In the Supreme Court case United States vs. Richard Nixon there was a lot of controversy about Nixon’s executive privilege. Well, what is an executive privilege? It is known as the privilege, or special right, claimed by the president in the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest. Although Presidents get special privileges, their rights are “not absolute and must be balanced against other political interests”(United States vs. Nixon). Nixon abused his right of Executive privilege when he helped his government officials break into the Watergate complex. It was said that the Watergate affair relates to the re-election of Richard Nixon, which later worked out in his favor because he won the election. Well how did this get to the courts? With more than 5 people involved in the scandal, they broke into the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C. and wiretapped the phones in the building and also stole important documents. The burglars discovered that the microphones weren’t working so they broke in again to try to get them and put new ones in, but got caught by a security guard who noticed that the door locks were taped over. They didn’t know for sure if President Nixon was involved until they found copies of the White House’s reelection …show more content…
The judges stated that “ neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified, presidential privilege”(United States v. Nixon/Oyez). The courts agreed that there is limited executive privilege that a president can pursue in either military or diplomatic instances. Nixon abused his executive privilege and has the right to obey the court with providing the tapes and documents that the burglars stole in the break-in and must now face the consequences of his actions. Nixon resigned not much longer after releasing the tapes to the
This testimony led to the fight for the tape recordings from the House Judiciary Committee, the House believed that these could help uncover his role in the Watergate Scandal. The public was having an increase in suspicion of Nixon because of his vigorous effort to defend the tapes. After the Supreme Court’s rejection of Nixon's executive privilege, there were over 700 white house files, 19 presidential conversations, and over 42 additional tapes taken, but the biggest suspicion was the eighteen and a half minute silent gap in a conversation with Mr.Haldeman in 1972. Nixon later in court lies about the $25,000 check given to Bernard Barker, saying that he is probably a “bum” and definitely did not receive the money from CREEP, even though the check was directly traceable to the committee. On May 10, 1989 the House of Representatives adopted 3 Articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, with the first two articles charging Nixon with giving false testimony before the grand jury and the third article with bringing disrepute on the Federal judiciary. These charges placed on the highest position in American society is disastrous and leads to a distrust in government within the American people.The fact that Nixon was granted a full pardon and was acquitted of all of the charges makes Americans lose hope in the American Judicial System and makes people question the “role of the
In the summer of 1972, 5 burglars broke into the Watergate hotel where the democratic convention was being held. The burglars were eventually captured and arrested, but one of the burglars implicated then President of the United States of America, Richard Nixon, in the planning of the break-in. After weeks of subpoenas from congress, demanding tapes that were used to record the activities in the White House. It was then that Richard Nixon would irrevocably change America’s future by doing something that every president had done before him, he would use executive privilege to block the investigation into the White House’s role into the Watergate break-in. By invoking executive privilege, Richard Nixon proved his guilt and permanently changed how Americans viewed the president’s use of executive privilege.
1972 – 1974: Watergate Scandal: In June, 1972, Police arrested five men who broke into the the Democratic National Committee Office in the Watergate District of Washington, D.C. When further investigated, two more men were arrested. Following a background check, it was revealed that the men belonged to a committee to re-elect the president. It was also revealed that men were paid by the committee and the committee was controlled by the people who work in the White House. This information was gathered by the Washington Post, which had an FBI informant, nicknamed “Deep Throat.” The investigation revealed that some of Nixon’s closest advisors may be involved in the scandal. Nixon was also thought to be involved as the investigation proceeded. During Senate hearings, Nixon denied an affiliation with the scandal, but it was revealed that Nixon recorded every conversation in this office. After refusing to hand-over the tapes, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to do so. He did turnover the tapes, however there were minutes missing from the recordings. Congress drew up the Articles of Impeachment to impeach Nixon, but he decided to resign before he was
In United States v Nixon, five burglars broke into the Democratic Party headquarters. After investigations, president Nixon received a subpoena ordering him to release tapes and transcripts connected to meetings between him and some individuals who had been indicted in the incident. Although the president released edited copies of the transcripts, his attorney filed a motion to quash the subpoena on grounds of executive privilege. The attorneys claim was that the judiciary lacked the powers to determine the president’s claim of executive privilege. It was held that no individual, not even the president is above the law and, therefore, the president cannot use executive privilege to withhold criminal evidence. The problem of separation of powers in this case arises from the president’s attorney that the concept of executive privilege stems from the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the executive insulates the president from judicial proceedings. Although the constitution provides for the separation of powers, these powers are not intended to operate independently and the assumption that the president is immune to judicial proceedings would affect the constitutional balance and impair the functionality of the judiciary. It is noteworthy that the offenses that led to the resignation of Nixon were relatively minor and the crisis was constitutional.
On April 29 1974 Richard Nixon announced in a national broadcast he will hand over 1,200 pages of White House Transcripts that will ‘‘prove his innocence’’. This all began on June 17, 1972, when several burglars in the DNC (Democratic National Committee). It seems that the burglars were connected to Nixon’s reelection, they were caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. Apparently, Nixon tried to vigorously cover up the crime.
During Richard Nixon’s Presidency in 1972, five people broke into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington D.C., these five burglars were trying to find secret documents and tried to wiretap phones. The five were all connected to Nixon’s campaign, raising some flags about him being involved, somehow ordering them to do this. After suspicions grew, and he found out about him getting impeached, he resigned as President, leaving Gerald Ford as the 38th president of the US. Gerald Ford did something that would ruin his image, he gave Richard Nixon pardon for all the wrongdoings that he’s ever done while in office. Was he right for doing this?
Richard Nixon's first term as president will always be connected with the Watergate scandal, the biggest political scandal in United States history. Various illegal activities were conducted including burglary, wire tapping, violations of campaign financing laws, sabotage, and attempted use of government agencies to harm political opponents to help Richard Nixon win reelection in the 1972 presidential elections. There were about 40 people charged with crimes related to the scandal. Most of them were convicted by juries or pleaded guilty. Watergate involved more high-level government officials than any previous scandal. It has been etched in the minds of millions and is still being recalled today when faced with the present day scandal of
The Watergate Scandal was truly the biggest political scandal in United States History. Over forty people where charged with crimes relating to the scandal. Bernstein and Woodward were given a fantastic oppourtunity to uncover something truly significant in history. The twenty-one months of investigative reporting done by these two men would ruin Nixon’s name and make these two common everyday reporters lives change forever. Woodward first got his life changing call on June 17th 1972 with his editor telling him about a small invasion of the Democratic Party Headquarters. With being related to the scandal, two members of President Nixon’s cabinet, H.R. Hadlemen and John Ehrlichman, quickly resigned. When first thought of the president even having something to do with the Watergate Scandal, he made every effort to possibly hide this career ruining event. The break in was first found by a security guard by the name of, Frank Wills. Wills saw a piece of tape covering a broken lock. Wills was
That same year, Congress would tap into its oversight powers once again as it launched a full-fledged investigation against Nixon and top White House officials who used their political positions for political advantage in the Watergate scandal. Citing “executive privilege,” Nixon asserted that he, as president, was immune from legislative oversight and that "the inherent power of the President to safeguard the security of the nation" authorized him to order wiretaps without warrants.
With rumors of impeachment beginning to circulate, Nixon finally agreed to turn over the subpoenaed White House tapes. The committee listened to the recordings and discovered an 18-minute gap on one of the tapes. It was surmised that someone had erased part of the tape, but investigators were unable to determine exactly what had happened. In March 1974, seven former presidential aides were indicted on charges of conspiracy to hinder the Watergate investigation, and Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. On July 24, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to order Nixon to release the rest of the White House recordings, considering them evidence in the case that came to be known as the United States v. Nixon.
Executive Privilege is a constitutional principle that allows presidents and/or high level executive branch officers to withhold information from the courts,
Richard Nixon's presidency is one of the most examined, analyzed and discussed, yet least understood, of all the American administrations in history. While many factors still remain to be discovered, and many mysteries are left to be resolved, we need to do the best that we can to make sense of this secretive president of our past and his era. He is the one American figure about whom very few people don't have strong feelings for. Nixon is loved and hated, honored and mocked . The term 'Watergate', labeled by Congress in 1974, stands for not only the burglary, but also for the numerous instances of officially sanctioned criminal activity and abuses of power as well as the obstruction of justice that preceded the actual break-in.
Watergate is the popular name for the political scandal and constitutional crisis that began with the arrest of five burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office in Washington D.C. on the night of June 17, 1972. It ended with the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon. The burglars and two co-potters-G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt were indicated on charges of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping. Four monthes later, they were convicted and sentenced to prison terms by District Court Judge John J. Sirica, who was convicted that pertinent details had not been unveiled during the trial and proffered leniency in exchange for further information. As it
President Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandal is one of the most controversial court cases to this date. He was the first president to ever resign from office and caused the American trust in the government to suffer. Did Richard Nixon really have something to hide? Did the Supreme court make the right decision? Was the case handled in the most sufficient way? Whether one agrees with the outcome of Nixon vs. United States or not, this case left a mark on American history and shouldn't lessen trust in the American Government. The case was treated just as equally as any other case and went through the long Judicial practice as stated in the Constitution.
investigation by Congress, Nixon was committing illegal acts other than that of burglary. It was