Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy in which it's themes not only reflect on past events but can be applied to today's society as well. A Scottish general by the name of Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches which for see him becoming King of Scotland. Pushed by ambition, Macbeth is further enabled by his wife to murder King Duncan to acquire the Scottish throne. His guilt consumes him and fuels constant paranoia within him. In his flawed plan he is forced to kill more people in his way to attain the throne. Through his new power he soon becomes a corrupt tyrannical ruler. This conundrum leads to the death of both Macbeth and his wife. The biggest theme portrayed in this work is that power will lead to corruption. …show more content…
He was convicted of multiple counts of fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and electoral crimes. He used his power for his own personal gain which relates to “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires;" (Shakespeare 44). His corrupted desires led him to steal for his personal gain. Another example could be Richard Nixon who started out as a moderate republican, but ended up thinking he had the right to break into democratic offices, bug people, and suppression of press. This relates to the quote "Our fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared" (Shakespeare 96). This is because Nixon feared the release of press that exposed his actions. Another example of modern day corruption is Joseph Stalin. He had always been a power hungry individual but he became more corrupt as a he gained more power. His breaking point started when he murdered Lenin at the age of 53. This relates to the quote “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires;" (Shakespeare 44). Because of Stalin's desire to come into
From then on the American people have started to wonder if they can trust the president because Nixon was very secretive and dishonest throughout the scandal. Nixon got the help of a couple burglars who stole many documents and recorded phone conversations. This scandal was illegal and caused President Nixon to resign. The Watergate Scandal was a major event in the 20th century and changed politics in America
After completing college, Nixon earned a career to be a lawyer, but this did not satisfy him. Also, his parents were not very pleased with his position as a lawyer. 2“He was always the type of fellow that rose to the top and was the president of this and the president of that,” Gerard Kepple agreed, “and always had a sense of leadership.” Therefore, Nixon knew that the only way to leave a mark in history was through politics. While Nixon was seeking for an opportunity of recognition, he met some Republicans.
He even tried to get the FBI to stop the investigation of the crime. Some of Nixon’s aides testified before a grand jury about the president’s crimes. They also testified that Nixon had secretly taped every conversation that took place in the Oval Office. All the prosecutors needed was to get their hands on those tapes. That would prove that Nixon was guilty.
Nixon had an enemy list, filled with people who had criticized him, such as politicians, reporters, journalists, and others that he felt were a threat to him (Foner). To make sure no one leaked any of his campaign strategies and to know what the democrats were planning, Nixon assigned spies, called The Plumbers, to go into the Watergate Hotel. The Watergate Hotel was where the democrats were having their meetings and the Plumbers broke in to wiretap their rooms and steal top secrets documents. The spies were caught on their second attempt to break in to fix the faulty microphones. After the scandal, Nixon gave a national speech saying that the White House staff had nothing to do with the scandal (Watergate scandal).
Nixon was paranoid and feared any man who did not agree with him (“Watergate and the Cover-Up.” 1995). He also believed that, as President, he could take whatever measures necessary to protect himself from his enemies, even if that meant he broke the law (“Watergate and the Cover-Up.” 1995). During his presidency, he actually said, “When the President does it, that means it is not illegal.” (“Watergate and the Cover-Up.” 1995). In turn, he was his own worst enemy.
This scandal caused many Americans and Republican politicians to push Eisenhower to remove Nixon as his running mate and to question Nixon’s integrity. In rebuttal to the scandal, Nixon took the bull by the horns and defended himself by going on live national television and addressed the nation by giving the famous Checkers speech. The soon to be Vice-President articulated his speech with a perfect combination of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to turn the tables from making everyone hate him to making the American People and Republican Politicians love him. Nixon’s integrity was
Nixon Presidency Born on 9 January 1913, Richard Nixon, or “Tricky Dick”, as he was called, started his political career in the U.S Congress where he went against a five-term Democrat named Jerry Voorhis. President Nixon used notions of Voorhis’ communist sympathy to win a seat in the House of Representatives in 1946. During his time as a member of the House of Representatives he gained a reputation of an internationalist and an Anti-Communist. From the late 1940’s to the 1950’s as the red scare was going on he employed a successful campaign tactic of using allegations and testimonies of Soviet Union affiliations to remove his enemies from Congress with hostile cross-examinations in court.
Which at first glance looks like a positive thing but once you dive deeper into what his real motives are, it's rather eye opening. Let's start with the war on crime. During this time you had the black panthers who were people fighting for civil rights, people who were fighting for women's rights, and people who were fighting for gay rights. Nixon felt the need to fight against these movements and therefore one was more likely to get arrested for attending these rallies— for committing a crime which really wasn't a crime. He strategically blinded the public to this by calling it "the war on crime".
The investigation uncovered a network of criminal actions, including wiretapping, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. Nixon eventually resigned from office in 1974 as a result of the controversy. The Watergate scandal shook the public's confidence in the government and the media, as it became clear that the Nixon administration had engaged in illegal and unethical behavior to gain an advantage in the 1972 presidential
All of this deceit only made Nixon viewed as dishonest and shady to the American people, making his impeachment seem almost predictable. But something that was not predicted was Richard Nixon’s
Is burning ambition the driving force of corruption? This powerful question leaves many pondering the good or bad stigma of ambition, illustrated in Shakespeare's masterpiece, Macbeth. Looking into how modern film renditions help prove Shakespeare's stance on this thought, Kayla Ram reports. Correct me if I'm wrong but the memo of Macbeth seems all too familiar, does it not? This extravaganza still seems very relevant today even if this literature was created 400 years ago.
Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.
A common theme in Macbeth is that power and corruption come hand in hand. Frequently, people with power lie and go against the better welfare of their people. Tragic hero, Macbeth, and political mastermind, Joseph Stalin, end up corrupted by trying to control and obtain power. They both wanted power and superiority so they did everything they could to get higher and higher on the totem pole.
By saying this he is explaining that he can’t lead the country without the trust and support of congress, which he does not have. Congress does not not support Nixon because of his ties to the Watergate scandal, so they obviously would not support him. He would not be able to really do anything t so he thought that there was not a point in being
He had amassed a collection of government fills, tape records, and intelligence on the common people in the Watergate building. After it was broken into, files were stolen and released to the public. It was the first real time that the general public learned just how paranoid Nixon was, but also how much he wanted to keep the power he already had. As these precious documents surfaced, one could see in full light that Nixon exhibited all the symptoms of Paranoid Personality Disorder. He was always distrustful of people, he recorded every encounter he had, so that one could twist his words against him.