Giorgio: Reflections On a Summer Day About 1974

Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Time does seem to move forward at a breakneck speed.  I was reminded that it was forty years ago next week that Richard Nixon became the first President to resign from office.  Richard Nixon resigned after The House Judiciary Committee voted to bring Articles of Impeachment to the House Floor for a vote.  However, Congress never got that far, leaving only Bill Clinton as the only president impeached in the 20^th Century.

Americans were glued to their TVs as the soap opera unfolded nightly on the news. Crowds were gathering outside the White House demanding that Nixon resign.  And then he did on August 8, 1974.

Nixon was interesting, in the sense that he was a complicated personality who was a bundle of neurosis.  For someone who reached the heights of power, he was very insecure. Although he was a fixture on the American Political Landscape from right after World War II to the end of Vietnam, and held every office from Congressman to Senator to Vice President and President, he could never get over his poor roots growing up in California.

Having lost the presidency in 1960 and then the Governorship of California to Pat Brown- father of current Governor, Jerry Brown- Nixon moved across the country and joined a fancy Wall Street Law Firm.  It could be said that Nixon was the last of the breed of Eastern Establishment Republicans.  Although he was never Eastern and never considered himself establishment.  But compared to the recent batch of Republicans, he was both.

With an apology to the Republicans, Nixon may have been the last liberal President before Barack Obama.

Nixon, the Last Liberal

You need to just look at what he accomplished in his first term to see that he was a Republican Progressive much like Teddy Roosevelt.  Nixon created the EPA, the bane of many Republicans today.  He enacted both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.  A fervent anti-communist, it was Nixon who opened trade with China.

Unfortunately, Nixon will always be remembered for Watergate and not the good he accomplished.  How flawed a personality was he?  He would have sailed to re-election with a mandate.  In fact he did, winning all states except Massachusetts. But unfortunately for him and our country, the first 2 years of his second term were consumed by Watergate. Congress came to a standstill, as America was glued to the news about Watergate.

1974 was a seminal year in America, and it began the fierce partisanship that exists today.

Movement to Impeach Obama

Today there is talk in right wing Republican circles about the possible Impeachment of President Obama.  Unlike Nixon, who condoned and covered up crimes including breaking and entering, and bribery, Obama’s alleged crimes seem to be political in nature.

For some, it involves “Signing Statements” that every president has employed when signing a law.  For others, it involves President Obama’s legal authority as Commander in Chief in the return of Sgt. Bo Bergdalh.  And for others still, it involves that attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The major difference between 2014 and 1974 is that there is no middle ground in Congress.  The majorities in the two parties are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum.  The only remaining Democrats are the most liberal and the only remaining Republicans are the most conservative, with a few exceptions on each side of the aisle. But can the Republicans risk trying to impeach another Democratic president?

End the Partisanship

We have had partisanship since the beginning of our country.  Sometimes it has been less than at other times.  It seems that in times of war we all are Americans.  In times of great national crisis such as 9-11, we are all Americans.  It shouldn’t take a war or a national tragedy to make us act like one country.

Forty years is a long time, especially when we realize that Congress met for the first time on March 4, 1789.  Our Congress is 225 years old.  Maybe it is time for it to grow up, end the partisanship, and get America moving again, as one nation.  To paraphrase President Obama, We can no longer be blue states or red states; we must be the United States.

Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.