Notorious Nixon

"That's the thing you don't understand. The important thing is to win." Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president of the United States, uttered this quote after confessing to spreading slander about an opponent in his first congressional race. He would ultimately end up winning this election as well as many more throughout his political career. This deep desire to win, coupled with his strong ambition, would ultimately help Nixon become President. At the same time, however, it would also end up becoming his undoing. The program "Nixon," produced by PBS, walks through Nixon's life, while highlighting both its highs and its lows. It shows that although some ambition is good, too much is often a bad thing. 

From a young age, Richard Nixon had great political aspirations, dreaming of making it to the "big time." His family did not have very much money, and his two older brothers died early in their lives. This background, though, indirectly caused Nixon to have a burning hunger for success. He quickly rose up the political ladder, moving from state representative to senator to Vice President during the Eisenhower administration. By 1960, he was running for President against John F. Kennedy. Kennedy ended up winning the election, so Nixon waited eight long years before he tried again. This time he succeeded, becoming the most powerful man in the United States in the process. His first years in office were largely successful, and he was reelected by a considerable margin. Richard's ambition, however, tore all that he had built up apart. The Watergate Scandal, as it became known, led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. Throughout the investigation, his pride and unwillingness to lose his power damaged his image in the eyes of the American people. Nixon had ordered the bugging of the Democratic party headquarters and abused his executive power to keep the tapes from being used against him. Nixon had all a man could ask for, but it was never enough for him.

Ambition is truly a double-edged sword in my book. Ultimately, though, the positives outweigh the negatives. Every person needs some ambition or else they will get nowhere in life. For me, my ambition is the driving force that helps me get out of bed in the morning. It pushes me to be the best that I can be. In addition, ambition helps to get things done. Without it, I would have no motivation to write this blog post! I aspire to greater things after high school, so each assignment I complete or each test I study for is simply a step to a higher goal. Even so, I make sure that this ambition does not take over my life. Morals, along with a balance of work and leisure activities, help to keep me on the right track. Nixon is a classic example of how ambition can start off as a phenomenal thing but can quickly turn sour. He will be remembered in history forever, not for the things he accomplished, but rather, for how his presidency ended.