Digital History
The Past Three Decades: Years of Crisis - Years of Triumph
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| Digital History ID 3353 | ||
The Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal had a profound effect on the presidency. The office suffered a dramatic decline in public respect, and Congress became increasingly unwilling to defer to presidential leadership. Congress enacted a series of reforms that would make future abuses of presidential authority less likely. In the process, Congress recaptured constitutional powers that had been ceded to an increasingly dominant executive branch.