What if nobody discovered Watergate?

I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed much, but what if nobody found out about Nixon's involvement in Watergate? Assuming nobody finds out about any of his other dodgy deeds, what does he do for the rest of his Presidency and how does this affect future politics?
 
A more liberal Republican Party. Watergate killed the Nixon wing of the party and Nixon was probably most economically liberal Republican president ever.
 
Well one of the major effects is his Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) proposals have a serious shot at getting passed. As I understand things in our timeline it was blocked by the unions putting a lot of pressure on the Democrats so that Kennedy, who had been having talks with Nixon, backed away from it and then when Watergate kicked off they both doubled down on their opposition because they assumed they'd be able to get a better deal from a Democrat dominated Congress and Presidency in the near future. Yeah, that worked out well.

As TimTurner said there's going to be much less distrust of and disappointment with the government. Looking back from a modern perspective it's amazing how much people trusted and took on faith what the government said, and how subservient the press was. Now that's not to say that Nixon, or one of his underlings off their own bat, might not do something else that sees them get caught out and some other scandal occur.
 
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Nixon would literally be our top president, he had a over 75% like rating, only one state didnt vote for him in the election.

Honestly he would make Reagan in our time look unpopular.
 
Nixon would literally be our top president, he had a over 75% like rating, only one state didnt vote for him in the election.

Honestly he would make Reagan in our time look unpopular.

He'd be president for the hard part of the 1970s, so he'd be less popular than that, but yes, he'd basically be the Republican Bill Clinton in terms of popularity.
 
The only reservation I have about Reagan being the nominee is that in this timeline, Moderate Republicanism would remain fairly popular still and Reagan might be seen as a right-wing lunatic. For that reason, he will not be the nominee in this timeline. Let's stick with Ford vs. Jackson, who wins?
 
While the main scandal was the break-in and cover-up, there were other things going on that could have, on their own, been major scandals. Iffy campaign contributions, Agnew's tax evasion and misuse of the FBI and IRS are a few examples. So, if the break-in is unnoticed, one could see the later years of Nixon's administration still mired in scandal, though probably without resignation and an impeachment proceeding. In any case, 1973 is going to be marred by the Agnew tax evasion matter, which was completely independent of Watergate and involved conduct by Agnew that occurred before he became VP.
 

Wallet

Banned
Universal Healthcare and gun control are passed. Nixon wanted to ban handguns.

Better relations with China and South Vietnam stays independent. North Vietnam were planning on invading 5 to 10 years, but saw an opening when Nixon resigned and knew Ford wouldn't have the political capital to act.

Reagan wins in 1976, but Ted Kennedy wins in 1980. A much better country I tell you what
 
While the main scandal was the break-in and cover-up, there were other things going on that could have, on their own, been major scandals. Iffy campaign contributions, Agnew's tax evasion and misuse of the FBI and IRS are a few examples. So, if the break-in is unnoticed, one could see the later years of Nixon's administration still mired in scandal, though probably without resignation and an impeachment proceeding. In any case, 1973 is going to be marred by the Agnew tax evasion matter, which was completely independent of Watergate and involved conduct by Agnew that occurred before he became VP.
Agreed. By 1972 Nixon had done so many corrupt things that it's very easy to imagine him getting caught. Plus, if Watergate wasn't discovered Nixon probably would have done more corrupt things, quite possibly escalating his behavior until something worse than Watergate happened.
 
Heath Care passes with Democratic votes. It angers conservative Republicans and helps Reagan win the nomination in 1976. He loses to a Democrat other than Carter, who needed Watergate to win.
 
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