The Wounded Presidency, Part One

The Untold Story of U.S. Foreign Policy During the Nixon Impeachment Crisis

By Timothy Naftali

Impeachment is the consummate domestic political story, but its repercussions are also global. When the commander in chief must fight for his political life, he can be tempted to make foreign policy a political instrument—and global adversaries can be tempted to exploit a wounded presidency. In Part One of this exhaustive two-part series, CNN presidential historian Timothy Naftali looks to the impeachment of President Richard Nixon for lessons about the crisis facing Washington today. Drawing on reams of recently declassified documents as well as memoirs, oral histories, and other archival materials, he weaves together the previously untold story of U.S. foreign policy during the Watergate scandal, when the president understood that his controversial policy of détente with the Soviet Union lay on the line, but nonetheless delegated his foreign policy to an enormously empowered Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.

Tomorrow we’ll release Part Two, where Naftali turns to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment scandal and the power of these historical episodes to explain the world’s reaction to Trump’s unfolding drama.

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