate happened, not only my father, but my mom's father, were deeply disappointed that a man like Nixon had ever become the President of this country. It caused them to doubt their own lifelong feelings of loyalty toward their country. The entire event caused them to re-evaluate their value systems. Occurring near the end of the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal shook the very foundations of this country as it caused a constitutional crisis like none other had in over 200 years.
As it turned out, Abbie Hoffman was right about Nixon.