Watergate's Theatric Legacy
After extensive coverage of Watergate’s legacy, it’s arguably the most mythical American event of the 20th century. Hollywood has produced many versions of its impact on government, and the media. If there’s one aspect that those on the right could appreciate, it’s the aestheticized idea that has reached the level of a modern-day Greek play. With its themes of tragedy and betrayal, the left may have manufactured the most compelling narrative in our history. This flies in the face of journalistic integrity, due process, and political neutrality. Regardless, Nixon’s presidency as a case study stands out as the beginning of the post-60s effect on American politics. A Hamlet-masked Nixon and court jesters charge the palace.
What’s unique about the scandal itself was the demystification of the state and populist-centric drama that made politics into reality television. Although it was a revolt from the left and their establishment ties in the media, it’s a pattern familiar to conservatives today. They won the culture war and we won the political institutions… at least for a time. That eventually was usurped as well, however, it represents the dichotomy well. The aesthetic left versus the establishment right. It’s fitting for the journalists and New York outlets to be given the red-carpet treatment in Hollywood. It’s not as if Carl Bernstein looked anything like Robert Redford, but the revisionism of the left was done with aesthetics rather than political theory. As Nixon describes in Volume II of his Memoirs, the fact that he caught himself on defense against the allegations in any capacity was a weakness to the public. This is a PR standard and he was losing the optics of the most powerful fifth column in the nation.
Although few understand the legal and journalistic aspects of the scandal, the political indictment was felt. The politics were condensed as a daytime TV drama. Soon, Washington was reduced to tabloid-esque coverage of Nixon’s inner circle and possible conspiracies surrounding them. An appropriate strategy considering the memorable characters from E Howard Hunt to G Gordy Liddy. The latter took on his own dramatized depiction by a director. It's material fit for a James Ellroy novel and some were already clarifying that angle.
As Adam McKay’s depiction shows, the right was tarnished by their association with Watergate, and those who avoided its association got assimilated into the next administrations. The neoconservatives would monopolize the leverage in domestic and foreign policy. Kissinger’s policy had been ousted. McKinley populists weren’t welcome.
Haig, the Machiavellian of the bunch, embodied the archetype that Washington attracted. Ironically, the left adopted it better and drove their right-wing counterparts out of town with their ruined reputation intact.
Court historians have emphasized Nixon’s lack of constitutionalism during the scandal. His response in the second Memoir displays a man trying to play fair despite opponents rigging it against him. A very conservative tendency among the right who would replace his admin. If this is to be believed, the executive was less Schmittian than the rest of the team. It would be ironic if readers went by his narrative. Whether it was a united front or not, the admin had encountered a dilemma similar to Leo Strauss's.
With the liberal state being changed after FDR, managerialism was the new normal in the states when Strauss was at Columbia University. That meant Nixon was inheriting a modified state that could be weaponized with new administrators. If rumors are to be believed, there is an opportunity to “control the animal” from within. Unfortunately, Nixon was its next victim.
Oliver Stone brilliantly portrays the “power elite” described by C Wright Mills in this scene. Mills being a former Marxist social scientist allows the president and the protestor to share a common enemy in the struggle for sovereignty. It doesn’t earn him sympathy from the left, just the same powerlessness and fatigue of those at the Lincoln Memorial.
What has been emphasized by both sides was the shadow of Nixon’s persona. He's too cryptic for liberals and too toxic for the right. Regardless, Nixon was an uncontested legend in terms of status until Donald Trump became an equally controversial figure. The difference remains that the former influenced Americans’ perception of politics and pop culture during the changing of its national fabric. He was the largest obstacle to undoing the old rules in politics and media to establish the standards we were familiar with in the 21st century. Unfortunately, his status has only recently been revised by the right. However, his attacks from journalists, deep state shills, and former admin members make him the ultimate tragic figure who made being betrayed by GMen very cool.