[DoodleBob]

While the media in 1974 was a big part of Nixon's downfall, as covered in this post public sentiment was bullish on Nixon in the beginning of 1973. What really did him in (aside from authorizing a break-in...) was a spike in inflation and the onset of an energy-induced recession. His downfall in polling numbers tracks the economy more than Watergate hearings.

If the economy stayed healthy, it is plausible that Nixon would have survived Watergate: Americans are pretty tolerant of things when the economy is good, but we become downright agitated during a recession.

And let's not forget, Nixon created the EPA, took us off the gold standard, and imposed wage and price controls/preempted Bonanza. As Max Boot at the WSJ once wrote, getting Nixon for Watergate was like getting Capone for Tax Evasion.

[otness_e]

Didn’t Nixon easily win reelection in 1972, not to mention win the Vietnam War and even had a Victory in Vietnam Day according to Prager U? I’m pretty sure if Americans hated him as you claim, they would have gone for McGovern, not Nixon, especially when Nixon easily beat McGovern.

And to be fair regarding the EPA, at the time, the EPA was actually needed, due to there being actual environmental damage going on (”crud” originally referred to toxic sediment within the rivers). Now, that being said, it should have been a temporary agency that got closed down once it was all clear. I can’t comment on the whole gold standard thing, though, or the wage and price controls (I’m pretty sure that predated Nixon, and in fact was present during the FDR era).

[marktwain]

Yes, Nixon was a Progressive Republican.

Watergate succeeded in part, because of the economy.

Watergate was leveraged by the Media to more and more control over American politics.

[Alberta's Child]

I agree with what you’ve posted there. The same moribund U.S. economy that eroded public support for Nixon in 1974 also turned Gerald Ford into a half-term president and Jimmy Carter into a one-term president after Nixon left office.