Olivia Sees
Mrs. Shandera & Mr. Hill
English pd. 3 & History pd. 9
10 February 2017
*Insert Title Here* The 1970 's: a decade of corruption, lies, and shadiness. It seemed impossible any good could come out of such a disaster. However, only one thing was certain: United States Government would never be the same. Republican President Richard Nixon ran for reelection in 1972, amidst the Vietnam War and a divided nation (History.com Staff). It was crucial that Nixon and his reelection team put forth an aggressive campaign (History.com Staff). The Watergate Scandal increased public distrust of United States Government, therefore creating new acts to disclose government information and closer scrutiny of government by the media. According
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Archibald Cox was appointed special prosecutor for Watergate in May of 1973 (Feinstein 39). Nixon had previously taped White House conversations and had Cox fired when asked to turn in these tapes (Feinstein 39). Clearly, Nixon had something to hide. According to “Watergate,” from July 10 through July 12 of 1973, former Attorney General Mitchell testified in court. He confessed that he helped cover up the scandal to save Nixon 's reelection. Mitchell also revealed the "plumbers,” which were a secret White House group created to stop information leakage involving President Nixon (Watergate (1973)). The information that surfaced during the trial always led back to Nixon. The Supreme Court commanded Nixon to turn over the tapes in July of 1974 (Feinstein 39). It was proven on the tapes that Nixon lied about covering up Watergate, thus putting Nixon in the position for impeachment (Feinstein 39). According to Watergate Scandal, more information was unveiled as the trial went on, ironically followed by President Nixon’s resignation in August 1974. Gerald Ford was Nixon’s successor, and he pardoned Nixon for any accused crimes. However, many of Nixon’s aides were not pardoned. They were convicted and sent to federal prison, while Nixon faced no punishment. "Although Nixon was never prosecuted, the Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading many Americans to question their leadership and think more critically about
President Nixon not only abused his powers as president of the United States, but he also completely disregarded the Constitution and the oath of office of the President of the United States. President Nixon is most famous for his involvement in the infamous Watergate scandal, which took place on June 17th, 1972 (Timeline). Nixon hired six burglars to break into the Democratic National Committee’s offices, which were located inside the Watergate office, complex in Washington. The burglars’ mission was to plant audio transmitters, but they were arrested after being discovered by an on duty watchman (Bodenner). President Nixon vehemently denied any involvement by White House staff or Nixon administration members. Nixon also implemented
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 June 1972, Nixon campaign people broke into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate Central Station, stole duplicates of top-mystery archives and destroyed the workplace’s telephones. But after that they were captured inside the workplace of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), situated in the Watergate working in Washington D.C. Nixon tried to cover the activities of his people before the operation was done by the Watergate secret activities. He tried to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) from investing the activities, vanishing the proofs and changing and terminating the staff members. This act was an abuse of presidential power which was later found, and the president had to surrender.
At first light of June 17, 1972, a considerable amount of burglars were aprehended inside the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This was no everyday robbery, the crooks were linked to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. Upon getting caught in the Watergate building, the robbers were in there attempting to wiretap phones and abduct secret records. Nixon poorly persued to cover up any relation to his administration and to avoid indictment he relinquished himself from office on August 8, 1974. Although Nixon was never araigned for his potential role in this scandal, it forever altered American politics, driving many Americans to have inquiry about the leadership of their
The Watergate Scandal and crisis that rocked the United States began on the early morning of June 17, 1972 with a small-scale burglary and it ended August 9, 1974 with the resignation of Republican President Richard Milhous Nixon. At approximately 2:30 in the morning of June 17, 1972, five burglars were discovered inside the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington DC. The burglars, who had been attempting to tap the headquarters’ phone were linked to Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP). Over the next few months, what had began as a minor break-in quickly escalated into a full-blown political scandal. It was
Republican President Richard M. Nixon was up for reelection, in a time that the country was extremely divided when the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. The Watergate scandal uncovered an intricate trail of wrongdoing on June 17, 1972, when members of Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President were arrested for burglary. The burglars had broken into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate headquarters and stole copies of top-secret documents and wiretapped the telephones. The burglars at first were not clear that they were associated with the president, but it became disbelieving when detectives found copies of the reelection committee’s White House phone number in the burglars’ possessions. Richard M. Nixon later gave a
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 Hotel was the home of the Democratic headquarters during the election of 1972. The guard called the police, and they arrested the burglars, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, James W. McCord Jr., and Frank Sturgis, who were trying to wiretap the phones of two high-ranking officials in the building. A money trail led back to the Committee to Re-elect President Nixon, putting Nixon himself in the crosshairs of the public’s accusatory finger. President Nixon denied his involvement in the
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.
This scandal was another event that showed again that Americans were being lied to by their president. It is not clear whether Nixon himself knew about or planned the actual break-in at the Watergate Hotel. What is clear is that Nixon tried his hardest to rid himself of any connection to the scandal and its cover up. Nixon pretended he did not know about the involvement of those who were part of the scandal, lying to the nation about his level of knowledge, and attempted to cover up concrete proof that he did know by refusing to hand over recordings of conversations in the Oval Office to investigators and erasing eighteen crucial minutes of a tape, which obstructed justice. The president of the United States was involved in criminal activity and lied so much about everything relating to it that when found out he had to resign his presidency to avoid impeachment.
Amid increasing disclosures of White House involved in the Watergate break-in and its aftermath, Nixon announced the resignations of John Ehrlichman and H. R. Haldman, two of his closest advisers, in the dismissal of his counsel John W. Dean III. Growing suspicion of presidential involvement in the scandel resulted in an intensification of the investigation. Leaders in this inquiry included Judge Sirica, reporters for the Washington Post, the Ervin committee, and Archibald Cox, who was sworn in as special prosecutor in May 1973. Dean told the Ervin committee in June that Nixon had cover-up. A month later, former White House staff Alexander Butterfield revealed that Nixon had secretly tape-recorded conversations in his offices. Both Cox and the Ervin committee began efforts to obtain selected tapes. Nixon, citing EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, refused to relinquish them and
“The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to bypass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.” The events leading up to the election of 1976 and the actual election was one of the mosted talked about election in US history. The Watergate Scandal turned America upside down and affected the election drastically. The candidates were very similar which split America in half and every vote counted. The Vietnam War was just ending and the Americans wanted a President that could stop the war and could make everyone come together. With the new movement happening in the 70’s the election of 1976 big topic was the New Right. It was
The Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon's presidency was arguably the high point of journalism's role in American politics. What had been considered a rather inept burglary attempt upon Democratic party offices in the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. and was therefore ignored by most journalists when it happened was investigated by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, until it was proven to be a criminal conspiracy whose organization and subsequent cover-up reached as high as the Oval Office. In terms of media coverage of the scandal, however, it is worth noting that while Woodward and Bernstein had access to a privileged source of information, whom they named only as "Deep Throat" (but much later revealed to be high-ranking FBI official W. Mark Felt), they were not the only reporters covering the scandal as it unfolded. By looking at other journalistic sources, it may be possible to get a larger view of how President Nixon dealt with the scandal, how public opinion and responded, and ultimately how Nixon was led to resign.
As time progressed and the investigation began to uncover the truth about what transpired at the Watergate apartment complex several things became evident: most of the burglars were ex-CIA and ex-FBI personnel, the burglars were paid with money directly from the re-election campaign and President Nixon not only knew about and sanctioned the break-in but deliberately attempted to cover it up. When called before Congress to testify about his knowledge, White House staffer John Dean testified that Nixon and his aides attempted to “stonewall” the investigation. As Congress continued its inquiry, it became clear
Ehrlichman was ordered to destroy incriminating documents and tapes. Then L. Patrick Gray resigned as acting director of the FBI, later admitting he had destroyed documents given to him by Ehrlichman and Dean. On June 23, 1972, Nixon learned about Mitchell's possible link with the operation, and Nixon instructed the FBI to stop the inquiry into the source of money used by the men who tapped the building. He said that "the investigation would endanger the CIA operations." Dean and the others subsequently sought to induce CIA officials to cooperate with this plan. On July 1, Mitchell left the CRP, citing personal reasons. On August 29, Nixon declared that no one in the administration, then employed, was involved in the Watergate. Although money found in the possession of the wire tappers was traced to the CRP, such evidence was insufficient to implicate high officials. On September 15, only the five men first arrested, plus Liddy and E. Howard Hunt , one of the plumbers, were indicted (Carson 2).