"From Watergate we learned what generations before us have known; our Constitution works. And during Watergate years it was interpreted again so as to reaffirm that no one - absolutely no one - is above the law"
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Jaworski’s line is less victory lap than institutional self-defense, spoken at a moment when faith in government had been punctured and could easily calcify into permanent cynicism. Watergate didn’t just expose a criminal presidency; it exposed how fragile the public’s trust really is. His intent is to redirect attention from the spectacle of Nixon’s fall to the quieter machinery that made accountability possible: courts, Congress, prosecutors, procedures. The point isn’t that Americans are morally better after Watergate; it’s that the system, when pushed to the edge, still has teeth.
The subtext is a careful balancing act. “Our Constitution works” is a rebuttal to two extremes that Watergate energized: the fatalism that all power is corrupt and untouchable, and the populist impatience that wants to burn down norms because they feel slow or elitist. By framing the scandal as a lesson “generations before us have known,” Jaworski casts the crisis as continuity, not rupture. That’s strategic reassurance: the republic didn’t improvise its way out; it remembered what it already was.
The emphatic “no one - absolutely no one - is above the law” lands like a prosecutor’s closing argument, because that’s what it is: a moral verdict delivered in legal cadence. It’s also a warning to future executives who might mistake the presidency for immunity. In the aftermath of Watergate, Jaworski isn’t asking for trust in leaders; he’s asking for trust in constraints.
The subtext is a careful balancing act. “Our Constitution works” is a rebuttal to two extremes that Watergate energized: the fatalism that all power is corrupt and untouchable, and the populist impatience that wants to burn down norms because they feel slow or elitist. By framing the scandal as a lesson “generations before us have known,” Jaworski casts the crisis as continuity, not rupture. That’s strategic reassurance: the republic didn’t improvise its way out; it remembered what it already was.
The emphatic “no one - absolutely no one - is above the law” lands like a prosecutor’s closing argument, because that’s what it is: a moral verdict delivered in legal cadence. It’s also a warning to future executives who might mistake the presidency for immunity. In the aftermath of Watergate, Jaworski isn’t asking for trust in leaders; he’s asking for trust in constraints.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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