Watergate Analysis

Many people, myself included look up to individuals in an authoritative role such as; senators, governors, and presidents. We view them as being honest and sincere. They have to be right? They do want to run the country after all. Often our thoughts are “they would never lie to us or hide things from us”, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. One of the biggest political scandals to hit the United States of America was the Watergate scandal involving our very own President Richard Nixon. This scandal caused a lot of American’s to lose trust and hope in the presidency. The scandal received its name from the Watergate apartment and office complex that was located in Washington D.C., where a burglary took place on June 17, 1972 and five men were arrested. It then came to surface that the men’s intentions were to sabotage the opposite political party, when president Nixon was notified of this he order the Central Intelligence Agency to call the FBI to stop with any further investigation, that national security was at stake. President Nixon knew that it would come back to the White House and didn’t want to risk anything, even though he was never involved with the

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

Woodward has had many achievements in his career including this one which basically has started it all. On June 17, 1972, the Post’s editor called Woodward and told him that five men with electronic surveillance equipment and cameras were arrested breaking into the headquarters of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. Woodward along with a younger and more experienced reporter Carl Bernstein were assigned to cover this breaking news of the

For instance, The Washington Post was accused of being a Party press throughout Nixon's investigation. A party press is a newspaper or other news or media source that has a political party affiliation. These types of presses are biased towards to the party they are affiliated with, and sometimes have better access to information concerning their affiliation. This is different from popular presses which are to report to the public in an unbiased fashion. However, many popular presses have been accused of being party presses during these scandals. In the movie All the President's Men, John McMartin, Martin Balsam, and Jason Robards characters talk how the story is very dangerous for the paper. Their characters say,

A majority of Americans believe that newspapers, radio and television are devoting too much space and time to covering the Watergate scandals (“53%,” 1974). Both Time and Newsweek reported that

The book I chose to do my book review on was All The President 's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward and throughout the report I will discuss the power that the press has. On June 17, 1972, the United States had changed for both journalism and politics. A common break in was failed as the downfall of President Richard Nixon was eminent, while two young journalists from the Washington Post Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward had risen to their glory of the biggest reporting story of their careers. The Watergate Scandal was sought out as one of the biggest political scandals during the Presidency of Nixon. Nixon at the time was going up for reelection was paranoid and afraid of losing the race to Senator George McGovern, at the time Nixon had employed a group of men to commit an arrangement of illegal activities that would put the republican party ahead of the democrats in order to gain a second term as president. Everything was all fine and dandy until the botched attempt to break into the Watergate building which housed the Democratic National Committee. Throughout these allegations and corruptness of the republican party Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had exposed the truth of forty three people that were tied to the actions of the Watergate scandal, which later had let to their arrest. While Woodward and Bernstein had uncovered the truth of this scandal some question the methods that they had to go through to come to a conclusion. Was what they have done ethical and

There was a time where media and the government worked alongside each other in a symbiotic relationship, such as with President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his Fireside Chats in the midst of the Great Depression. Their job was to promote FDR and help him keep the American people informed on what he was getting done in Washington. Even if the media the president were on bad terms, prior to Nixon, journalism never really forged a large crusade to take down political leaders as they do now. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, however, that dynamic changed completely. Bob Woodward’s and Carl Berstein’s single-minded pursuit of the real perpetrators of Watergate

On July 12th, 1972, 5 men were arrested at the Watergate Hotel, supposedly trying to bug the Democratic National Committees meetings. It was soon discovered that someone from the White House was a part of this scandal. It was discovered that some of the people trying to bug the meetings were members of President Nixon's re-election party. This gave investigators a reason to suspect Nixon as a part of the scandal and that he has probably done more to make him at the top. Nixon had straight up denied any evidence that was geared toward him being a part of the scandal. An investigation was instituted to try to find evidence of burglary in the White House and at the Hotel. It was discovered that some of the top people in Nixon’s political campaigns

The early 1900s marked the rise of investigative journalism. Articles exposing corruption and greed within the government and businesses were extremely popular among the American people. In Theodore Roosevelt’s speech, “The Man with the Muck-rake,” he explains his thoughts and position on the pros and cons of muckrakers. Roosevelt demonstrates why the job of a muckraker is necessary in society, but also discusses how playing fast and loose with the facts can be an evil act that leads to damaged reputations and false misconducts. Through the use of metaphor, repetition, and enthymeme, he is able to convey to the audience exactly where he stands on the topic of investigative journalism.

The late 1960s to the mid-1970s was characterized by political controversy and instability. The Watergate crisis is the most infamous scandal that occurred within those years, and arguably, in American political history. The event occurred in 1972 and it redefined American political culture. Nixon’s involvement in the incident (and other controversies leading up to Watergate) led to a loss of faith in government and a transition to the public’s reliance on the media. However, Watergate's long term positive effects negate its obviously negative reputation. The scandal transformed the ethical environment of politics by yielding a series of progressive changes to government administration. These alterations include the Freedom of Information

Watergate scandal remains one of the historical revelation of excessive use of power during the reign of President Richard Nixon. After the break-in at the Democratic National Committee at the Westgate offices, there was a remarkable series of rotten underbelly in the Nixon’s administration. Specifically, this scandal led to the discovery of the multiple abuses of the power under the articles of impeachment. Because of the unlawful approach used by this administration to thwart those who were critical of Nixon’s administration, human rights groups and political activities embarked on demanding for explanation and resignation of the president. Rightful, there was reasonable grounds to demand the president’s resignation because it became overt that he had used FBI, CIA and Internal Revenue Service to silence critics. Subsequently, this

history. Former President Richard Nixon and his administration attempted to cover-up a break-in at the DNC Headquarters. Consequently, his involvement in the cover-up attempt was discovered by two reporters at the Washington Post. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were given information from an anonymous source. Their persistence in reporting the espionage behind Watergate led to the writing of a hard-hitting exposé which sparked a widespread investigation by the FBI. In other words, the act of the media holding the government accountable was a massive check on the Nixon

All you hear on the news or in magazines is all about crimes committed against the government, but what if there was a crime committed by a president. A president that you voted for to help make decisions and keep your county safe and sound. It seems a little strange that in the morning of June 17, 1972, their was a robbery caught in action where two people connected to Richard Nixon's reelection complain. They were caught wiretapping phone calls and trying steal secret documents inside the of the Democratic National Committee, found in the watergate building in Washington D.C. Isn't the president of the united states suppose to inform the law instead of breaking it?

“While historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate espionage operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars trying to stop the FBI from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members” (“Watergate Scandal”). “He [Nixon] went on national television and declared he had done nothing wrong” (Cohen 17-18). “The seven men charged with the Watergate burglary went on trial January 8, 1973” (Cohen 35). “ McCord - one of the seven men - stated that members of his family had expressed fear for his life if he told what he knew and that he did not feel confident talking to the FBI” (Cohen 37).

While the effects of Watergate had far-reaching consequences for journalism, not everything to come out of the scandal came to be positive. As a result of the Watergate scandal many journalists try to find a Watergate like story even where there is none, Monicagate is a perfect example. In addition, many critics of the media argue since Watergate many people have become disenfranchised with Media's constant negativity. Another result of Watergate is the use of the media as a tool for political sabotage. Finally, the media of today bombards the average person with so much news everyday it becomes hard for one to decipher what is actual news and what is just a heap of garbage.