Watergate

The explanation for Nixon's actions in Watergate will never be fully known, but many historians have made guesses. I believe it can be explained by the personality of Richard Nixon. No matter how much power the President has, it can be resisted. The paranoia Nixon showed in his Presidency , proves that it was not a social or institutional force that made Nixon cover his tracts, it was his own personality.

Vietnam

The United States became involved in the Vietnam war for a wide array of reasons. Many scholars and writers explain the American intervention as the United States trying to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Others attribute it to "part of a larger effort by the United States after World War II to impose a particular political and economic order in the world." I believe the U.S involvement was due to the Americans trying to stop communism in that crucial part of the world. With China and the Soviet Union funding the communist rebels in Vietnam, the United States had no other options, other than to try to stop them.

Causes of the Great Depression

Historians have argues over the cause of the Great Depression, since the outset. Some say it was "lack of business confidence", others say it was caused by underconsumption and over production. I believe the answer can not be found in one cause. A multitude of factors came into effect, to cause the Great Depression. Over production led to the saturation of the market, and then led to underconsumption. This is compiled with the over speculating and the eventual crash of the market. With no one buying goods in a consumer centered society the economy started to fail.

Progressivism

In the article on Progressivism, historians have very conflicting views on the motives of the Progressives. In the 1950's felt that the progressives had the intention of curbing the power of the special interests. Later historian George Mowry considered the motives of the Progressives to be "people who considered themselves the natural leaders of society and who were trying to recover their fading influence from the new capitalist institutions that had displaced them." Richard Hofstadter called this "status anxiety". That was challenged by Gabriel Kolko, who said, " Progressive reform was not an effort to protect the people from corporations; it was, rather,a vehicle through which corporate leaders used the government to protect themselves from competition."

I believe the answer is somewhere in the middle. While some progressives did want to curb the power of special interests, many were only interested only in reform that benefited them. While many progressive were genuinely interested in bettering the American way of life, many more I believe were only interested in helping themselves.

Progressivism

Populism

In the article on populism, historians argue over whether or not populism was a movement that was anti-democratic and could lead to communism. Although historian Richard Hofstadter claimed that the populist movement had "soft and dark sides" the populists grievances were genuine and they had the right to advance reforms to help themselves. Although many historians will argue that the populist movement could be dangerous because it brought many people together, bringing people with common thoughts together is a good thing. When many people come together, they are expressing the will of the people, and it is the government's job to address that.

Obama details Afghan war plan, troop increases

In a report from MSNBC.com the associated press reports on a speech that President Obama gave on Tuesday night. In his speech The President ordered an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan. The troops will arrive as "fast as possible", with the first marines landing before Christmas. The increse in American troops is accompined by and increase of 5,000 to 10,000 more troops from NATO. A survey by the Gallup organization,reveals that only 35 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the war. The speech was triggered a three month review of the war, a request from the commanding general, Stanley McChrystal, for as many as 40,000 more troops. McChrystal warned "without the additional 40,000 troops the U.S. risked failure."

I believe it is a good to add the additonal troops, because the U.S. can not risk failure. Afganistan is where the attacks on 9/11 were planed ,and without intervention more of those kinds of attacks can be planned and carried out.