During the late twentieth century, American faith in government declined significantly. It happened because of different scandals connected with the US politicians. These events often showed that American officials had the same disadvantages as ordinary people, and this fact decreased community’s faith in the system.
Watergate scandal became one of the famous events in this category. It was the only such incident in the US history that made the President Left his post. The scandal started after 5 people illegally entered “into the Democratic National Committee headquarters on May 27, 1972” (Guidotti). Criminals were arrested during the second break; they tried to steal documents of the compete party. “The President’s involvement in the affair was proved beyond doubt by tapes which had recorded his private conversations with top ranking officials of the government” (Guidotti).
Politicians’ corruption often was a main reason for the society’s negative reaction. The Keating Five scandal is a good example of this theory. “Five US Senators were accused of corruption after the infamous collapse of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association in 1989” (Guidotti). It happened during the Savings and Loans crisis, and the environment made the situation worse.
Many other scandals were linked to the politician’s private life. For example, U.S. Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy had a car accident with Mary Jo Kopechne and left her in the dangerous situation on July 18, 1969. The girl died and the politician was accused of her death. There is a more famous scandal caused by the relationship between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. It caused an impeachment of the President. Mentioned scandals include plots, corruption, adultery and cowardice. While there were different reasons, alls events made American people decrease their faith in the own government.
Works Cited
Guidotti, Daniel. “Top 10 Political Scandals in the United States”. Pfhub.com. n. d. Web. 22 July 2016.
