President Nixon and Edward Snowden were both involved in government scandals and while both scandals have their key differences, they share some similarities that make them great situations to compare. Nixon is said to have taken part in a cover-up while Snowden was declassifying some classified information. They both betrayed trust but in my opinion only Edward did something for the benefit of the public. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayI will start with the Watergate affair and how some intruders in a government building sparked a gigantic controversy with much criticism of not only the President, but all the high officials of the American government. Nixon had many motivations for the cover-up; after everything he and his party had done, he couldn't bear to lose face again. During and after the Vietnam War, Nixon was hated by nearly half the country. Many people thought he was making bad decisions, and his support among both US citizens and other politicians wavered. The actions of the president's men were and are under intense scrutiny, which may be another reason why they felt the need to bring the truth about their opposition to light. One of the biggest blows to Nixon's support was the leak of the Pentagon Papers. . This was a series of documents that contained details about the Vietnam War that demonstrated that the White House had blatantly lied to the public. This was revealed by Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst who was convinced that the newspapers would provide public opinion, already skeptical of the war, with the justification to relentlessly push for an end to all efforts in Vietnam. Daniel released the documents to several major newspapers and was later charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy. The charges were eventually dropped, although Daniel claimed that what he had done for the United States was worth a life in prison. Naturally, Ellsberg's action did not please Nixon. Many of his aides formed a group called "The White House Plumbers," who broke into the old Executive Office Building to try to find Daniel Ellsberg's medical records. Their use would have been to cast doubt on Ellsberg's mental health and discredit him. Many other times, the people Nixon had appointed to his service had taken private information and used it to crush potential threats. While this allowed them to maintain their positions, their actions did not go unnoticed. A second time, White House plumbers broke into a government building, once again thinking they hadn't found what they were looking for. Anyone could have guessed their goal, for it was no different from what they had always sought. This time they were in a hurry to spy on the Democrats to gain an advantage over the other presidential candidates and get Nixon re-elected. Nixon initially denied knowledge of the event but since he was already under suspicion, investigations were promptly launched. Over a two-year period, Nixon's private records are requested to determine whether he is guilty or not. During this period of time, Nixon turned over the edited transcripts, then the edited tapes, and finally the relevant documents were released. Evidence was found that he was involved in the break-in and he was almost impeached. In fact, he resigned while Congress was debating his impeachment. The entire event became known as the Watergate affair and would not happen.