"After Watergate, I never expected another impeachment investigation of a president in my lifetime, let alone an actual impeachment and a Senate trial. Nixon's successors, I thought, would recognize the price of scandal and learn the two fundamental lessons of Watergate. First, if there is questionable activity, release the facts, whatever they are, as early and completely as possible. Second, do not allow outside inquiries, whether conducted by prosecutors, congressmen or reporters, to harden into a permanent state of suspicion and warfare. But the overwhelming evidence is that five presidents after Nixon didn't understand these lessons. It wasn't that they lacked the political skill. Four of these presidents had mastered American electoral politics to win political power, and Ford almost did. Of the five, Reagan managed his problems best, although belatedly, when, after three months of Iran-contra, he permitted a broad internal White House investigation of his own actions. Why did they not see that they would be held fully accountable for their exercise of power?"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Cover-upsRepublican Party (United States)Political scandals in the United States1970s in the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Watergate scandal
54 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Watergate scandal →
Related Quotes
"In 1972, Americans watched in disbelief as the Nixon Presidency was virtually brought to collapse, not because of the…"
"The American Dream has run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its drea…"
"A journalist for the Nation, Greg Mitchell, who has also written about us, wrote a book about the mainstream media ca…"
"Now the leaders are more deadlocked. If they can’t decide, nothing happens. In America, if you’re corrupt you have to…"
"The most positive thing that is happening in this country is Watergate... Because white Americans-you see, there was …"
"So let me turn now to how the Executive is presently faring in these inter-branch battles. I'm concerned that the dec…"
"Watergate was thus nothing but a lure held out by the system to catch its adversaries - a simulation of scandal for r…"
"What an age of innocence it was, the Watergate era... way back in the halcyon days when the US could be contrasted wi…"
"Each time our nation has made a serious mistake, the American people have been excluded from the process. The tragedy…"
"The revelation that American companies were making payments to foreign political parties and government officials tou…"