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The Downfall Of A President: The Media Coverage Of Richard Nixon’S Resignation, Ning Xi

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

The Watergate Scandal stands out as being the first, and so-far only, event that was catastrophic and damming enough to force a sitting President of the United States to resign from office. The exceptional circumstances of Richard Nixon’s departure from presidency invites many questions regarding how Nixon deciding to resign was initially covered by the new media. An analysis of excerpts from newspaper editorials from a variety of places around the United States demonstrates that there was a strong consensus that resigning was the best and only thing Nixon could have done. Yet, wide support for Nixon’s resignation co-existed with …