The Watergate scandal has cast a shadow over what should be considered a great presidency. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone today who would twice admit that Richard Nixon made anything more than simple electrical recordings. You might say that compared to today's NSA controversy, Watergate is a trifle in terms of the government's ability to make today's private lives public. But two wrongs don't make a right, and just because one president tapped more phones than the other doesn't mean Nixon should be approved. This does not mean, however, that Richard Nixon was a terrible president. Although he participated in some unsavory activities, as can be found in many presidencies, Nixon was secretly a great president. Who is Richard Nixon Richard Milhouse Nixon was born on January 9, 1913. He grew up on a lemon ranch with his parents Frank and Hannah Nixon. Until he joined the law firm Wingert and Bewley, he worked in his father's grocery store. He married his wife Pat on June 21, 1940. He ran for Congress in 1946 and won his seat over Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis, getting over 15,000 more votes than Voorhis. Nixon was a member of the HUAC, or United Nations House of Representatives Committee on American Activities, whose purpose was to discover and eliminate communism in the United States. In 1948, Nixon took over the investigation of Alger Hiss, a State Apartment official suspected of spying for the USSR during World War II. This gained notoriety for Nixon as most people claimed Hiss was innocent, but Nixon did not abandon his investigation, even though decades later, the government declassified the files revealing Hiss' guilt. He was re-elected to Congress the same year. In 1950, Nixon gave up his job and funding for the program was reduced to a third of what was initially promised to the AVRN for training and supplies. a peace treaty was signed by the US, PAV and AVRN, called the Paris Peace Accords. The PPA declared an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam and temporarily halted fighting in the hope that North and South Vietnam would reach an agreement. Although the PPA stopped fighting for a while, it allowed North Vietnam to maintain its footholds in the South. Furthermore, President Nixon promised that the United States would intervene once again if PAV violated the agreement. Once Nixon resigned as president of the United States of America, North Vietnam took advantage of this, pressuring South Vietnam and continuing its attacks, knowing that the Democratic Party now in power would not defend the AVRN . If Nixon had remained in power, Vietnam would be a free country today.