President Nixon

Overall, was Nixon a positive or a negative for America?

While most people remember Nixon because of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, he actually accomplished many tasks while in office. Nixon was able to relax the tension that the average American citizen felt due to the ongoing Cold War. He did this through establishing a relationship with China, a communist nation. Nixon even referred to China by its real name, a huge step, and also by visiting China. This was a big step because no U.S. president had ever been there before. Through this, Nixon was able to end the embargo that had been previously been in place between China and America. The third reason why Nixon was a positive influence on America is due to the SALT I talks that he had with the Soviet Union. This created a five year agreement that froze the Soviet’s production of ICBM's. While most people realized that they still had many other dangerous weapons, it settled many people’s nerves because it showed that America was able to create a positive relationship with the Soviets. Many people see Nixon's presidency as a negative effect on America, but they forget all the good that he created for America.

ERA

The equal rights amendment supported the right for everyone, including women, to have equal rights. This idea should be supported because it gives women the opportunity to have equal rights if they wanted to go about getting a job, or any other activity that did not have gender equality. Some people do not support the ERA because they do not want to change their ways or fear the draft, because if they are equal to men, then they assume they have to everything in the same ways aw men. However, if they think in this mindset, they deny certain women the rights to equality because of their own selfishness. Despite its apparent benefits, the ERA was not passed. So the question is: should it be revived today? In many ways, it is not necessary because other laws have created equal opportunities, like in the workplace, someone cannot be denied a position based solely on their gender. Also, discrimination because of gender is mostly due to social situations. So when these social prejudices on gender are eliminated, there is no need for an ERA to be revived and passed as a law.

Jackie Robinson & His Role in the Civil Rights Movement

Some people say that Jackie Robinson was the greatest civil rights figure in American history. Others disagree. Personally, I do not believe one man should take credit for the entire civil rights movement. However, Jackie Robinson played a major role. He was able to play baseball, a sport he was very talented in and he loved to play, without having to devote his entire life to the civil rights movement. Compared to Martin Luther King who devoted his life to equality between races, who faced punishments sucha s jail, Jackie seems to be less significant. Now I hope this doesn't seem like Robinson did not face his challenges too; he had to be silent when people were screaming at him, when people were insulting him to his face, and he could not fight back. When looking at the entire civil rights movement as a whole, I just could not rank Jackie Robinson as the sole, greatest civil rights figure when so many other individuals made their own very important mark on American history as well.