Watergate

The reasons for Watergate have been open to opinion since Nixon made his terrible blunder. I believe the reasons for it were a combination of what many historians believe. It was a result of the growing imperial presidency in the cold war and the deadly political environment of the 1960s and 1970s. He did not have the confidence or political ability to overcome the outside pressures in this time of chaos.

The Vietnam War

The United States became involved in the Vietnam War for many reasons. Some of the policy makers of the time believed American involvement was necessary because if South Vietnam fell to communism, it was possible that all of Asia would. Critics can say the war was part of a U.S. imperialistic plan or that it was for economic interests in the region, but this has little evidence to support it. I believe the involvement in the war was from a lack of foresight and political fear from the 1960s policy makers. If I were president at the time I would not want to see an important country in Asia fall to communism under my term, considering the hostility and stakes of the Cold War.

The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

President Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan was and continues to spark emotional debate. There is no question that Truman believed he was doing what was best for the American people, whether it be saving American lives or intimidating Russia to hopefully spur possible future conflicts. But was it necessary or right? With hindsight people can say that it was not necessary and unrightfully killed thousands of innocent Japanese. I believe this is true but also think that at the time this was the simplest, most benefiting solution in Truman’s mind. In the short term it ended the war and kept Russia on its heels, but in the long term it created a nuclear arms race and ensured many lives to be lost in future wars. This is why I believe that Truman’s decision was the easiest one at the time, but he had no idea of its possible consequences

The Great Depression

Many historians and economists have argued the causes of the Great Depression since it began. Although many interpretations of its beginnings could be considered valid, I believe the Great Depression was a result of a combination of factors. The Federal Reserve Board definitely made an untimely decision by raising interest rates at a time when the economy needed more money flowing, not contraction. I think one of the most important factors was that American consumers had overextended themselves with utilizing options like buying on credit and with no new industries to buy products from, had no reason to spend more. This is similar to our most recent recession, but the Roosevelt and his New Deal program didn’t pump enough money into the economy to help it recover. Overall, I believe the snowball effect of these bad decisions and greed helped make a simple recession into the Great Depression.

Progressivism

Progressivism was in general a movement to curb the power of special interests. Historians like Richard Hofstadter have tried to argue that progressive reformers were afflicted by “status anxiety”, but there is not enough evidence to support it. I do believe that progressivism was an attempt at organizing and stabilizing the industrial economy and local settings, all to make sure the people had a say in their society. These progressives, including many women, wanted to enhance their own and others positions in society. This is why I believe that progressivism, although very diverse, was a movement to improve the majority of people’s lives over the few insanely rich that were emerging from the national economy

Populism

The populists had many reasons for resisting the economic developments that threatened them in the late 19th century. Although some historians believe that populism was potentially antidemocratic and dangerous, overall I believe it was legitimate resistance to oppression. Historians like Richard Hofstadter have argued that it rested on a romanticized and obsolete vision of the role of farmers in American society, but populist demands were legitimate. The role of farmers may have diminished in the economy, but their importance was still great, because people always need food to survive. Their suggestions of government-owned warehouses may have been on the extreme side, but their intentions of trying to avoid the new threat of a modern capitalist economy was reasonable.

Obama's approval rating

On cnn.com “Obama approval rating below 50 percent” from Washington, explains that President is approved by 48 percent of people in national survey by CNN/Opinion Research Corp. This is a drop of seven percent from last month and the biggest drop came from non-college educated white voters. This is most likely from unemployment and not from Obama’s new policy in Afghanistan. He is not the first president to have his approval rating dip below 50 percent in their first year as president; Reagan’s and Clinton’s also did too. I think these declines are reasonable because not everyone can like the policy’s he has established. What really matters is if in five years the results of his policies are beneficial.