VOA慢速英语2014 尼克松总统辞职40周年

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-07 Nixon Resignation Remembered 尼克松总统辞职40周年

This Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon.  He resigned because of his involvement in a series of events that became known as the Watergate scandal.  It began when Republican Party operatives broke into the Democratic Party offices at the Watergate building in Washington in 1972.  The break-in and the Nixon administration’s attempts to hide the incident had a major effect on the United States. 

Many Americans remember what they were doing on the night of August 8th, 1974.  That was when President Richard Nixon announced he would resign the following day.

“I have never been a quitter.  To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent¹ to every instinct in my body.  But as president, I must put the interests of America first.”

On the day of his resignation, President Nixon spoke² to White House employees. 

“Always remember, others may hate you.  But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them.  And then you destroy yourself.”

A short time later, the new president, Gerald Ford³, sought to bring calm.  He spoke to a nation that had just witnessed the first presidential resignation in its history.

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.  Our Constitution works.  Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men.  Here, the people rule.”

Several Nixon aides went to jail for crimes and abuse of power during the Watergate scandal.  White House recordings⁴ linked Richard Nixon to the cover-up.  They show he ordered aides to tell the Central Intelligence Agency to lie to the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁵ in an effort to stop the Watergate investigation. 

President Ford would later pardon Richard Nixon of any criminal responsibility.  The pardon may have cost Mr. Ford the 1976 presidential election.                                                                             

Historian Allan Lichtman is with American University in Washington.  He says Watergate remains⁶ an important turning point in U.S. political history.

“Watergate remains tremendously significant.  It is still, to date, the most comprehensive attempt by a president and his administration to undermine the democratic process.”

The Watergate scandal stretched over a two-year period.  Much of the information resulted from the work of two reporters: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post newspaper.

The scandal also led to congressional reform of the campaign finance system.  However, the U.S. Supreme⁷ Court has recently cancelled some of those measures.                                

Watergate also led to a new, more divisive political climate.  Norman Ornstein works for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

“We began to see the tensions increase but they were nowhere near what we have now.  What I see now is a level of tribalism, not simply polarization, that is something we haven’t seen in the country pretty much since the period right around the Civil War.”                                   

Americans have changed their minds about one part of the Watergate scandal.  Forty years ago, 59 percent of Americans opposed President Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon.  But by 2002, 59 percent believed that Mr. Ford had done the right thing. 

1 abhorrent   

adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• He is so abhorrent,saying such bullshit to confuse people.他这样乱说，妖言惑众，真是太可恶了。
• The idea of killing animals for food is abhorrent to many people.许多人想到杀生取食就感到憎恶。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。