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Watergate and Impeachment

There is growing talk of impeachment and comparison of the Watergate scandal to Mueller's report on the Russian interference of the 2016 Presidential election. I thought I would check through the student newspaper, Varsity News, on how students viewed the Watergate scandal.

The first significant item I can find is a letter to the editor in the November 30, 1973 issue. Although the Watergate break-in is mentioned, the main focus of the writer is on the power the president has with the Pentagon. There is an interesting part of the letter that some might think relevant to the current political situation: "The quivering, limp-headed Congress realizes impeachment is justified (how could they not, they're politicians!) but what they don't have the guts to say to the public is, "This 'democracy' party is over. Hail Nixon!" By shutting up, they might survive the purge." Almost fifty years later, are we facing the same problem?

vn nixon

In a related note, the University of Detroit School of Law had Elliot Richardson as a speaker for their annual banquet in February 1974. Elliot Richardson resigned from his post as Attorney General of the United States rather than carry out a Presidential order to fire Special Prosecuter Archibald Cox. The topic of his speech, "Morality and Government" Hmmmmm.....

VN-elliotrichardson

In the Varsity News April 2, 1974, the whole Watergate scandal got to the point where even the University of Detroit Student Government called for Nixon's impeachment. They sent their resolution to Senator Robert Griffin, Senator Phillip Hart, Congressman John Conyers and the White House.

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What impact, if any, it had is unknown. President Nixon resigned from office August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office.

 

Permalink Last updated 07/31/2019 by P. Higo

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