President Ricmard M. Nixon is refereed to as one of the most controversial presidents in the history of the United
States of America. He is synonymous with this title, because of his involvement in the great "Watergate" scandal.
It all started with the election of 1972, Nixon's bid for a second term of presidency. In his attempt at re-election,
Nixon took on a different strategy than any other re-election campaign of the past. Instead of using the usual
Republican National Committee for re-election, President Nixon divided his campaign into two separate
committees. These two committees were named , the Committee for re-election of the president, headed by Attorney
General , John Mitchell, and the finance committee to re-elect the president, headed by Secretary of Commerce,
Maurice Stans. "Together these committees managed to raise over sixty million dollars for the president' campaign."
(Sam J. Ervin, The Whole Truth, pg.36) The work of these two committees enabled Nixon to defeat democrat
nominee, George S. McGovern, by a landslide. This decision, by Nixon, would, in the future prove to be the
beginning of the end for a good old "Tricky Dick".
In his second term, Nixon was known to be positively involved with foreign affairs. "For example, he worked out an
agreement with Vietnam to order a stoppage of the war and commence a prisoner exchange program in 1973."
(World Book, Nixon, Vol 17) Also in 1973, he worked hard to improve relations with China. His attempts allowed
us to open diplomatic office in their capital and they in ours. His events at home also included many positive
His major accomplishment was ending the military draft in 1973. Many of his efforts were thwarted by his inability
to work cooperatively with congress. This began with his refusal to approve of a program, spending billions of
dollars on projects created by congress. "In return, they refused to support his bombing ...