ABSTRACT
Every scandal is unique. Each has its own cast of characters, its own catalogue of alleged transgressions, generates unique conflicts which feed into how they develop and have their own outcomes and consequences. However, comparing two scandals across a long time span can illuminate political change. This chapter begins with the most moment
ous scandal in American history, still the only time a president has been forced from office for ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’, the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal. It then examines the presidency of Donald Trump, a period of frequent accusations of wrongdoing, but which the president survived with his political base intact and without clear, consensual or authoritative resolutions. Whereas the result of the Watergate scandal was some political renewal, the consequence of the Trump presidency scandals is even greater division and political alienation.
