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===Impeachment proceedings===

===Impeachment proceedings===

Nixon's enemies went back 20 years and consisted of many individuals and [[partisan]]s who were outraged that a Congressional back-bencher disgraced an [[FDR]] protégé, a principal author of the [[United Nations]] Charter, and its first Secretary General.<ref>United Nations Oral History, [http://www.unmultimedia.org/oralhistory/2011/10/hiss-alger/ Interview with: Alger Hiss], 13 February 1990.  www.unmultimedia.org</ref> [[Alger Hiss]] was an obvious choice to carry on the New Deal tradition in the post-[[World War II]] era, but Nixon won a successful prosecution against him that landed Hiss in prison.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/nixononhisscase.html "What was the Hiss Case?": An answer for Tricia], by Richard Nixon, ''Six Crises, Doubleday, 1962.  law2.umkc.edu</ref> From there, Nixon got himself elected Senator, Vice President, and eventually President.  

Nixon's enemies went back 20 years and consisted of many individuals and [[partisan]]s who were outraged that a Congressional back-bencher disgraced an [[FDR]] protégé, a principal author of the [[United Nations Charter]], and its first Secretary General.<ref>United Nations Oral History, [http://www.unmultimedia.org/oralhistory/2011/10/hiss-alger/ Interview with: Alger Hiss], 13 February 1990.  www.unmultimedia.org</ref> [[Alger Hiss]] was an obvious choice to carry on the New Deal tradition in the post-[[World War II]] era, but Nixon won a successful prosecution against him that landed Hiss in prison.<ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/nixononhisscase.html "What was the Hiss Case?": An answer for Tricia], by Richard Nixon, ''Six Crises, Doubleday, 1962.  law2.umkc.edu</ref> From there, Nixon got himself elected Senator, Vice President, and eventually President.  

Watergate was a vendetta among [[leftist]]s for Nixon tarnishing the reputation of a celebrated New Dealer to advance his own career.<ref>[http://www.conservativebookclub.com/12366/author-interviews/does-america-owe-richard-nixon-an-apology-author-geoff-shepard-says-so Does America Owe Richard Nixon An Apology? Author Geoff Shepard Says So], Book Review by Christopher N. Malagisi.  www.conservativebookclub.com .</ref> The irony of Nixon's downfall however must not be overlooked: Nixon was attempting to cover up the mistakes of the two previous Democratic administrations.<ref>The Pentagon Papers for example revealed the congressional [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]] to be a fraud. The [[Tonkin incident]] was cooked up so President Johnson could win a Authorization for Use of Military Force from the overwhelmingly Democratic controlled Congress. Just as [[Barack Obama]] was not a member of Congress and did not vote to authorize the [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|use of force in Iraq]] nor carry the baggage his opponents did over [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]], likewise Nixon had clean hands when the Pentagon Papers were [[leak]]ed showing Johnson and the Democratic Congress's Authorization for Use of Military Force was a fraud. Nixon was protecting his partisan enemies who voted for the Tonkin Resolution as the backlash of [[public opinion]] turned against the war that the Democrats had started under a false pretext.  [https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/back.time/9606/28/index.shtml Pentagon Papers: The Secret War], TIME, June 28, 1971. CNN.com</ref>  The leak of the [[Pentagon Papers]] largely pertained to decisions made during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; Nixon avoided blame.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB48/nixon.html THE PENTAGON PAPERS: SECRETS, LIES AND AUDIOTAPES], The National Security Archive (2013).  gwu.edu</ref>  Nixon was old school - he did not see the leak of classified government secrets in partisan terms of Democrats vs Republicans, but rather American interests vs anti-American interests.  Once again, as in the [[Amerasia]] and Hiss cases, the theft of government secrets and classified documents by [[extremist|extreme]] leftists was something Nixon was all too familiar with.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19500623&id=xdRSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zH8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5002,6762431&hl=en House Probe of Amerasia Suggested by Coast Congressman], The Deseret News, AP, Jun 23, 1950.</ref> FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] was reluctant to act, based upon Hoover's own experience in the foregoing cases.<ref>[http://millercenter.org/presidentialclassroom/exhibits/first-domino-nixon-and-pentagon-papers First Domino: Nixon and the Pentagon Papers], Jordan Moran.  millercenter.org</ref> So Nixon authorized the creation of a secret, non-governmental "Plumbers unit" to fix government leaks. The outfit was funded by his 1972 re-election committee.  

Watergate was a vendetta among [[leftist]]s for Nixon tarnishing the reputation of a celebrated New Dealer to advance his own career.<ref>[http://www.conservativebookclub.com/12366/author-interviews/does-america-owe-richard-nixon-an-apology-author-geoff-shepard-says-so Does America Owe Richard Nixon An Apology? Author Geoff Shepard Says So], Book Review by Christopher N. Malagisi.  www.conservativebookclub.com .</ref> The irony of Nixon's downfall however must not be overlooked: Nixon was attempting to cover up the mistakes of the two previous Democratic administrations.<ref>The Pentagon Papers for example revealed the congressional [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]] to be a fraud. The [[Tonkin incident]] was cooked up so President Johnson could win a Authorization for Use of Military Force from the overwhelmingly Democratic controlled Congress. Just as [[Barack Obama]] was not a member of Congress and did not vote to authorize the [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|use of force in Iraq]] nor carry the baggage his opponents did over [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]], likewise Nixon had clean hands when the Pentagon Papers were [[leak]]ed showing Johnson and the Democratic Congress's Authorization for Use of Military Force was a fraud. Nixon was protecting his partisan enemies who voted for the Tonkin Resolution as the backlash of [[public opinion]] turned against the war that the Democrats had started under a false pretext.  [https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/back.time/9606/28/index.shtml Pentagon Papers: The Secret War], TIME, June 28, 1971. CNN.com</ref>  The leak of the [[Pentagon Papers]] largely pertained to decisions made during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; Nixon avoided blame.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB48/nixon.html THE PENTAGON PAPERS: SECRETS, LIES AND AUDIOTAPES], The National Security Archive (2013).  gwu.edu</ref>  Nixon was old school - he did not see the leak of classified government secrets in partisan terms of Democrats vs Republicans, but rather American interests vs anti-American interests.  Once again, as in the [[Amerasia]] and Hiss cases, the theft of government secrets and classified documents by [[extremist|extreme]] leftists was something Nixon was all too familiar with.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19500623&id=xdRSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zH8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5002,6762431&hl=en House Probe of Amerasia Suggested by Coast Congressman], The Deseret News, AP, Jun 23, 1950.</ref> FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] was reluctant to act, based upon Hoover's own experience in the foregoing cases.<ref>[http://millercenter.org/presidentialclassroom/exhibits/first-domino-nixon-and-pentagon-papers First Domino: Nixon and the Pentagon Papers], Jordan Moran.  millercenter.org</ref> So Nixon authorized the creation of a secret, non-governmental "Plumbers unit" to fix government leaks. The outfit was funded by his 1972 re-election committee.