Why the post-Nixon era shouldn't inform the post-Trump era

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

New York's Jonathan Chait argues that President Trump should be tried for his alleged crimes whenever his presidency ends, even if it sparks a political crisis.

His reasoning stems, in part, from the fact that former President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, former President Richard Nixon, after he resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal. Chait notes Ford's ultimate legacy was that of statesman who helped the country move on from Nixon's scandals.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.