United States v. Nixon and Clinton v. Jones should have had the same outcome from the Supreme Court. Both, former President 's violated the law and wanted to use presidential privileges to dismiss their cases. In the United States v. Nixon, the Court had the right to order the President to relinquish the tapes to Congress to use as evidence for the trial against the seven members held accountable. Those accused were owed a duty by the Court to be given a fair and speedy trial. In the Clinton v. Jones case, the Court should have not granted the former President Clinton immunity because the general public needs to realize that not even the President can violate the law and get away with it. I agree with the Supreme Court on placing emphasizes on keeping the presidential power in check but respecting the doctrine of separation of powers. The Court has the power to hear cases that involve federal questions because the …show more content…
In my opinion, I believe that Nixon and Clinton forgot that they are liable for actions that are not related to the duties listed in Article II of the United States Constitutions. That each branch has their privileges but when their actions and decisions are questionable the other branches have the power to check. Therefore, when the Supreme Court formulate their opinions they did not violate the doctrine of separation of powers. When there is an issue raised that involves the Constitution, the Court has the right to hear the case because the judicial branch has the power to interpret the Constitution. Judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison, the court has the power to interpret what the statute means and if it is in accordance or contradiction with the Constitution. Therefore, I do not believe that the decisions affected the power of the
United States vs. Nixon was a case brought to the Supreme Court in 1974, questioning whether or not President Nixon was involved in the Watergate Scandal. The Supreme Court declared he was not above the law and required him to hand over tapes they believe had evidence on the event. President Nixon, instead of handing over the tapes, resigned and his Vice President, Gerald Ford was signed into office. The case of United States versus Nixon was important in that it reaffirmed checks and balances and defined the powers of Executive Privilege.
What I mean by that is if the executive branch didn’t like something that the judicial branch was doing they could off a change or a different solution. So to make a long story short these branches weren’t completely separate. Written in Federalist Paper #51 it states that “The three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc C) I also think that when Madison said that “The different governments will each control each other, but at the same time they each will also control themselves.”
Rhetorical Analysis: in Barbara Jordan’s “Statement on the Articles of Impeachment” In 1976, the first African American Congresswoman took the podium to address the political problems in the U.S. She used every form of document in the constitution to prove that things can change if they were followed accordingly. This courageous woman, Barbara Jordan, wrote “Statements on the Articles of Impeachment”, delivered July 25, 1974 to the House Judiciary Committee and argued that if the President was to participate in anything suspicious and kept the person safe, he may be impeached. Jordan builds her credibility with the evidence of Richard Nixon’s activity with several things beyond out of order; during her speech she was forcefully optimistic
1. When the Constitution was drafted “Article II, Section 2, clause 2 grants the President the power to ‘appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States [except those whose positions are not otherwise already provided for in the Constitution. And] Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers…in the President alone” (Presidential Powers). However, the issue of removal powers of the president where not addressed within the Constitution, therefore this issue is one that has been debated. The issue with removal power is if the president is given too much power and many member of Congress opposed this power.
Nixon committed a huge crime and should have to suffer the consequences. Another thing I do not understand is how he did not get punished or was not forced to give away the tapes. Nixon’s abuse of presidential power had a long-lasting effect on American political life. This created an atmosphere of cynicism and distrust. Many americans had been deeply dismayed by the Vietnam War.
Before the Supreme Court, Nixon’s attorneys debated that the doctrine of separation of powers prohibited the Supreme Court from investigation this case. The Court vetoed their claim, replying that the circumstance presented a constitutional question, and consequently fell within the responsibility of the judicial branch as interpreter of the Constitution. President Nixon’s attorneys also proclaimed that the president was permitted to unconditional executive privilege. This meant that he could not be required to disclose anything unless he desired to. The Court acknowledged that the president was allowed a degree of executive privilege.
“The Committee uncovered the existence of the secret White House tape recordings, sparking a major political and legal battle between the Congress and the President.” (3) One was known as the “smoking gun” tape, which revealed Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate cover-up from June 23, 1972, only a few days after the Watergate break-in. (4) Nixon soon lost all his political support, facing impeachment from the House Judiciary Committee. In August 1974, Nixon resigned from office, becoming the only U.S. president in history to
In general I would say Richard Nixon was a fairly decent president. During a time where there were many protests amongst the American public (especially the youth) against the troops in Vietnam, Nixon was able to pull the troops out of the war. Nixon also reduced the tensions with the Soviet Union, and helped China join the United Nations. He also helped decrease the amount of racial discrimination by segregating schools in the south. It is a shame though, that those achievements of his are not acknowledged because of the Watergate Scandal.
Question 7 (for 10 points): After Nixon was connected to the break-in of the offices of the DNC at the Watergate business complex, in part due to the affiliation of his connection to one of the burglars, who was an employee of Nixon’s Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP), it gradually became apparent that the Watergate break in was largely a result of Nixon’s beliefs concerning the degree of latitude his office afforded him with regards to transgression of federal law. As the result of an investigation by a senate committee prompted by the Watergate scandal, it was discovered that during his presidency Nixon had committed a number of crimes, which included “extending political favors to powerful business groups in exchange
As stated earlier I believe that the Judicial Branch should have the right to decide if a law is constitutional or not. The court case of Marbury vs. Madison is important because it brought up this point. I believe this is true because the judicial branch is very small, they have no other checks on any other branch, and they don’t receive any money. Because they are the branch to decide if something is lawful or not they are the perfect branch to make the decision on whether something is constitutional or
The use of these powers determine if the president is going beyond the limits of the office. Many argue that the president has abused these powers with the use of the Unitary Executive Theory, which states that the Constitution puts the president in charge of executing the laws, and that nobody can limit the president’s power when it comes to executive powers. It therefore tips authority from Congress to the presidency, upsetting the power of checks and balances.
President Nixon is one of the most famous Presidents in American history for being the first one to resign from office. While Nixon is famous for doing such an unthinkable act, he is also the one that gave one of the best and most well known speeches in political history, The Checkers Speech. The speech was given by (Senator at the time) President Nixon when he was running for Vice President on General Eisenhower’s Presidential ticket. A newspaper, the New York Post, had a front page with the headline "Secret Rich Men's Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Salary"; the article alleged that people were donating to a secret fund that Nixon had for his personal benefit in trade for political favors.
All of this deceit only made Nixon viewed as dishonest and shady to the American people, making his impeachment seem almost predictable. But something that was not predicted was Richard Nixon’s
Funny how history works, FDR and Truman were the right Presidents at the right time. FDR introduced the greatest amount of domestic liberal economic legislation as part of his New Deal domestic program. Measures like the Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Tennessee Valley Authority employing over 8.5 million people and the cost of $10 Billion (Burran 2008). Although Hamby’s Liberalism and Its Challengers clarifies that new Deal failed to establish a variety of socialistic ideas and resolve all the problems, the credit is given for at least smoothing out some difficult times (Hamby 1992, 50). This tame depiction of becoming the model of modern economic liberalization that remains today then is followed by President
On August 8th, 1974 at exactly 9:01 pm, Richard Nixon--former President-- gave a speech that would affect both United States history and the american people. Richard Nixon’s argument and claim lay within the textual aspects, in other words, his tone, attitude, and the strategic ways of presenting to his audience. In this historical speech, Richard Nixon broadcasted his character, past decisions, and future advice to the people of the United States in order to justify his resignation from the presidential office. The rhetorical stylistic tools were effective and instrumental in backing up the argument. Recognition of audience was important, because it will determine his attitude and tone, which was innocence.