The war in Vietnam and the Watergate crisis shattered confidence in the presidency.
As for Congress, which went through a long period of complacency and complicity, it tried to reverse course after the Watergate crisis.
When Richard Nixon faced the Watergate crisis in 1974, it became more important than pushing Lennon out of the country.
During the Watergate crisis it became evident that there was no way to investigate and prosecute malfeasance by high Administration officials.
In 1973 he briefly counseled the President on the Watergate crisis.
He continued calling at the White House throughout the Watergate crisis, saying "Christ didn't shy away from people in trouble."
The Watergate crisis meant that the Nixon administration was unable to do much other than focus on survival.
But there were times earlier in his career when he exhibited at least some of the traits that became evident during the Watergate crisis.
Kissinger confesses that during the Watergate crisis he "indulged in a fantasy about its end."
This might well have happened during two months of the Watergate crisis in 1973.