Richard Nixon's run as President will forever be marred by how it ended, as the Watergate conspiracy remains the definitive political scandal in U.S. history. But Nixon was a friend to teens everywhere, as he managed to finally extract the country from the conflict in Vietnam, ended the draft and, on this day in 1970, he signed the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age in this country from 21 to 18. In the past few years, young people have turned out in record numbers to sway elections, and their influence continues to grow. In honor of the youth vote and as a tribute to the current struggle for just elections in Iran, check out one of the finer protest songs of the past few years in Eminem's "Mosh."

Yes, voters hit the polls early, braving long lines to make their voices heard today. But even those who can't step into the booth are helping out. Our Pennsylvania Choose or Lose Street Teamer, Cassidy Hartmann, came across two 13-year-olds in Philadelphia hoisting a banner reading, "Don't forget to vote today." One of the students said his teacher asked them to go outside and remind people to vote. But his friend admitted, "At first, I wanted to get out of class." Although they aren't old enough to vote (and aren't fully decided on a candidate), they do understand the importance of voting this Election Day. So why were they there? Check out Cassidy's video to find out.

MTV News is at the polls in all 50 states — check out our coverage all day long on MTV and right here on MTVNews.com. Then, tell us why you made your voice heard and tell us why you voted. Comment below, upload video at yourhere.mtv.com, or text VOTE to 66333 with your first name, age, state and a comment about your experience, and your message will appear on our election map, and could appear on TV today!

With additional reporting by Rich Sancho

NEW YORK — 50 Cent is a boss, so he'll boss you around and you'll like it! The G-Unit general was throwing out orders to people who weren't even there on Friday afternoon at the Nokia Theater in Times Square. The entire G-Unit got onstage for a brief performance of their stint for "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE" (check out their full performance when the show airs Friday night at 10 p.m.).

"I have the savoir-faire," 50 rapped. "I'm the reason everybody's here/ I say, 'Get up!'/ I make it hot, I make it hot in here/ Your feet hurtin', I really don't care/ I said, 'Get up!'
I want see you, I want to see you move/ And get all into the groove/ I said, 'Get up!' "

Check out photos from 50's rehearsal after the jump. Read more...

Right after coming back from Athens for the launch of MTV Greece, I went straight to Washington, D.C. — a few hours' train ride from New York's Penn Station — for my next assignment. I was excited. It was my first time ever to D.C., and, most importantly, it was my first time ever meeting an actual student veteran.

Graham Palter is a 24-year-old freshman at George Washington University and a veteran of the war in Iraq. Seeking adventure, he joined the Marine Corps at 19 — and he got exactly what he asked for, and then some. While his fellow students at GWU were firing machine guns and blowing things up on their PlayStations, Graham was serving three deployments in Iraq.

(Watch Graham's story after the jump!)
Read more...

Methuen, Massachusetts, is a city of approximately 44,600 people, located on the border of New Hampshire, about half an hour north of Boston. As we pulled into our hotel on the main commercial strip of town, I wondered how any law passed in this small city could possibly affect young veterans in the country as a whole. One forgets that many country-changing laws begin in towns even smaller than this.

Alexander and Benjamin McCann returned home to Methuen after serving in Iraq, expecting the transition to civilian life to be somewhat smooth, especially in respect to finding jobs. Alex, who drove Humvees in Iraq, and Benjamin, who served as a Combat Lifesaver (providing emergency medical assistance), assumed they had the skills to land a decent job. (Learn about veterans' issues and sign the petition for BRAVE, the Bill of Rights for American Veterans, here.)

"I figured, 'Oh, I'm a former Marine, a veteran. [I'll] just write it on an application, all my credentials, everything I'm qualified to do. ...There's got to be something out there,' " Benjamin recalled. "So far, it's been nothing but dead ends."

(Watch Alexander and Benjamin's story after the jump.)
Read more...

As told to Lindsey Thomas

When we flew down to Greensboro, North Carolina, we knew we'd only have 15 minutes to speak with Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden. With so little time, I had to make sure that we covered the issues that are most important to you.

First, I wanted to address the presidential debate, specifically Senator John McCain's attacks on Obama. On Friday night, the Republican nominee frequently said that his rival is naive and doesn't understand the issues. Obama dismissed the comments as tactics that didn't hold any weight. In an election year, it can be hard to sort out truth, fiction and perception, but Obama said he feels that American voters can tell the difference.

Read more...

Kanye West and MTV gave a proper homecoming to three war veterans in the MTV News special "Choose or Lose & Kanye West Present: Homecoming." The rapper, along with Sway and MTV, gave something back to these vets who have given so much. Check out the show tonight (Monday, July 28) at 10 p.m. ET on MTV.

By Ocean MacAdams

Hey, Bill O'Reilly says you should watch our show!

Bill is no fan of MTV, and he's certainly no fan of hip-hop. In fact, it's safe to say that O'Reilly has been one of rap's highest-profile critics since the glory days of C. Delores Tucker. Just last night, he was knocking Nas again, calling his new album a flop (Bill, it's #1 on the charts). So we were uh, flattered (shocked? appalled?) when this item crossed the transom ...
Read more...

You can fold up the dirigibles and wind down the local meet-ups. After announcing that he would throw his own convention during the GOP coronation in St. Paul, Minnesota, in September, maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has officially thrown in the towel, again. The anti-Iraq war, small-government candidate with the rebel streak and rabid army of volunteers announced the decision on Thursday, but not before unveiling a second campaign that will divert the many gigawatts of youthful energy he collected during his pugnacious White House bid into a new effort.

"It is time now to take the energy this campaign has awakened and channel it into long-term efforts to take back our country," Paul told supporters.
Read more...