POST WATERGATE (1974)
Following the Vietnam War the American people did not have much faith in the government. After witnessing Nixon abuse his power by declaring war and lie to the American people about the U.S’ involvement with the war, it was going to be hard to regain the trust of the American public. In the 1970s Congress went through damage control in order to make sure checks and balances would always be enforced and going back and redefining the constitutional intentions of the Founding Fathers. A series of acts were passed in order to maintain checks and balances as well. The Federal Election Campaign Act was passed by Congress in 1971 and focused on three main things, “public disclosure of funds raised and spent to influence federal elections, restrictions on contributions and expenditures made to influence federal elections, and the public financing of presidential campaigns ('Limiting the Presidency').”
Three years later Congress amended the law that set restrictions on contributions made by individuals, political parties and political action committees. This ensures that many voices and opinions are being heard within the government. Congress adopted the War Powers Resolution, in 1973, which reduced the president’s power to wage war without the knowledge and consent of Congress. While limiting the powers of the executive branch, the Resolution was also intended to bring Congress and the President together to make a collective decision. During the Watergate conspiracy the Freedom of Information Act was adopted and later amended in 1974. The act allowed the American citizens to be more informed about what was happening within the government, “Under the law, the Federal Register provides descriptions of each government agency's organization, operations, and procedures. Also, each agency must make available to the public opinions, orders, and statements of policy, including manuals and instructions, that affect the public ('Limiting the Presidency').” The importance of Post Watergate America is that America realized that it was not okay for the executive branch to hold too much power. The U.S realized its citizens were skeptical of the government and they wanted that to change; therefore, by reforming things within the government and adopting acts to ensure this U.S is able to ingratiate itself better with the American public the impact of this event is that following a huge scandal the United States did not ignore what happened but did acknowledged it, re-evaluated themselves and reformed the problems. Post Watergate the U.S and future presidencies changed forever.
"Nixon Leaving White House." Online Images. Google Images. 7 May 2009
<http://home.millsaps.edu/mcelvrs/Nixon_Leaving.jpg>.
