Reflection on The Watergate Scandal in All President’s Men

Had Nixon and his aides succeeded in their efforts, probably Nixon would have been reelected as president. With him being president through scrupulous ways, it would be a violation of the democratic rights of the citizens. Due to this, there would have been a high probability of protests and probably the start of a coup that could have led to the loss of lives. Similarly, it would mean that as the corrupt leader he was, he would not fight the corruption in his country but instead strive to keep his actions secret to avoid being caught. Nixon would also continue engaging in other illegal acts, which would lead to the collapse of the state’s economy. Had Woodward and Bernstein identified Mr. Felt as their source, most probably, the chances of Nixon being charged would have reduced. The reason being, there would be an argument that Mr. Felt only released false information because Nixon had not appointed him to be the FBI president. Else, Mr. Felt would have lost his job or even gone to jail for knowing all that was going and doing nothing about it. The reporters would have also had their careers ended probably because their stories would not have been viable anymore.

The actions of Nixon in the Watergate scandal and those of Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal have quite some differences as they do have similarities. In the two cases, both presidents were afraid that if they give in to their mistakes, they would lose the chances of being reelected. In both situations, the presidents also happened to have lied to the FBI for their own gain. However, in Nixon’s Watergate action, he decided to resign after he realized that he would be charged guilty, unlike Clinton, who was impeached and did not admit to the allegations. Besides, Nixon worked to protect himself by assigning jobs to people who were loyal to him, meaning they would never testify against him while Clinton only defended himself by not admitting to any wrongdoing. In my opinion, Mr. Felt is a hero; the fact that he might be having a thing against Nixon does not mean that whatever he did was wrong. He gave information that worked to protect the democratic right of the citizens by kicking Nixon off the presidency. I would also consider him a hero for standing for the FBI which he had worked for, for the longest time. He gives a greater advantage to the state by telling the truth about the Watergate scandal. He also proves loyalty to his country by uncovering the crimes that were going on.

I think that the Nixon and Trump presidency are quite similar. First, Trump does not trust the FBI to conduct critical national investigations. Likewise, Nixon could not trust the FBI because he knew he was linked to the crimes. Both presidents are also said to be resentful and insecure, with Nixon ranting to the press and Trump tweeting in anger about the news spread about him. Lastly, Nixon was charged for obstruction of justice as well as Trump, who is being investigated for the same.

In conclusion, I would rate the film a five star for being so blunt about the occurrence of all events. It clearly shows us how the two reporters went about their research and how corrupt Nixon was without the knowledge of the citizens. The film is factual since there is clear proof of all the illegal things Nixon was dealing with and findings on the accusations that were being made against the president. The part that really stood out was where Woodward and Bernstein had to dig for information; they would seemingly reach a dead end but then keep going until they pulled through with solid arguments and prove that Nixon was guilty.