A sacred trust - Richard Nixon's Betrayal and Treason

"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. "

- On November 17, 1973, President Richard Nixon infamously denied any involvement in the Watergate scandal with his now timeless defense.  Of course, as we learned at the Watergate and impeachment hearings  in 1973-74 Nixon was the principal in the Watergate cover up.  In legal terms "Obstruction of Justice."

I have always held that Richard Nixon was the most morally corrupt person in the history of the Presidency. His fatal character flaws were his paranoia, his bigotry (his racial slurs and his southern strategy) and, for a public person, his inability to connect with people at a personal and humane level. 

Nixon's betrayal of the public trust fueled a general cynicism and antagonism that people have felt toward presidents and the federal government ever since.— Presidential historian Robert Dallek

The incredible thing is that his Presidency was not a failure. Both in foreign affairs and domestic policy he had some significant accomplishments. The openings to the USSR and China and the creation of the EPA are examples. Also, Nixon served his country in WW II.

Now we learn the truth of what we have always suspected which, in my opinion, is far worse that the Watergate cover up.   That Nixon sabotaged the 1968 Vietnam peace talks. This is the recent article in the NY Times.

“My God. I would never do anything to encourage South Vietnam “not to come to the table,” Nixon told Johnson, in a conversation captured on the White House taping system.

Nixon feared that the peace talks could give his opponent, Hubert Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election.  New documents show that Nixon  intentionally scuttled negotiations to end the Vietnam War for political gain. On Oct. 22, 1968, he ordered Haldeman to “monkey wrench” the initiative. 
His actions violated federal law, which prohibits private citizens from trying to "defeat the measures "of the United States. In another word "Treason".  How many Americans and Vietnamese died needlessly for Nixon's  own political gains? 

At the Nixon-Frost set of interviews the most damning statement from Nixon was:
 "When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.  

According to Nixon the President is above the law.

"“A government of laws, and not of men.”   John Adams .
In his 7th “Novanglus” letter, published in the Boston Gazette in 1774 

This has been a primary element that has separated the United States from most every nation in History.

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”  Gerald Ford Aug 9, 1974.
Of course, Ford gave Nixon a pardon not much later.  But that's a topic for another post.

We are now facing  the next four years of a President who not only is a minority president but has significant legitimacy issues.  Whose basic values are power and greed.  A true demagogue.
Will this be a country of laws or a county of powerful and rich people like the Roman (so-called) Republic?