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I've always thought that Nixon was old fashioned enough to believe, despite his flaws, that it was the proprietary thing to do, and that it would have been sham
by a3n 11y ago
I've always thought that Nixon was old fashioned enough to believe, despite his flaws, that it was the proprietary thing to do, and that it would have been shameful to have to go through a certain trial in the Senate.
- scott_s 11y agoSomewhat agreed - but I also think a lot of it was Nixon knew he was checkmated, and it was less propriety, and more just plain ol' shame and knowing he had no recourse. I imagine he was not alone in his deliberations, though, and that his advisers - particularly his legal advisers - agreed. I recently read "The Brethren" by Bob Woodward and and Scott Armstrong (http://www.amazon.com/The-Brethren-Inside-Supreme-Court/dp/0743274024 http://www.amazon.com/The-Brethren-Inside-Supreme-Court/dp/0...), about the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1975. Watergate is a major episode, and it shows that Nixon knew that if they lost their Supreme Court appeal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Nixon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Nixon), there was little recourse left.
- a3n 11y agoI don't think proprietary is the word I was looking for. Maybe proper or decent.
- scott_s 11y agoYou were most likely looking for the word propriety, which is also the word I was looking for. I noticed you made a typo, thought about it, then made the same typo! But there is a difference, I think, between propriety and shame. One does something "for propriety" because they value their actions' impact on others. Rather, I think he was more embarrassed and ashamed, and he left office because it was best for himself. It's a subtle distinction, one which we can never know who is right because we're trying to infer the motivations of another person.