"But, but if we Get Rid of Trump, we'll End Up with Pence"

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71. hard to say. he certainly took a hit for that decision; on the other hand,

he spared himself and the republican party many more months of ongoing investigation and prosecutions.

to a large extent he succeeded in his objective of putting the scandal behind, if not the country, at least behind the republican party.
it's frankly amazing that we won only one presidential election following watergate.

nixon
nixon/ford
carter (yay!)
reagan
reagan
poppy

5 out of 6 consecutive election they win, including 3 out of 4 *after* they're known as the party of watergate. unbelievable.


can you imagine if ford hadn't pardoned nixon and instead his un-elected presidency was constantly being overshadowed by yet more watergate saga -- testimony, more revelations, indictments, prosecutions, etc.?

frankly, i think his pardon was self-serving and gave himself the best shot at re-election. i think it would have been worse for him had he not.


horrible precedent, i agree. the final abuse of power / obstruction of justice, imho.