American History: The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement

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

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.

During Nixon’s 1972 campaign for his second term, his administration was alleged to be a part of the infamous “Watergate scandal” (Richard M. Nixon, 2011). On the night of June 17, 1972, five men entered the Democratic National Committee offices inside the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. A night guard found the men in the offices and had them arrested at 2:30 am. After investigators began their interrogations of the men, they saw these men belonged to the Committee to Re-Elect President Nixon (The History Place, 2000). When investigators found this information about these men, red flags went up and the investigation turned to President Nixon. The reason for why these men were sent to Watergate is because in 1970, The New York Times revealed a secret bombing campaign against Cambodia was being directed as part of the American war effort in Vietnam. When Nixon heard of this, he ordered wiretaps of reporters and government employees to discover source of the news leaks (Ibid.). This decision made by Nixon cost his presidency.

During the early 1970’s, a scandal took place at the hands of former president, Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon wanted to ensure that he got the chance to get reelected. He took extreme measures to do so, one of those extreme measures included espionage. On June 17, 1972, five burglars were taken down to the police station after breaking into the Watergate complex buildings in Washington, D.C. The five burglars; James McCord, Virgilio Gonzalez, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez, and Bernard Baker. “These five men broke into Headquarters for the Democratic National Committee, which was located in the Watergate hotel. This triggered the entire scandal and eventually led to Nixon’s demise.”

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

On June 17, 1972, inverstigators discovered that burglars hand intruded the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C. This burglary became known as the Watergate Scandal, in which, five member of Richard Nixons reelection campain broke into the Watergate Complex and stole many classified documents. The five memebers also wire tapped all of the phones within the complex to help gather extra classified information. Nixon denied any involvement in the burglary, but however, investigators began to uncover evidence that would soon link him to the scandal.

As a nation, America has seen its fair share of corrupt executive administrations. Whether it be the Whiskey Ring scandal under President Grant or the Teapot Dome scandal under President Harding, Americans are no strangers to scandal. However, Watergate is different. In June of 1972, five men (revealed to be working for CREEP) were arrested in the Watergate apartment complex after a bungled effort to plant “bugs” in the Democratic Party headquarters. While Nixon denied any accusations of his involvement, it was soon revealed in subpoenaed tapes from the Oval Office that not only did Nixon know about the break-in, he endorsed it.

The Burglary that lead to the uncovering of the Whitehouses involvement took place on July 17, 1972. According to u-s-history.com the burglary took place around 2:30 in the morning, where 5 men broke into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) main offices. The DNC main offices are located at the watergate hotel in washington D.C.. Security guard Frank Wills was on duty the night of the burglary and on his routine schedule he notices that The door between the basement stairs and the parking garage had a piece of tape on it. Thinking that it must of been a janitor, he Just removed it and thought nothing of it. Later that evening the same door was taped again. Now getting suspicious Frank Wills called the Police. Once the police arrived they arrested five people breaking in the DNC offices. ”The five burglars were later identified as Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr.” (Watergate Scandal.) The break in is what Finally connected the White House and the Watergate

There are many facts about the Watergate affair that readers should know. The first of many is that in 1972 there were five burglars who were found in the Democratic National Committee headquarters. These burglars were later indicted on wiretapping and sentenced to prison. Following the break-in two of Nixon's closest advisors resigned because of their ties to the

still unresolved. But what began as a third-rate burglary on June 17, 1972 escalated into a full-

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

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.

In 1967, 64 percent of all eligible African-Americans were drafted versus only 31 percent of eligible whites (Black 2009). This fact testifies to only a small portion of why nearly all African-Americans found themselves protesting against the Vietnam War. The lack of civil rights in the U.S deterred many blacks from supporting Vietnam, a conflict aimed at liberating the rights of another people. African Americans were frustrated with a country who fought for other citizens and saw no purpose in fighting for a peoples’ freedom but their own. Although African-Americans were specifically discriminated against both in Vietnam and America, they were not alone in their anti-war position. The majority of the American public opposed the Vietnam War. As the war dragged on, people found no reason to fight in Vietnam and believed that the United States should prioritize their own citizens first. Many public figures, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Muhammad Ali, held similar claims. Their opinions aligned with the public’s concern and suggested that the U.S withdraw troops and focus resources on the civil rights issues at home. These public figures fought for a specific minority, but, in light of the entire American population, the majority of people opposed the war.

The term “Watergate” has become a common household name in correlation with people's thoughts about corruption in government. President Nixon was in office at the time of this scandal and is often thought to be the most famous face in America's conspiracy of wickedness in the government. The Watergate scandal had rocked everything our country thought we knew about the American Presidency because it had forfeited the common vision of the leader of the nation. Watergate had replaced the image of elegance and worldliness of the U.S. President with a scattered vision of corruption and extreme competitive measures that the country had never been a part of. Richard Nixon and his men had taken