President Richard Nixon: Man with a Scandal

Richard Milhous Nixon will be remembered as one of the greatest scandalous Presidents in modern times because of his crude and clandestine actions.  His administration brought a few positive changes, but one major cloud supersedes everything else.  When people think of Nixon, they think of Watergate Secret missions and bribery tainted Nixon’s reputation as President even after a landslide victory, but Watergate cost him his career.  President Nixon introduced new foreign policies, built a new society at home, but was plagued by the Watergate scandal.

When President Nixon first stepped into presidential office, his foreign policies showed great promise and had great design.  They were made to improve relations between the United States and the Communist powers, especially China and the Soviet Union.  His policy of avoiding confrontation and establishing a nuclear peace was called detente.  Nixon had hoped to establish a “new world order.”  One example that demonstrates Nixon’s affinity for world peace was the secret Kissinger mission to China.  This strategic move by Nixon eased the strained relationship between the United States and China.  Because it was top secret, opponents of the plan did not get a change to speak out against it.  The basic premise of the secret plan to China was that the Chinese and Pakistani crews would guide the plane in an undetectable route over the Himalayan Mountains.  It was crucial that the plane had to remain cloaked and invincible to Soviet and Indian radar.

A key aspect to Nixon’s views on foreign policy was realpolitik.  Realpolitik is a German derived word that means to have a belief in practical politics.  This was advantageous to Nixon and Kissinger because it allowed for each nation to appropriate policies based on its own interests, rather than on any particular view of the world.  Nixon reasoned that if the US could benefit from better relations with China and the Soviet Union, then it should do everything possible to reestablish these important relations.  Another step of Nixon’s foreign policy included a balance of power between nations.  This meant that all the big superpowers – United States, Europe, Soviet Union, China, and Japan, would balance each other.  Détente was key to establishing the balance of power.  It also made sense economically.  Instead of the United States pouring billions of dollars into conflicts that were not directly involved in US affairs, this new trade with China and the Soviet Union opened up new markets, as well as a bigger opportunity for profit.  The fact that the new trade opportunities benefited the United States fit perfectly into the practice of realpolitik.  It was a “practical” solution, so President Nixon encouraged it.