On the 50th anniversary of the scandal that ended Nixon, the United States longs for the atmosphere of bipartisan cooperation that has been lost
On the night of June 17, half a century ago, the guard of one of the buildings in the Watergate urbanization, where the Democratic Party National Committee had its office in Washington DC, called the police to report that someone had broken into the house. . What happened next went far beyond the arrest of five men, carried out by the undercover cops closest to the crime scene, some dressed as hippies, and marked the life of the United States forever.
The coincidence of the 50th anniversary with the January 6 hearings, inspired precisely by that of the ‘Watergate case’, has exposed the nostalgia for an era of bipartisan cooperation in which politicians and press were able to work together to fight a paranoid and corrupt president.
No one expects the January 6 hearings to change the mind of Donald Trump’s supporters, let alone revolutionize public opinion like Richard Nixon’s. When the “Watergate” hearings began, Nixon enjoyed the confidence of 68% of Americans, but six months later his approval rate had fallen to 31%, less than half. With this, people’s confidence in their institutions was lost forever. The Republican Party understood that the president would not recover in the next election and dropped ballast. Nixon resigned to avoid the shame of impeachment, but dismantling his image and showing off the White House sewers also destroyed the credibility of the presidency, a heavy price to pay.
According to a study by the PEW Research Center, Americans’ confidence in their government was high even after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, peaking at 77%. By the time Nixon left office, it was only 36%. According to the organization’s latest measurement, only 20% of Americans believe their supervisor will always or always do the right thing. The credibility of the press has also declined. According to a survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, only 29% of citizens trust her.
One or the other, the press and the politicians, are trying to regain lost power with another similar blow, but it is precisely this desperate quest that stands in the way. Donald Trump’s two failed impeachments, Bill Clinton’s and even this week’s hearings add to widespread distaste, only to be compared to the disappointment of so many journalists eager to be the next Bob Woodward.
Source: La Verdad
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