Question

The Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal contributed to which of these trends?A. increasing mistrust of the governmentB. decreasing support for the Republican PartyC. decreasing popularity of counterculture valuesD. increasing conformity among middle-class Americans

Answer 1

Answer:

The right answer is:

A. increasing mistrust of the government.

Explanation:

The credibility of the political system and of the political class was undermined by both events. Since JFK, the successive administrations did not tell the whole truth about the war in Vietnam, they kept telling the pubic America and her allies were winning the war; that perception was brutally challenged by the 1968 Tet Offensive by the Communist Viet Cong in South Vietnam, a military setback but a great coup d´image for the Vietnamese guerillas fighting the pro-American regime. So, in 1969, Richard Nixon was elected under the promise he´d extricate the USA from the Southeast Asian nightmare with honor. The Watergate scandal of 1972-1974 severely eroded the aura and prestige of the presidency, as Nixon´s lies and justice obstruction became public. It ended with his resignation from the presidency.