-Caveat Lector- In "Dick," a film targeting teenage audiences, Nixon has gone from paranoid enemy of the US Constitition, to respected "elder statesman" -- to lovable grumpy old man. Poll: Fewer Know Watergate Details By WILL LESTER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Most Americans think President Nixon's actions 25 years ago in the Watergate scandal were serious enough to merit his resignation, according to a new Associated Press poll that also showed memories of the scandal are fading. The poll, conducted by ICR of Media, Pa., found that more than 60 percent said Nixon made the right decision when he became the only president to quit. But about a quarter of the people, and more than one-in-three Republicans, said the charges stemming from Watergate were not serious enough to merit his resignation. Baby boomers, those between 35 and 54 years old, were most likely to say the charges against Nixon were serious enough to drive him from office. They also were the generation most critical of the 37th president's policies concerning the war in Vietnam. The overall numbers were about the same in a poll taken in the days after Nixon resigned, on Aug. 9, 1974, at the height of a scandal that dominated television news programs and newspaper front pages for months. In 1982, the number saying resignation was the right step reached about 75 percent and has eroded slowly. About half in the latest poll think President Clinton's actions were about as serious or worse, but he survived efforts to impeach him. People's expectations for their leaders have changed since Nixon resigned, said Heather Rawlings, a 22-year-old student and human resources worker from Colorado Springs, Colo. ``Politicians are seen as extremely corrupt today, while in the 1970s they were seen as moderately corrupt,'' she said, noting political corruption is constantly reported in the media and is a frequent topic for comedians. ``People feel like: `They're corrupt, no biggie,''' she said. But while opinions about Nixon have remained relatively stable over the years, the poll found that only four of every 10 people think they know enough about Watergate to tell others about it. Men were nearly twice as likely as women - 52 percent to 28 percent - to say they could recount the basic facts of the case. ``It may have to do with the stubbornness of men,'' said Dan Soulas, vice president of ICR. ``They don't want to admit they're not aware of something as newsworthy as Watergate was. It's purely a factor of their gender.'' The telephone survey of 1,012 adults was conducted July 28 to Aug. 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Other findings included: People were divided over whether Watergate was a serious matter that revealed corruption in the White House (48 percent) or was ``just politics'' (45 percent). Although only 40 percent of Republicans said it was a serious matter, more than half of GOP voters said Nixon's resignation was warranted. One-third of the people surveyed said the allegations of misconduct against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair were about as serious as the charges made against Nixon, and 18 percent said the Clinton matter was more serious. Forty-five percent said the Lewinsky case was less serious than Watergate. Three out of four people thought Nixon would be remembered more for Watergate than for his policies as president. The youngest adults, who learned about the scandal in school because they hadn't been born yet or were too young to remember when it happened, were the most likely to choose Watergate as his legacy (80 percent). Donald Chatmon, a teacher from Monroe, N.C., said he thinks Clinton got off easily compared to Nixon. ``I think Nixon and Clinton were in the same boat,'' he said. ``Nixon went ahead and resigned. Clinton should have done the same thing. The only thing that saved Clinton was when people looked at what was going on - the economy, the situation in the world - and that saved him.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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