Nixon's interference with the Paris peace talks remained secret as Americans went to the polls, many believing that Nixon did have a plan to end the war. Instead, once in the White House, Nixon escalated the war with heavier bombing of North Vietnam and an invasion of Cambodia. U.S. combat involvement would continue for four more years.
Yet, even as the historical record has become clearer in recent years, the old conventional wisdom about Watergate -- as a "third-rate burglary" that only proved politically devastating to Nixon because he engaged in an ill-advised cover-up -- remains the prevailing narrative. If you ask most mainstream U.S. journalists about the prime lesson of Watergate, they'll probably tell you that it shows that "the cover-up is always worse than the crime."
[For more on this topic, see Robert Parry's America's Stolen Narrative, or go to Consortiumnews.com's "LBJ's X-File on Nixon's 'Treason'" or "An Insider's View of Nixon's 'Treason'."](Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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