[Neoliberalnot]

Nixon was reelected in 1972 by an historically large margin.””

Yes, and that is why Nixon was taken out by other means.

[BobL]

“Yes, and that is why Nixon was taken out by other means.”

Part of Nixon’s problem was that never fed his base. He did a lot of STUPID THINGS in his first term (like creating nearly off of the leftist federal departments, going to China, wage and price controls, etc.) and when he needed his base to stick with him in hard times, they were gone.

Trump, of course, is much smarter and is keeping us happy - and as long we support Trump, it will POLITICAL SUICIDE for any Republican to vote for removing him from office.

[Rockingham]

Nixon would have finished his second term a success if he had gotten possession of Hoover's secret files. As it was, Hoover had arranged for their destruction after his death in May of 1972 and Nixon's Justice Department proved too slow and inept to stop it. There is also some suspicion that the CIA contrived to entrap Nixon's plumbers at Watergate because their bumbling was compromising too many CIA operations and secrets.

Pat Buchanan may also be correct about how Nixon set the trap for himself. Although he liked to talk tough, Nixon was not a hard and ruthless man in the way that say, Bill Clinton is. Moreover, Nixon did not hold alcohol well, and after a customary second or third drink in the evening, tended to make vindictive comments and give crazy instructions to his aides. Longtime loyal aides knew not to take such talk seriously because it was just a way for Nixon to blow off steam.

As Nixon's first term progressed though, trusted aides Haldeman and Ehrlichman and old ally Attorney General John Mitchell were consumed by their daytime duties and too exhausted or otherwise unavailable to spend time with Nixon at night. New and less experienced aides like John Dean and Charles Colson were called to such duty and tended to take Nixon at his word, converting his alcohol liberated loose talk into the crazy schemes that led to the Watergate scandal and Nixon's downfall.