1976 After Watergate

1976: After Watergate

America celebrated its 200th birthday in 1976.

The Bicentennial brought parades, fireworks, tall ships, patriotic ceremonies, and a renewed appreciation for the nation's remarkable history.

Yet beneath the celebration lingered a different mood.

Only two years earlier, Richard Nixon had become the first American president to resign from office.

The Vietnam War had finally ended.

The long national ordeal that had dominated more than a decade was over.

But peace did not immediately bring confidence.

Americans had lost faith in many of the institutions they had once trusted.

Government.

Politics.

The presidency itself.