Watergate Scandal : The Downfall Of Richard Nixon

In the 1970’s, America not only witnessed the worst political scandal of the twentieth century, but also one of the most successful acts of investigative journalism to ever be done in America. The Watergate Scandal included a series of illegal activities initiated by members of President Nixon’s administration, the most significant crime being the break in and wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972. CREEP (Committee to Reelect the President) funded these illegal projects by hiring people like the White House Plumbers to carry on missions to stop the leaking of classified information. The Watergate Scandal’s origins lay in the Fielding and DNC Headquarter’s break in, then the illegal activities were uncovered

Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal left no doubt to his involvement of being impeached. During the Nixon Administration, he was able to prevent colleges from being gender biased and allowing both male and female to have equal opportunity and receiving financial aid as well as competing in sports. He was able to establish the Environmental Protection Agency. He also worked to create a relationship between the U.S and the Middle East. Unfortunately, even with all of the accomplishments, he was able to have, everyone will remember Richard Nixon as the president who was involved in the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal left an asterisk by his legacy while being in the office, the results left him with having to resign and with him facing criminal charges as well, the Scandal became well known to the public in the summer of 1974. Through my essay, I will discuss why I am intrigued by the Watergate scandal, and discuss what if Richard Nixon never got caught on the audio tape?

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

The Watergate Scandal Essay written by Unknown The Watergate Scandal was a series of crimes committed by the President and his staff, who were found to spied on and harassed political opponents, accepted illegal campaign contributions, and covered up their own misdeeds. On June 17, 1972, The Washington Post published a small story. In this story the reporters stated that five men had been arrested breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The headquarters was located in a Washington, D.C., building complex called Watergate. These burglars were carrying enough equipment to wiretap telephones and take pictures of papers. The Washington Post had two reporters who researched deep into the story. There names were Carl

A defining moment in American history, the Watergate scandal, dramatically transformed the way Americans view politicians and government. In the eyes of most Americans, trust, honor and integrity, vanished from the political landscape.

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

Watergate, the greatest scandal of the 20th century, remains a shrouded mystery. Early on the morning of June 17, 1972, there was a break-in and several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate Office complex building located in Washington, D.C. Thus began a series of events that would shake the public’s confidence in its most visible symbol of American authority and prestige: the presidency of Richard Nixon. A seemingly random robbery at a Washington, D.C. building leads to the first presidential resignation in American history. We will discuss the following events surrounding the Watergate break-in: when did the break-in occur, how was Nixon connected to the break-in. We will also discuss the events surrounding the discovery of the tapes, the issues involved in trying to get the tapes from President Nixon and what is the "18 1/2 minutes of silence". Finally, throughout this paper we will also include Archibald Cox the first Watergate special prosecutor.

Being the only president to ever resign from office is not the best title to posses (“Richard M. Nixon”). Richard Milhouse Nixon resigned from office after facing the consequences of his actions (Bankston 793). Richard Nixon started his life in California. Nixon and his family was pretty well off as they lived within the middle-class. A couple centuries later Nixon was elected president, as many believed he would be. Nixon would later be the mastermind behind a devious act that would cloud his name forever, and the final years of his life were dedicated to recovery (Korasick). Richard Nixon had a life full of successes and failures, until his ultimate demise, making him one of the most controversial presidents.

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

The presidential scandal known as Watergate was a shameful incident within the history of American presidents. It was a scandal that later set precedent on the limitation of presidential powers. It was a time when the president was viewed as a tyrannical power. Furthermore as a result, there were numerous consequences, which led to reforms that are still impacting our government as well as the presidency. The many crimes that Nixon and his administration committed in attempt to cover up involvement throughout the Watergate ordeal resulted in the prosecution of many of high-level government officials. It also led to the only presidential resignation in history in August of 1974.

On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon was the first, and so far the only president of the United States to resign from office. Out of what looked like to be an inevitable impeachment, Nixon became a part of one of the biggest scandals ever known. President Nixon believed he was taking the necessary measures to reunite a divided country that was undergoing the Vietnam War. About 2 years prior, a group of burglars were arrested at the Watergate complex after breaking into the office of the Democratic National Committee. A security guard noticed there was taping over some of the locks of the building and responded by immediately calling the police. The thefts were involved in the reelection campaign for Richard Nixon’s second term by stealing

This anti-war sentiment was fueled when The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, a secret government history documenting the mistakes and deceptions of government members regarding Vietnam. Following this, the government assured Americans they would be informed about any war developments, a claim that was quickly questioned when it was revealed that the government had been secretly bombing Cambodia since 1969. Beginning with the recession in 1970, the economy in the 1970s was a huge setback for many Americans, who could not keep up with the rapidly improving international markets. However, Nixon provided solutions for the broken economic state and by 1972, he was ready for re-election. On the other hand, this re-election enabled Nixon to engage in various illegal and unjust activities, notoriously, the Watergate scandal. Thus, the nation entered a period of government distrust, as a result of the various aspects of Nixon’s administration, particularly the uncertainty with the war against Vietnam in Cambodia, Nixon’s Southern strategy to obtain re-election, and culminating

Richard Nixon, the thirty seventh president of the United States, is remembered as the only president to ever resign and step down from his position. He was a Republican congressman and United States senator from California was also served as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. He ran for president twice, failing the first time when he ran against Democrat John F. Kennedy. The next time he ran for the presidential position, he won. As president, some of Nixon's achievements included forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union and withdrawing U.S. troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam, but unfortunately, his Watergate Scandal activities overshadowed any good that came about his presidency.

One of the only presidents in United States history to almost be impeached, is Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon is most famously recognized for his watergate scandal, in which Nixon’s administration was accused of committing acts in secret that are against the American constitution. However, this scandal is not the only thing America’s 37th president has to remember about him. During his short time in the White House, the republican Richard Nixon was able to accomplish many things such as signing one of the first environmental protection bills, introducing the famous War on Drugs, which legacy continues to be practiced in America today, as well as officially ending the Vietnam War.

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.