His Points in Time: Fred Thompson's Role in Nixon's Watergate--and the Irony of His Attempt to Rebuild the Party He Helped Bring Down

History continues to be more fascinating than most people who conveniently ignore history have a clue to know. And it seems the ironies of history fall frequently on the shoulders of people who are in current states of governmental power...or perhaps soon will be. Most of the fresh new batch of voters out there who will be voting in the 2008 Presidential election will likely get caught up in the Presidential announcement and campaign of former Senator and "Law & Order" actor, Fred Thompson. What those distanced from history won't know is that Thompson was a crucial part of the true turning point in how the American people viewed their government. The first blow came after JFK's assassination--followed by the Vietnam War, Lyndon B. Johnson's insistence on sending in troops--and the subsequent Hippie Generation developing. Once the people found out that Richard Nixon betrayed their trust in the 70's, the U.S. Government's reputation hasn't been repaired since. The irony lost is that Thompson is touted as being the one who might bring the Republican Party and governmental trust back to some kind of luster. While said to be working for Nixon's camp as a mole as he prosecuted in the Watergate hearings in 1973--he ultimately made blunders in his role that brought down the Republicans for a while until the Reagan years.