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Richard Nixon Scandal

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

That was a demonstration of his abuse of wealth, but in a much worse crime, it was known he was abusing his power as president. With the FBI undergoing investigations, he and his aides tried to use the CIA to stop their progress. Seven people that were convicted in January of 1973 for having some part in the scandal, where five of them pleaded guilty. Nixon was marked as an "unindicted co-conspirator."
Even though the president was using his wealth to pay off those that were involved, several of his aides still stepped forward during this time where many thought there were far worse crimes that were yet to be uncovered. They testified that every meeting and word was recorded secretly in the Oval Office by the president. They filed for a subpoena to obtain the tapes as they were believed to be related to the ongoing investigation. It was now the goal of the prosecutors to get access to these tapes to bring down the crimes of the …show more content…

683 was held on the 24th of July in 1974. Among the other judges that served this court were Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, and Rehnquist. Rehnquist was the only one who ended up not taking part in the decision of the case. The question raised was whether or not the President of the United States has power to an “executive privilege” that allows him or her “immunity from judicial process” (“Summary of the Decision”). The United States was in favor by the Court under unanimous decision. The role of executive privilege was decided that it is not an absolute. The President trying to keep everything a secret was offset by the judges and their ability to provide a fair trial. His attorneys argued that this whole trial went against the idea of the separation of powers because the judicial branch should not be getting involved with the actions of the executive branch. However, because a constitutional question was raised, it fit the textbook reason for the requirement of getting the judicial branch involved. They granted that his argued privilege was limited, especially where there are “military of diplomatic affairs” (“Modern Era”). The controversial issue of the subpoena that called for aid to the public interest was marked as a pro, requiring that the President release the tapes. Chief Justice Burger was the one who wrote the majority opinion for the Court

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