To call this a dark hour in our nation’s history hardly
even pretends to scratch the surface of the disgrace that has been inflicted
on its highest office. Yesterday on live television, millions of Americans
were forced to witness the nightmarish spectacle of their commander-in-chief
being hauled out of the White House like a raving lunatic after he was found
guilty by Congress of obstructing justice and abusing the authority of the
Presidency. Ever since the Watergate Hotel fire of 1971, it seems as if
disaster and scandal have followed Richard Nixon everywhere he goes; one
shudders to contemplate how much worse the stain on our nation’s honor might
be today if Nixon had succeeded in carrying out his long- defunct plot to
break into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate.
In fact, after winning re-election to the presidency in
1972 it seems as if Nixon has gone out of his way to spit on that sacred
trust. His use of illegal surveillance to undermine political opponents, his
demonization of those who even mildly criticized his policies, his violation
of international law in bombing neutral Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam
War, his botched handling of US intervention in the 1973 Arab- Israeli
conflict, his insensitive remarks concerning the students killed in last
June’s UCLA campus riots, and his incessant stonewalling of the Congressional
committee investigating his misuse of the Oval Office all speak volumes about
the now-former chief executive’s character-- or more accurately, lack thereof.
His corrupt actions and cynical mindset throughout his time as President,
combined with his deranged behavior yesterday as FBI and Secret Service agents
were escorting him to the van that would take him to prison, have not only
cast dishonor on the presidency at home but inflicted untold damage on our
nation’s prestige abroad.
Until now it was thought Warren Harding, on whose watch the
Teapot Dome scandal unfolded, or Ulysses S. Grant, whose own presidential
tenure was ripe with influence peddling, represented the height of corruption
in the White House. Sadly, however, Richard Nixon, has managed to surpass the
crooked standards set by both those administrations; Gerald Ford’s decision to
resign as vice-president last October now seems less like the abandonment of a
political ally and more like the understandable reaction of a good man placed
in a bad and increasingly untenable situation. Indeed, it’s somewhat amazing
Ford managed to stick it out as long as he did.
A man with Ford’s distinguished record-- first as a
Michigan Congressman, then as minority leader in the House of Representatives,
and finally as Vice-President of the United States --deserves a better fate
than to be made to serve as a glorified bagman for Nixon. When Ford succeeded
Spiro T. Agnew as VP following Agnew’s own resignation in 1973 Ford was asked
to do one distasteful thing after another in Nixon’s defense, and these things
gradually placed a burden on Ford’s conscience that eventually became too
heavy for him to carry; when Nixon tried to persuade Ford to commit perjury in
his testimony before the Congressional probe into Nixon’s illicit activities,
it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Ford. It would have been a
greater shock to the American people if Ford hadn’t resigned.
While we can’t claim to know the mind of every single
person who voted for Richard Nixon in 1972, or 1968 for that matter, it’s
probably safe to say that many a "Nixon’s the One" campaign button or poster
has now been thrown in the trash or hidden in the attic. Even those who were
Nixon’s most vocal defenders in the past are now bending over backwards to
distance themselves from the former President. With the possible exception of
his wife and family, it’s very difficult if not impossible today to find
anybody who’s got a single kind word to say about Richard M. Nixon.
New President William Simon, who had the thankless task of
serving as Nixon’s vice-president when Gerald Ford resigned and was Secretary
of the Treasury before that, is now confronted with the daunting task of
trying to restore unity to a nation which has been torn apart by six and a
half years of corruption, venal behavior, and outright paranoia from the most
dishonest administration to ever occupy the White House. He must also try to
mend America’s seriously tarnished reputation overseas, a reputation that has
endured severe blows not only from the Nixon impeachment trial but also from
the collapse of South Vietnam, Nixon’s mishandling of the 1973 Arab-Israeli
war, and the Mayaguez tragedy of two months ago. Last but not least,
President Simon must somehow rebuild the bridges between the White House and
Congress that were largely burned by his predecessor over the past two and a
half years.
The America whose highest office Simon inherited just 24
hours ago is a nation deep in the throes of what may well be its most serious
crisis since the Depression of the 1930s. By any measuring stick you might
care to use, this country is in grave trouble, and our very future may well
rest on the answer to the question of whether or not Simon can lift America
out of that trouble.
