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Nixon

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hand"), etc. He neutralized or won over several major labor unions with secret deals; the one with the Teamsters for the release of Hoffa being the most notorious. He got George Wallace to run within the Democratic Party by threatening his brother with a tax prosecution. He used the power of government to wring massive campaign contributions out of business and built the largest campaign fund ever. He initiated a campaign of sabotage and disruption within the Democratic Party to sow disunity and to sabotage their campaign efforts. The Watergate break-in was part of this last effort. With his landslide victory Nixon appeared to be riding the crest, with a united ruling class behind him.

Quickly, however, this ruling class coalition began to break up. In the months since the election one group after another in the ruling class has abandoned or. at least, reduced its commitment to Richard Nixon. Some did so because they realized that they had been had. that Richard Nixon was not, in fact, serving their interests. while others abandoned him because of the growing scandal and the desire to restore "public confidence" in the American system.

There are several areas in which Nixon, who has always been closer to the interests of the Southern Rim of the ruling class, is in conflict with the major ruling class forces of the East who have led the attack against him. These conflicts did not come out in the '72 election but they do form the basis of the ruling class attack upon Nixon through the Watergate and impeachment campaigns.

First, there is Nixon's policy in S.E. Asia. The major Eastern ruling class groups have been opposed to the war in Vietnam for some time now (the Wall Street Journal came out against the war in '68). Their interests lie more with Europe, Latin America and the Mideast and they feared that waging of the Vietnam War was endangering the world-wide position of the US. threatening the financial security of the US, and building a massive popular opposition at home and abroad. That does not mean that they favored a unilateral pullout. but merely that they wanted a quick and easy negotiated settlement. The Vietnamese had been willing to negotiate a settlement for some time. but the US had been unwilling. Apparently. the Eastern ruling class groups believed that Nixon was going to arrive at a settlement in October of '72. When Nixon turned around and renewed the bombing of North Vietnam and it became apparent that they had been tricked, they reacted. Although calls for impeachment were largely ignored at the time, there was a definite shift in the ruling class attitude. For the first time the ruling class' media started raising questions about Nixon's sanity and fitness for office. The December bombing. plus renewed support to the 'Saigon and Cambodian governments marked a real change. Prior to that most of the ruling class had been willing to go along with Nixon or saw no real way to oppose him. After that the tide began to turn. More and more key sectors of the ruling class began to look for ways to cripple or get rid of him.

There are other areas of conflict as well. The economy under Richard Nixon has fallen into shambles. The Nixon administration has witnessed a unique event, inflation and stagnation (always before seen as opposites) at the same time. The domestic economy is clearly out of hand. Internationally, the US isn't doing much better. Nothing that the Nixon administration did (or could do) made the situation any better. Whether Nixon's opposition has any better policies is doubtful since the crisis is one of capitalism and not due to a specific administration, but what is important is that they think they could do a better job. Or perhaps they just want to have their man in power when the crisis really comes.

Then there is the question of dirty tricks. The ruling class is not adverse to dirty tricks. As Nixon has been the first to point out, many of them have been used by previous administrations. What is upsetting to the ruling class, however, is the extent to which Nixon used them and the people towards which they were directed. It is fine to have bugging, illegal break-ins, surveillance, IRS audits, etc., so long as it is not directed against the ruling class itself. But when Nixon used these tactics against his ruling class-backed opponents, and even more importantly, created a special force outside of governmental channels (a secret police of sorts) to carry them out, then that was going too far.

Underlying all this is the increasing centralization of power which has been carried out under the Nixon administration. Centralization of power has been going on since Roosevelt, and so nothing is new, but under Nixon it reached unprecedented proportions. Not just Congress but Cabinet officers like Rogers became irrelevant to the formulation of policy. Power was removed totally from public (read ruling class as well) view. Under an administration that was fully in their control the ruling class might not mind this process, but under Nixon administration, whose orientation was to the secondary interests in the ruling class, this became a threat to the powerful ruling class interests who were left out. The potential of this kind of thing continuing for another four years (with the possibility that Ford or perhaps Connally would continue it still longer) was just too much. Some way had to be found to reduce the power of the Nixon administration; to, at the least, force it to be more responsive to other interests within the ruling class. Watergate has been the lever to accomplish that purpose. The move towards impeachment can be seen as a further step in this process.

The process whereby Watergate was built from a "third rate burglary" into a full-scale attack upon the President is reflective of the relationship between the ruling class and American institutions. Nixon was in a very powerful position. He had been reelected by the largest percentage in history since George Washington. While many people were not totally happy with him, particularly minority and working people, he did have a mass base of support. He had engineered a ruling class coalition of unprecedented proportions to back his campaign. (There were voices in opposition, notably the Washington Post, but they were given little credence.) In January of '73 the trial of the seven men arrested for the Watergate burglary ended without revealing the names of any higher-ups or establishing any direct links consciousness. What had happened is that a few more groups within the ruling class had decided that the whole Watergate incident could be used to reduce the power of the Presidency. Most likely, their only intent at first was to limit Nixon's power and to build the power of the Congress as an alternative. There are informal rules in politics which govern such to the White House.

But then things began to change. On February 11 the Senate set up a special committee to investigate the Watergate affair. On March 19, McCord, one of the Watergate burglars, wrote the judge in the case that perjury was committed and that higher-ups were involved. The tide began to turn. More and more revelations came out almost every day; more and more coverage was devoted to the Watergate affair by all the media; the investigation began to expand to cover illegal financial contributions, the Ellsberg break-in, the milk price deal, the grain deal, the Nixon houses, etc., etc. Nixon was forced by Congress (which was refusing to recognize Richardson as Attorney General) to appoint what might be rightfully considered a hostile Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox. This was the key. Nixon lost political control over the Justice Department.

The loss of political control of the Justice Department by the White House was the keystone to Nixon's descent. Where once Watergate was ignored, now it was seized upon and thrust into the public situations and the rule is that when someone has got the goods on you, you back down. The ruling class groups moving against Nixon figured that a little public pressure would force Nixon to be more responsive to their interests. Nixon did not go along. He did not play by the rules. Perhaps it was overconfidence in his own power, in the public support he had engineered (after all in January '73 the Harris poll reported that 68% of the American people approved of his policies). Perhaps he felt that he was secure in his ruling class support, that he could easily win out in a contest of wills, perhaps it was just his persistent strain of megalomania, his desire to never be defeated, but at any rate, he fought back. He refused to cooperate, he refused to back down. This, more than anything else, is what has forced the ruling class to the point of impeachment.

In all of this the media has been key. It will be in the mass media and the mass consciousness that Richard Nixon will be tried and, perhaps, convicted. True, Congress will be the one to actually vote, but they will only do so if they are assured that Nixon has been destroyed in the hearts and minds of the American people. Even then, he might be allowed to resign for reasons of "ill health" which would avert the chaos of a Congressional vote. The ruling class understands this very well (as does Nixon). That is why the unprecedented attack upon Nixon which has appeared in the national media has been allowed to happen. The ruling class would have preferred to deal with Nixon quietly and behind the scenes. They understand that when you arouse the kind of public campaign that has been aroused you are playing with fire. But since Nixon would not go along, would not play by the old rules, they had no choice but to try building an alliance between themselves and a mass movement against Richard Nixon.

It is not that the ruling class has exactly ordered the coverage which has occurred. Rather the ruling class has merely taken off the binders which it usually puts on the media. It has said to the press corps "There he is, go get him." And they have. The press have their own reasons for attacking Nixon (and sometimes not very different from yours or mine) but they are usually kept in check. Now they have been let loose and the result is to be seen on the 6:30 news.

Nixon's is a self-defeating strategy of resistance. Each arbitrary and capricious act which he makes (like firing Cox or erasing the tapes) reduces his support, both in the public arena and in the ruling class. Not all of those who have abandoned Nixon have done so out of disagreement with his policies. Some have abandoned him simply because he is losing because he poses a threat to the whole elaborate ideology of democracy, law and justice which has been built up over the years and which is, at the moment, the foundation of the American order.

The movement towards impeachment is forcing a realignment of forces within the ruling class. Everyone is scurrying to cover their tracks, to maneuver into a better position if, by some chance, Nixon is able to pull the rabbit out of the hat and remain on top.

The battle is by no means resolved. While the conflict may be within the ruling class, the arena is in the public. So, Nixon has begun to mount a defense. The forces arrayed against him are very strong and well-placed, but Nixon has proven himself to be a master at the manipulation of the public ideology before -- Alger Hiss, the Checkers Speech, the '68 and '72 campaigns. Whether he can do it remains to be seen.

Doyle Niemann
Great Speckled Bird

As the machinery of government moves haltingly, but relentlessly toward impeachment, Nixon is preparing a back door exit; he is setting the stage for a resignation for reasons of "ill health. " In the months since the election one group after another in the ruling class has abandoned, or, at least, reduced its commitment to Richard Nixon.