A case study is viewed as a research methodology or basic strategy that has been scrutinized in the past as lacking rigor as well as objectivity when compared with other research methods. But there are certain times that a case study can be a useful tool for the preliminary part of the research. It is in these times that the case study can be viewed as an important marketing staple that can be used for many varied reasons (Rowley, 2002). As an example, a business can use a case study to demonstrate how their product or service has been created and is being used successfully by customers but with a special way in that it allows the business to really show the benefit of the product. This is a successful process that can not only benefit the customer but that also can bring new customers which is a positive for the business.
This process is also good for contemporary events when viewing behavior of an individual or a group of individuals. Needed information can be gathered via interviews, documents, or even artifacts. The main purpose of the case study can be to gather relevant information that can reveal evidence that will be useful in the study; especially when the case study concerns an individual’s accomplishments that will be achieved for posterity.
A case study can also tell a story giving examples as well as illustrations about what has happened in an individual’s life or in the business relative to the creation of the product or service; a case study can focus on the individual in totality relative to the individual’s leadership and accomplishments or if a business, focus on the customer and the product; a case study can reveal success because after all, this is what is of interest to the reader whether reading about an individual or reading about the success of a product or service sold by a business; a case study can leverage the individual’s brand making him/her unique or if a business, show the importance of the brand to the customer; and finally, a case study can reveal much knowledge that can be used by the reader personally as well as professionally (Angus, 2013).
If this is true for a business, imagine the importance that is demonstrated when considering an individual who has served as President of the United States of America. This case study will discuss how the Richard Nixon Library and Museum has shaped how we remember former President Nixon. This case study will also include other information relative to the office of President of the United States to include a discussion of the role of the President of the United States, the importance of the office, the need for accomplishments, President Nixon’s leadership and accomplishments, the Nixon Library and Museum, and the conclusion of the report.
The role of the President of the United States carries with it a tremendous responsibility. While there are many responsibilities that are too lengthy to mention, seven major roles will be discussed to include (Scholastic Teachers, 2016):
Chief of State – The President of the United States is a living symbol of the nation. During President Nixon’s term as Chief of State then President Nixon was the first US President to visit Beijing in the early part of the year 1972 and brought about an act that stabilized the country. This President also spoke via telephone to the Apollo 11 Astronauts who walked on the moon (Wooley & Peters, 1999).
Chief Executive – Meaning that the President is the leader for millions of government workers with the responsibility of reading reports about problems of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and holding a Cabinet meeting to discuss government issues to mention only a few of the responsibilities used in this role.
Chief Diplomat – Decides what American diplomats will say to foreign governments. President Nixon was invited to meet the Soviet Premier and created a better relationship with the Soviet Union while President of the United States.
Commander-in-Chief – The President is in charge of the US armed forces to include the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines being the decision maker concerning where the troops will be stationed, where ships will be sent, and how weapons will be used. Every military general and admiral takes orders from the President of the United States. President Nixon himself served as a Navy Lieutenant commander in the Pacific during WWII and served as Vice President to President Dwight Eisenhower.
Chief Legislator – While Congress has the authority to make laws, the Constitution gives the president the supremacy to influence Congress in its lawmaking. The President can sign a bill of Congress and make speeches to Congress at will.
Chief of Party – The president can assist members of his political party to get elected as well as appointed into office. As an example, the president can choose to travel to speak at a rally for a party nominee to the US Senate if he/she desires to do so or any other role that the President believes the candidate would be a good fit.
Chief Guardian of the Economy – Part of the presidential role is being concerned about unemployment, high prices, taxes, business, and the prosperity of the country. While in office, President Nixon helped to create over 2.8 million jobs for the American people. Employment of the people within a country is most important and is always of concern to the people.
This is just a small list of the responsibilities of the President of the United States thereby showing the desire for some type of memorable object when the president leaves office. This small list of responsibilities only gives a very minute detail of the many responsibilities that are expected for the individual who holds the position of President of the United States.
The Importance of the Office
Just as organizations need leaders who understand leadership, the same is true when viewing the importance of the office of President of the United States. The job carries with it the evolving power and ever enlarging scope of responsibilities that involve the president being a transformational leader who understands how to bring about positive change in people as well as social systems. As President of the United States, the leader must have an individualized consideration for the people and also set an example as a motivator looking at what is best for the nation and the people. The role also needs a leader who understands intellectual stimulation thereby encouraging the followers while also knowing how to find better ways to execute any tasks that need to be accomplished (MSG, 2016).
This is a most important role as the President of the United States is faced with many issues that require major decisions that will have major consequences on the future of the country. This responsibility was of such great concern that the Executive Office of the President was created in the late 19630s by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The program was to be overseen by the White House Chief of Staff. There is a total of approximately 20 different offices (The White House Administration, 2016).
The Need for Accomplishments
The President of the United States becomes president because of promises made to improve the State of the Union. These accomplishments will be written in the history books and will be remembered long after the president leaves office. When campaign promises are kept, the president can look at being in office as fulfilling because of those accomplishments. There are also benefits to the president accomplishing the goals that were set during the campaign. Accomplishing of goals enables the people to see that the president believes in accountability. This is an accomplishment that is important to the president as well as the people that he/she will be working with in the role of president.
Being accountable allows the president to measure successes and progresses as well as to view failures. While many may not understand that failures can be of benefit, being an accountable leader does demonstrate this importance. Failures can lead to successes thereby avoiding the repeated action of failure.
Accomplishing goals also keeps the leader engaged in what is being done. While the office of the President of the United States is one of the highest positions within the country, the president must be engaged with every aspect of leadership in this position. The president cannot afford to be bored or distracted as the position carries with it an overwhelming responsibility.
Becoming accountable also reminds this leader of being responsible. The people working within the White House look to the leader for leadership. This task must be accomplished at all cost with the elimination of excuses. Whenever any of us accomplish goals that we have set, that feeling of accomplishment lasts a lifetime. Now let us review the accomplishments of former President Richard Nixon.
President Nixon’s Leadership and Accomplishments
President Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States of America. He was the former Republican congressman and US Senator from California and he also served two terms as Vice President under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s. Listed below are the top domestic and foreign policy achievements of President Nixon (Richard Nixon Foundation, 2016). Domestic policy included:
The draft was ended causing the military to be a volunteer decision versus being forced to serve;
The Environmental Protection Agency was created to ensure clean air and water;
Supreme court justices were appointed to include a total of four;
Funds were donated to cancer research to enabling the finding of a cure;
Discrimination relative to gender at higher learning institutions was eliminated enabling women to participate in sports;
Desegregation of schools in the south was handled during this administration;
Ways to fight organized crime with the joint effort of the FBI and other forces was created;
Endangered cultures to include the American Indians received their sacred lands back and were also allowed to make their own decisions concerning tribal council.
Memorable Foreign Policy Included:
Participation in the Tactical Arms Limitation Talks with a member of the Soviet council
A specified treaty was signed thereby calming Russian tensions by restraining nuclear weapons between two large powers;
The United States involvement in Vietnam ended;
The United States acted within national interest to maintain treaty commitments with its associates;
Prisoners of War from Vietnam were invited to the White House and were honored;
A project was created to end the reliance on foreign oil; and
Israel was given aid that saved the country.
These are accomplishments that are still considered to be great even today. Truly former President Nixon left a legacy; hence, the reason for the Nixon Library and Museum.
The Nixon Library and Museum
The purpose of a library is to meet the informational needs of people by providing information. This information has the ability to encourage people to learn and to use that knowledge within their lives personally as well as professional. This supports the field of education and allows people to gain new knowledge relative to culture, education, training, technology, and a limitless amount of other information.
A museum usually represents a collection of objects as well as material that is relative to culture, religion, and history with the information being in one place to allow people to view the information for pleasure or to learn something new. Today when people go to a museum there may be another purpose to include gaining knowledge from the past that could be seen as relevant today. Museums hold treasure in ways that fit the individual who is doing the seeking.
There is a history relative to the presidential library and museum. This system began in the 1930s when President Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal and Presidential papers to the Federal Government. Friends of the president formed what became known as a non-profit corporation thereby raising funds to build the library and museum building. This idea was well accepted as in the past, Presidents normally gave their papers to heirs at the end of the administration. From this point forward, presidents began to create libraries donating their historical materials to the government thereby enabling the preservation of Presidential papers that could be viewed by the American people. Finally, the Presidential Records Act of 1978 established the Presidential records that document the constitutional and ceremonial duties of the President and is the property of the United States Government. Once the President leaves office, the Archivist of the United States takes on the responsibility of taking custody of all records ensuring the records are placed in the Presidential library as the storehouse for all Presidential records (National Archives, 2016).
It is believed by many that the President controls the Presidential Library and Museum; however, this is not true. The events in history greatly affect the information within the library that is viewed as important. The Richard Nixon Library and Museum has two locations with the bulk of the former President Richard Nixon’s records being located in Yorba Linda, California which allows a tour of the President’s birthplace, the memorial sites of President and Mrs. Nixon, The First Lady’s Gardens, the Presidential helicopter, and the White House East Room.
The White House Tapes and Communication Agency videotapes are located in College Park, Maryland. Documents that are available for view include memos from Mr. Kissinger considered as mandatory review documents, White House Staff Documents; the Proposal for the White House Historian in Residence, Donald Rumsfield’s work in the administration, Reflections on Government Service, and the Nixon Administration and the Press to name just a few (Library and Museum, 2016).
The Richard Nixon Library and Museum has shaped how we remember the former president because the library contains information relative to the achievements of the former president. The library contains such information as the disposition of executive orders that were signed by the former president totaling over 300 total executive orders; additional Nixon Presidential Materials in response to researcher requests were released in the later part of 2015; declassified documents are also available for review to include documents related to military operations in Asia in the 1970s, information relative to Vietnam, missile testing, and information concerning United States relations that occurred within the country of Israel (Richard Nixon Foundation, 2016). If any other information to include papers or documents that were reviewed or signed during the time that the former President Richard Nixon was president, that information will also be added to the host of other important information thereby preserving the information forever.
Conclusion
This case study has revealed how the Richard Nixon Library and Museum has shaped how we remember former President Nixon. The case study was the perfect research methodology to use as the information gained during the study reviewed the important attributes of the former president to include determination, a desire to enable peace not only in the United States but also in other countries, and an understanding of personal freedom for all people with ideas to end discrimination relative to people of different cultures as well as within the walls of colleges and universities.
The role of the President of the United States brings with it great responsibility to include titles such as Chief of State representing a living symbol of the nation that is known throughout the world, Chief Executive with the responsibility of leading millions of government workers and reading and understanding all types of reports and problems; Chief Diplomat with decision making relative to foreign governments; Commander-in-Chief being in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marines and having the power to make decisions relative to war; Chief Legislator giving the president the power to influence Congress relative to lawmaking; Chief of Party thereby assisting members of the political party to be appointed into office; and Chief Guardian of the Economy being responsible for the success of the American people throughout the entire country.
Because of the importance of the office, the president must understand that the job carries with it evolving power with an endless scope of responsibilities. This means that the president must be a transformational leader understanding that leadership carries with it an awesome responsibility that can never be taken for granted. The President of the United States must have an individualized consideration for people and must set the example relative to leadership.
As President of the United States promises have been made that the people of the country are expecting to see fulfilled. Those accomplishments will be written in the history books and remembered long after the president leaves office. It is for this reason that the president as leader must be accountable and understand the importance of keeping promises that have been made. These promises become accomplishments that benefit not only the president as leader but also the people who voted the president in office because of those promises.
Former President Nixon’s leadership enabled the accomplishment of domestic policy to include ending the draft, the enabling of the act to assist in the protection of the environment, the appointing of Supreme Court Justices, and the enabling of the end of discrimination and ways to fight organized crime. Memorable foreign policy included the end of the Vietnam War, the return of prisoners of war from Vietnam, and aid to the country of Israel in their time of need.
It is also important to note that the establishing of a Presidential Library and Museum leaves an indelible memory in the minds of the American people relative to the works and accomplishment that have been left by a former president. As time goes by, there is the tendency to forget the many events that have happened over time. As an example, Former President Richard Nixon had the honor of speaking with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin, Jr. when they walked on the moon. Former President Richard Nixon was in the Oval Room of the White House. This is an important event in American history as no other president has had such an honor. The conversation as well as pictures of this event is contained with the Nixon Library and Museum thereby being forever remembered.
The Nixon Library and Museum houses the most important information that transpired while the former president was in office. This is the information that reveals the many positives that he added to the country while in office. This is what being president of a country is all about and deserves remembrance for all time in the hearts and minds of the people of the country. The United States of America has had a total of 43 people sworn into office holding the esteemed position of President of the United States. The Presidential Library and Museum of each of these individuals holds information that will be forever remembered and it is very good to know that former President Richard Nixon is forever a part of this rich American history.
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