Fidelity Schmidelity

Looking back over the smoldering debris, it has to be called “the year of Watergate.” Obviously, the news “story” of the year was the destruction of the Nixon Administration. But, then, actually, that is not quite accurate. The casualty was the Nixon Presidency. That’s different. And the Nixon Presidency was an empty and cracked shell on January 1, 1974. The impeachment machinery was clanking along with deceptive slowness. The crucial decision—the one that determined the end of the drama—had been made six months earlier, in July 1973, when Mr. Nixon decided not to have a bonfire with his tapes. If he had had a bonfire, he would have lit the national Christmas tree last month, as President. But he decided to keep the tapes—the one option he really did not have. So the “story” of 1974 was just the liquidation of the Nixon Presidency.

But it would be imprecise, and would obscure an important point, to say that the Nixon Administration was destroyed. Some of the finest, most formidable men in the Nixon Administration are still on the job, which is nice, because they are exceptional men. At the end of this brutal year, in which Mr. Nixon suffered all—but only—the slings and arrows he brought upon himself, it is not only charitable but accurate to say this for Mr. Nixon: he brought some remarkable talent into government.

About the Author

George F. Will

George F. Will has been a columnist, beginning with National Review, since 1973.

Looking back over the smoldering debris, it has to be called “the year of Watergate.” Obviously, the news “story” of the year was the destruction of the Nixon Administration. But, then, actually, that is not quite accurate. The casualty was the Nixon Presidency. That’s different. And the Nixon Presidency was an empty and cracked shell on January 1, 1974. The impeachment machinery was clanking along with deceptive slowness. The crucial decision—the one that determined the end of the drama—had been made six months earlier, in July 1973, when Mr. Nixon decided not to have a bonfire with his tapes. If he had had a bonfire, he would have lit the national Christmas tree last month, as President. But he decided to keep the tapes—the one option he really did not have. So the “story” of 1974 was just the liquidation of the Nixon Presidency.

But it would be imprecise, and would obscure an important point, to say that the Nixon Administration was destroyed. Some of the finest, most formidable men in the Nixon Administration are still on the job, which is nice, because they are exceptional men. At the end of this brutal year, in which Mr. Nixon suffered all—but only—the slings and arrows he brought upon himself, it is not only charitable but accurate to say this for Mr. Nixon: he brought some remarkable talent into government.