United States v. Nixon

The Cover-up

1. Regardless of the outcome, should the President of the United States have a right to privacy in regards to the Oval Office tapes? Explain.

I feel that Nixon should've had no right to privacy in regard to these tapes, because he may have been abusing his power and doing things against his rights, so since these tapes were important evidence of his role, he didn't deserve privacy based on the situation.

2. Was President Nixon justified when he fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox? Explain.

President Nixon was NOT justified when he fired Archibald Cox because he did nothing wrong. Nixon only fired him because he was putting Nixon in the danger of being exposed for the corrupt politician he was, so he had no right to fire him. (When Nixon offered a summary of what was on the tapes, Cox said that it wasn't enough evidence, so he denied the compromise, and Nixon fired him)

3. Was Nixon creating a Constitutional crisis by refusing to hand-over the tapes? Explain.

Yes, because he created a sense of perplexity and confusion within the country by refusing to hand over the tapes, and if he had just handed them over, everything he had done would've been revealed and there would be no more confusion.

Closure

4. Why do you think the American public was so outraged by Watergate?

I think that the American public was so outraged by Watergate because the president is supposed to be a model to others, and doing what Nixon did was and still is unheard of in America, so it was shocking and outrageous that he would take part in such a scandal.

5. Do you think President Nixon should have resigned? Explain.

I think that Nixon made a bad decision to resign. Resigning showed that he felt intimidated by being impeached, and shows that he has no interest in taking responsibility for his actions. If he had not resigned and had just waited to be impeached, it would show that he was truly sorry for what he did and that he was being responsible, but resigning just adds to his duplicity.

6. Do you think President Nixon should have been prosecuted? Explain.

Yes I think that Nixon should have been prosecuted, because he abused his power, misused presidential power to violate the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, took part in an obstruction of justice, and defied Judiciary Committee subpoenas. All of these are serious crimes, and just because he resigned does not mean he should be relieved of such offenses.

Watergate: Nixon's Downfall

1. How are the "plumbers" connected to President Nixon?

Worked for Nixon, and they were people who plugged leaks in the press in order to protect Nixon by keeping things from getting out of secrecy. They also made people look bad who opposed Nixon by digging up dirt about them.

2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out maximum sentences?

The judge was John Sirica, and he handed out maximum sentences in order to intimidate people and get those who were involved in the scandal to talk.

3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to Nixon?

Mitchell was Nixon's former attorney general and was the CRP's director, while Dean was White House counsel who was dismissed by Nixon on April 30, 1973.

4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected to Nixon?

Haldeman and Erlichman were men who had resigned, and Nixon had announced their resignations on April 30th.

5. What did the following men tell the Senate about Nixon?
a. Dean

He told the Senate about one meeting where him, Nixon, and other advisers discussed strategies to continue the deceit.

b. Butterfield

Butterfield revealed that Nixon had taped virtually all of his presidential conversations which were meant to be used for his memoirs, which were the key in exposing him.

6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the "massacre"?

Archibald Cox was fired in the "massacre".

7. Why weren't investigators satisified with the transcripts?

Nixon had revealed 1,254 pages of edited transcripts, which didn't satisfy the investigators because they wanted the unedited transcripts.

8. What did the tapes reveal?

Nixon's tapes revealed many gaps, including an 18.5-minute gap, which Rose Mary Woods said to have accidentally erased.

9. Why did Vice President Spiro Agnew resign?

Because it was revealed that he had accepted bribes from engineering firms while the governor of Maryland.

10. What did the House Judiciary Committee charge President Nixon with?

Nixon was charged with Obstruction of Justice, Abuse of Power, and contempt of Congress for refusing to obey a congressional subpoena to release the tapes.

11. How did the Watergate scandal create a constitutional crisis?

The Watergate scandal created a constitutional crisis because the American public and the media developed a general cynicism about public officials that still exist today.

Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War?

The Americans did not lose purely for military reasons. There were other factors as well.

Write an explanation AND cite a source from the reading that shows the importance of the following six factors:

1. US military tactics in Vietnam- US Military tactics were no match for the Vietcong's Guerrilla Warfare tactics, as Vietcong fighters were good at what they did, and were very motivated, therefore their tactics overpowered those of the US. (Source 36---This source shows a picture of the Viet Cong underground tunnels used for Guerrilla Warfare)

2. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime- Because the Vietnam War was a war based on the support of the people, the support of the South Vietnamese regime would be an extreme factor in the United States' war efforts, but its unpopularity caused a lack of US support. (Source 35---This source says that South Vietnam is trying to preserve its independence from Communist attack---Source 41)

3. The experience of the Viet Cong and the inexperience of the American soldiers- Viet Cong soldiers were well experienced, well motivated, and well determined to do whatever was possible to help the war efforts, and their skills in fighting helped extremely to defeat the unmotivated, inexperienced American soldiers. (Source 43---This source says that the US had inexperienced men fighting the Vietcong's experience guerrillas on their home ground)

4. Domestic opposition to the war in the U.S.- American citizens opposed the war for the most part as they had found out they were being lied to about winning the war, and were unaware of how many innocent civilians were being murdered in Vietnam. On the other hand, Vietnamese civilians were aware of what was going on and why they were fighting, to survive, which caused them to have more support than the US. ("My Lai Massacre" from Vietnam War reading)

5. Chinese and Soviet support for the Viet Cong- The Vietcong lacked the technologies required to have a chance against the US, therefore the Chinese and Soviets supported them severely in order to overpower the US, and the arms, food, and ammunition they supplied the Vietcong helped them to defeat the US in the war. ("Viet Cong and guerrilla tactics" from Vietnam War reading--This section mentions the way the Viet Cong was supplied by China and the Soviet Union)

6. 'But did they really lose?' Summarize the argument put forward in Source 57, and your view on it.

In Source 57, the argument put forward is that the US did not lose the Vietnam war, and that the South Vietnamese had lost. It is being argued that since the US stopped fighting before the Fall of Saigon, it cannot be a US defeat. In my opinion the United States LOST the Vietnam War, because they were being so badly overpowered that they were forced to stop fighting. I feel that because the Vietcong showed many areas of superiority to the US, it was a US defeat.

Vietnam War Opposition

1. Note all of the reasons why you feel the war in Vietnam is wrong.

First of all, millions of people are being murdered and killed by diseases caused from Napalm and Agent Orange. Men are murdering an unlawful amount of innocent civilians and American citizens are being lied to, being told that only Vietcong are being killed. We are in this war to support containment, but this war is doing the opposite, because we are only increasing our chances of the domino theory becoming a reality.

2. Note what you re trying to achieve with this poster. (e.g. to convince people to write to their Congressmen to get the troops out.)

I am trying to prove that this war is in NO way good for our country, and only is increasing the chances of an extreme increase in Communism in and around Vietnam. All we are accomplishing is killing a limited amount of Vietcong fighters, and we are just killing our own soldiers.

3. List possible images for your poster. Think about: background (e.g. destroyed villages); the central image (e.g. picture of a young soldier); whether you will need words to explain your image.

Pictures of Vietnamese children affected by chemical weapons; Destroyed Villages; Dead Bodies (of civilians in particular);;;;;; Depending on the pictures, I may want to put a paragraph under some, or maybe just a small caption, describing what is going on in the picture to help us be convinced the war is tragic.

4. List some possible slogans for your poster.

"All bite and no bark"
"Mass murder accomplishes nothing"

Vietnam War Turning Points

1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.

The Tet Offensive proved to be a turning point in the war because it raised questions about the war in the US, involving troops and money and how the Offensive took the US by surprise, as well as destruction and the murder of many civilians in towns.

2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?

Sources 51 and 52, in my opinion, are most certainly not making the same point about the My Lai Massacre, because Source 51 is talking about how the murder of so many civilians was a disaster and a "Nazi thing to do", while in Source 52, Calley is arguing that it was basically part of their overall objective to destroy Communism.

3. Why do you think it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre?

I think that it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre because when the Massacre has first taken place, it was recorded as there only being 20 non-combatant deaths and the rest were Viet Cong, but after being looked into and published in magazines, it was proven that much more civilians were killed than Viet Cong.

4. Why was the massacre so shocking to the American public?

The revelations about My Lai so deeply shocked the American public because of all of the innocent murders and it expressed the idea that the war had gone wrong.

The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam

1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.



a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?



The main factor which somewhat balanced the war was the US numbers, otherwise the Viet Cong soldiers were stronger and more determined than US soldiers. The Viet Cong soldiers had more effective tactics than the US, causing the balance to lean more toward them.



b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?



The most important quality in the Vietnam war determining who won the war would most likely be 'Effective Tactics' because the Viet Cong soldiers were severely outnumbered, yet their war tactics made them superior to the US soldiers.



Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions

The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.



2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:



a. The U.S. weaknesses were: their lack of determined and motivated soldiers and their lacking war tactics. The US had less support from the Vietnamese population which also helped add to their failures.



b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: having stronger, more motivated, and more determined soldiers. The Communists' war tactics such as guerilla warfare helped them significantly to lower the morale of US soldiers.



c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: The US forces had some effective "weapons" to help find people hiding in the jungle, like Agent Orange and Napalm, which also killed. The bombing raids on military and industrial targets in North Vietname were also somewhat successful, just as the use of Search and Destroy.



d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre, which was a failure as the soldiers involved failed to complete their objective and killed many civilians. Another US failure to some extent was the policy of Search and Destroy, as the missions did kill Vietcong soldiers, yet there were some problems, such as attacking incorrect sites and having soldiers running into traps.



e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as: Their Guerrilla Warfare tactics, which included to retreat when the enemy attacks, raid when the enemy camps, attack when the enemy tires, and pursue when the enemy retreats, which was one of their most major successes.



f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example: the Tet Offensive, as the South Vietnamese who were expected to rise up and help the communists did not help, and they lost 10,000 experienced fighters.



g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Effective Tactics] because:

the tactics the Americans used throughout the Vietnam War proved to be no match for the Vietcong's use of Guerrilla Warfare. I feel that if the Americans had chosen alternative tactics throughout the war, they would've been successful of demoralizing the Vietcong army and eventually winning the war.

h. The key Viet Cong strength was [Effective Tactics] because:

the Vietcong proved to overpower the American army with their use of Guerrilla Warfare, with their always ready and very experienced fighters, and they always had back up fighters which were ready to give the Americans hell. Their soldiers were very motivated, determined, and strong which caused them to outfight the American soldiers and overpower their tactics.

The U.S. Enters the Vietnam War

1. Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy. Explain why.

Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy because democracy was subsided to capitalism, keeping these observers back so that communists will not easily win elections in Vietnam.

2. Explain how US politicians would have defended their policies.

US politicians would have defended their policies by not only exposing the true evils of communism, but also by emphasizing the domino theory.

3. The following events are not listed in correct date order. Place them in the correct chronological order. (Write the year inside the parenthesis, i.e. (1965). Then note the reason for each U.S. action, and how it brought the U.S. into deeper involvement in Vietnam.

The reasons you can choose from are: No direct involvement; financial support; political involvement; military involvement. Also, note what events triggered the increased involvement.

(1954) Formation of South Vietnam_____No direct involvement: It triggered the increased involvement

(1954) U.S. stops elections in Vietnam_____Political Involvement

(1960) Viet Cong formed_____No Direct Involvement: It triggered the increased involvement

(1960) Viet Cong attacks on U.S. and South Vietnam bases_____No direct involvement: It triggered the increased involvement

(1962) JFK sends military advisers_____Military Involvement

(1962) Number of 'advisers' reaches over 11,500_____Military Involvement

(1963) U.S. supports South Vietnam government after army overthrow Diem_____Financial Support

(1963) Assassination of JFK - Johnson becomes president_____No direct involvement: It triggered the increased involvement

(1964) Gulf of Tonkin Incident_____No Direct Involvement: It triggered the increased involvement

(1965) U.S. Marines land at Da Nang_____Military Involvement

4. Choose two events that you think were critical in getting the U.S. involved in a war in Vietnam. Explain

your choice.

1)

2)