Introduction
The Founding Fathers of the United States gave the House of Representatives the power of impeachment to remove the corrupt officials from the government because they knew that providing power to one person is dangerous. Historically, three presidents of the United States were officially charged with abuse of power, the third being President Donald Trump1. Specifically, he was accused of supporting external interference into the US elections by bribing Ukrainian president Zelensky2. Other cases in American history could lead to impeachment due to scandalous circumstances but were resolved due to resignation from the position of the US president. For example, the Watergate political scandal that happened during the presidency of Richard Nixon resulted in the termination of his presidency3. The Watergate scandal was caused by the revelation of burglary and eavesdropping at the Democratic National Committee’s office3. The Watergate scandal was similar to Trump’s first impeachment because both were related to abuse of power to win the elections but different in the approach of the two politicians to the problem.
Factual Similarities and Differences between Watergate and Trump’s Impeachment
The factual similarities of these two cases are concerned with the abuse of power by both presidents for spying and blackmailing their political opponents. Indeed, Donald Trump’s phone conversation with the Ukrainian president was recorded and used by the House of Representatives as evidence of Trump’s guilt. In this conversation, Trump offered four hundred million dollars to Zelensky for the public announcement of trial against Joe Biden’s son, a shareholder in the energy company in Ukraine2. This investigation could compromise Biden and affect the election outcomes. Similarly, five representatives of Nixon’s cabinet were arrested in 1972 for the attempt to bug the democrats’ main office3. This measure was also taken by Nixon’s assistants to win in the upcoming elections. However, both attempts failed and resulted in national scandals and legal implications.
The difference between Trump’s first impeachment and the Watergate scandal was the outcome. In the case of Watergate, President Nixon was notified by the Republican leadership that he lost the party’s support; thus, he announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, stopping the impeachment proceedings3. On the other hand, Trump was officially impeached for the power abuse after the scandalous phone conversation. However, Trump’s first impeachment did not result in his resignation from office. He was, in fact, the only president of the United States that underwent impeachment twice, with the subsequent acquittance in both cases. Nevertheless, he still had to leave the White House after losing the 2020 election. Both presidents had to leave their positions in disgrace, but one was willing to surrender timely to escape with less dishonor than the other.
Legal Similarities and Differences between Watergate and Trump’s Impeachment
Watergate scandal and the first impeachment of President Trump are also similar in that both presidents were accused of abuse of power. When invasion into the Democratic National Committee’s office by President Nixon’s administration was confirmed, the House of Judiciary Committee voted for his impeachment3. Similarly, when the authenticity of information about Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president was verified, the House charged President Trump with two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress1. However, the main differences between these two cases are the response and the result of the impeachment proceedings. Donald Trump resisted pledging himself guilty of breaking the oath he gave to the country. Since the majority of Senate representatives voted for his acquittance, Trump was vindicated and continued ruling the White House until the end of his term2. In contrast, Nixon decided to end his presidential term prematurely to avoid impeachment. Nevertheless, political outcomes for both presidents were not favorable even if the length of the presidency varied in these two cases.
Political Similarities and Differences between Watergate and Trump’s Impeachment
In the political sense, Nixon’s and Trump’s cases are similar because both presidents pushed legal boundaries to gain superiority for the next election campaign with the subsequent adverse outcomes. Trump wanted to undermine his competitor’s reputation by falsely accusing his son. Similarly, Richard Nixon was bugging his political rivals for possible blackmailing in the future. However, in both cases, Nixon’s and Trump’s plans were ruined by whistleblowers who wanted to protect the integrity of the United States1. The two presidents abused their political power, which resulted in unfavorable outcomes for both of them. Although Donald Trump remained in the White House after the first impeachment proceedings, it affected his entire election campaign because he lost public trust. Despite the Founding Fathers’ initial resistance to giving all power to one person, Nixon’s and Trump’s actions demonstrated that politicians in the United States wanted to acquire more control over time. Fortunately, American jurisdiction possesses the ability to stop unlawful acts of people in the position of power.
The main difference between Trump’s first impeachment and the Watergate scandal is not the outcome of the proceedings but the distinction in approach to the external policy. Although Nixon’s office bugged democrats, this situation happened internally without foreign interference. On the other hand, Trump wanted to win the next elections with the help of the Ukrainian government. Moreover, Trump ordered to assassinate Iranian general Soleimani, threatening the world’s political stability2. Although other US president’s decisions to invade Afghanistan or Iraq were not peaceful either, Trump’s order was not reasonable and dangerous for Americans and the entire world. It appears that the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown prevented another war where many countries could become involved, resulting in millions of lives lost due to the desire to demonstrate the global political supremacy of the United States.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are certain similarities and differences between the Watergate scandal and Trump’s first impeachment. Factually, these two cases were similar because both presidents were found to bug and set up their political opponents that resulted in impeachment proceedings. In President Nixon’s case, the proceedings were stopped due to his resignation. In contrast, President Trump refused to allow an investigation of this case. Although the House of Representatives announced Trump’s impeachment, the Senate’s final decision was to acquit him. In the legal view, both Nixon and Trump were accused of power abuse, but Trump was also charged with obstruction of Congress. In terms of political sense, both of these cases were initiated by the information provided by the whistleblowers. They were claiming that Trump and Nixon were abusing their power to compromise their rivals. Nixon was only involved in the scandal related to internal politics. However, Trump wanted to use foreign forces to win the elections in 2020. Moreover, Trump’s unwise external politics could result in a global war, impacting the security of millions of civilians.
References
- Dekhakhena, Abdelkrim. “Trump’s Impeachment: The Greed for Presidential Power and the Limits of the Constitution.” Jurnal Studi Pemerintahan 11, no. 2 (2020): 340-369. Web.
- Allin, Dana H. “Impeachment, Trump and US Foreign Policy.” Survival 62, no. 1 (2020): 221–32. Web.
- Twombly, Jim. “Watergate and Its Legacy” In Political Scandal and American Pop Culture, 13–25. Springer International Publishing. 2019.