WEBVTT

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The presidency of
the United States of America

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is often said to be one of
the most powerful positions in the world.

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But of all the U.S. presidents accused
of misusing that power,

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only one has left office as a result.

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Does Richard Nixon deserve
to be remembered

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for more than the scandal
that ended his presidency?

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Find out as we put this disgraced
president's legacy on trial

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in History vs. Richard Nixon.

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"Order, order.

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Now, who's the defendant today,
some kind of crook?"

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"Cough. No, your Honor.

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This is Richard Milhous Nixon,
the 37th president of the United States,

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who served from 1969 to 1974."

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"Hold on.

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That's a weird number of years
for a president to serve."

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"Well, you see, President Nixon
resigned for the good of the nation

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and was pardoned by President Ford,
who took over after him."

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"He resigned because he was about
to be impeached,

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and he didn't want the full extent
of his crimes exposed."

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"And what were these crimes?"

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"Your Honor, the Watergate scandal
was one of the grossest abuses

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of presidential power in history.

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Nixon's men broke into the Democratic
National Committee headquarters

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to wiretap the offices
and dig up dirt on opponents

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for the reelection campaign."

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"Cough

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It was established that the President
did not order this burglary."

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"But as soon as he learned of it,
he did everything to cover it up,

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while lying about it for months."

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"Uh, yes, but it was for the good
of the country.

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He did so much during his time in office
and could have done so much more

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without a scandal jeopardizing
his accomplishments."

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"Uh, accomplishments?"

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"Yes, your Honor.

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Did you know it was President Nixon

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who proposed the creation
of the Environmental Protection Agency,

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and signed the National Environmental
Policy Act into law?

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Not to mention the Endangered Species Act,

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Marine Mammal Protection Act,

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expansion of the Clean Air Act."

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"Sounds pretty progressive of him."

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"Progressive? Hardly.

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Nixon's presidential campaign courted
Southern voters

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through fear and resentment
of the civil rights movement."

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"Speaking of civil rights,

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the prosecution may be surprised to learn
that he signed the Title IX amendment,

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banning gender-based discrimination
in education,

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and ensured that desegregation of schools
occurred peacefully,

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and he lowered the voting age to 18,
so that students could vote."

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"He didn't have much concern
for students

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after four were shot
by the National Guard at Kent State.

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Instead, he called them bums
for protesting the Vietnam War,

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a war he had campaigned on ending."

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"But he did end it."

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"He ended it two years
after taking office.

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Meanwhile, his campaign had sabotaged
the previous president's peace talks,

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urging the South Vietnamese government
to hold out for supposedly better terms,

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which, I might add, didn't materialize.

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So, he protracted the war for four years,

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in which 20,000 more U.S. troops,
and over a million more Vietnamese,

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died for nothing."

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"Hmm, a presidential candidate interfering
in foreign negotiations --

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isn't that treason?"

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"It is, your Honor, a clear violation
of the Logan Act of 1799."

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"Uh, I think we're forgetting
President Nixon's many

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foreign policy achievements.

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It was he who normalized ties with China,
forging economic ties that continue today."

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"Are we so sure that's a good thing?

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And don't forget his support
of the coup in Chile

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that replaced the democratically-elected
President Allende

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with a brutal military dictator."

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"It was part of the fight
against communism."

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"Weren't tyranny and violence the reasons
we opposed communism to begin with?

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Or was it just fear of the lower class
rising up against the rich?"

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"President Nixon couldn't have predicted
the violence of Pinochet's regime,

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and being anti-communist didn't mean
neglecting the poor.

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He proposed a guaranteed basic income
for all American families,

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still a radical concept today.

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And he even pushed for comprehensive
healthcare reform,

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just the kind that passed 40 years later."

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"I'm still confused about
this burglary business.

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Was he a crook or not?"

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"Your Honor, President Nixon
may have violated a law or two,

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but what was the real harm compared
to all he accomplished while in office?"

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"The harm was to democracy itself.

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The whole point of the ideals
Nixon claimed to promote abroad

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is that leaders are accountable
to the people,

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and when they hold themselves
above the law for whatever reason,

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those ideals are undermined."

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"And if you don't hold people accountable
to the law, I'll be out of a job."

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Many politicians have compromised
some principles to achieve results,

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but law-breaking and cover-ups threaten
the very fabric the nation is built on.

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Those who do so may find
their entire legacy tainted

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when history is put on trial.