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//Richard Milhous Nixon Political Party: Republican Terms of office: January 20, 1969- August 9,1974 Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford//

Richard Nixon came into the presidency and took hold of America very effectively. He was able to bring reconciliation to the United States and to other countries around the world. With a good relationship with congress, Nixon was able to push forward with his ideas for welfare reform. Overall, Nixon was a great president until the Watergate Scandal. I believe he deserves a C- for his presidency.

Richard Nixon’s main goal was reconciliation. He chose this as his goal because of how divided the nation was. With differing opinions on the war, this caused problems. To achieve this goal, Nixon focused on betting world relations to satisfy the American people. By ending American fighting in Vietnam he accomplished his goal. He also accomplished his goal by bettering relations with Russia and China. He not only wanted to reconcile his nation, but other nations throughout the world. Before the Watergate scandal Nixon had very much accomplished his goal. All was well.

Nixon had a pretty good relationship with congress up until the very end. Having been involved in politics before, he had many connections upon entering the White House. One can see that his relationship with congress was good by looking at the amount of legislation passed during his presidency. He was able to pass the House Recurrent Resolution, many environmental acts, and created a "New Deal" for native americans. Even though he struggled with the opposite party heading congress when he entered the presidency, he was able to work around that and pass the legislation that he wanted. Nixon's relationship with congress did not deteriorate until the Watergate Scandal.

Nixon’s most positive decisions during his presidency came from world affairs. Nixon had a way of knowing just what to do on a world scale. First off, by visiting Beijing and Moscow, he was able to reduce tensions between Russia and China. While in Moscow, he was able to meet with the leader of Russia, Leonid I. Brezhnev. In meeting with him, a treaty to limit nuclear weapons was signed. One last decision on the world scale, was to end American involvement in the Vietnam War. This decision proved to be the most positive of the above decisions in world affairs. By ending American involvement, Nixon saved soldiers lives and prevented any further harsh feelings between America and other countries. All of these decisions impacted America by bettering her relations with other countries. For this reason, these decisions are by far Nixon’s most positive.

Richard Nixon was a fairly good president. However, he made a terrible mistake: the Watergate Scandal. This scandal involved committee members who were trying to reelect Nixon, breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee. Many administrators resigned after scandal news broke. From the beginning, Nixon denied any involvement with this scandal. When congress asked him to hand over the tapes that had recordings of the planning of this scandal, Nixon refused. He claimed most of the tapes were “missing”. Eventually, Nixon was forced to hand them over. The tapes shed light on the fact that Nixon had indeed been involved in the Watergate scandal. Because he would most likely be impeached, Nixon resigned. This was an unfortunate event for Nixon. He had done well making decisions as president, until now. Because of this, every positive thing was pretty much forgotten.

Nixon was big on social reform. In fact, he enacted more legislation than the New Deal. With social reform came much increase in healthcare. Nixon created a welfare reform proposal. Not every aspect of his program passed, but the ones that did made a lasting impact. He created Supplemental Security Income, which provided definite income for the disabled and the elderly. He also increased Medicare and Social Security. All of these plans affect us now. We have a very large welfare program in the U.S. The increase in it began during the Nixon administration. For these reasons, his welfare reform plan was the aspect of his presidency that had a definite lasting impact.

In conclusion, I believe the country was better off after the Nixon administration. He enacted legislation that is still in place today. Nixon was also able to bring people together. The biggest downfall of Nixon was the Watergate Scandal. I believe Nixon could have received an A- or a B+ for his presidency if he had not lied to the nation. But, because of his embarrassing resignation, Nixon's grade drops to a C-.

Works Cited "American President: Richard Milhous Nixon." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2010. . "Richard M. Nixon | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2010. . "The Nation: The Coming Battle Between President and Congress - TIME." //Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2010. .