The Watergate Scandal Essay

* Even though 5 men have pleaded guilty in January 20, 1973 former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and W. McCord Jr are convicted of the Watergate break in, wiretapping and conspiracy

On June 17,1972, five thieves, who were correlated with the reelection campaign of Richard Nixon, were arrested at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. The five men were caught in the middle of trying to steal classified documents and wire tape phones in the office of the Democratic National Committee. Although, Richard Nixon denied any connection to the incident, it was later revealed that Nixon had been dishonest. Not only was hush-money prepared to be given to the the prowlers, Richard had delayed the FBI investigation of the crime. Nixon had also tried to fire a prosecutor who kept pestering the president for tapes of the conversations that had taken place in the Oval Office. Due to the fact that all of these were, “an abuse of presidential

After the break-in, Nixon needed to protect his image so that American’s could still trust him. To accomplish this, he let a number of employees take the blame for him. The Watergate Seven were a group of men involved in the scandal, who were also advisors and aides to President Nixon. On January 8, 1973, these men were put to trial. With urges from Nixon, five of the seven pleaded guilty. Then on January 30, 1973, six of Nixon’s aides and the lawyer for his re-election committee were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to cover-up the break in. This included John Mitchell, Harry Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, Charles W. Colson, Gordon Strachan, and Kenneth Wells Parkinson. However, after the trial, CIA operative, James W. McCord, wrote a letter to Judge John Sirica. In which he claimed that the defendants had pleaded guilty under duress. He also said that they committed perjury and that others were involved in the Watergate break-in. Leading to further pressure being put on Nixon and his alleged involvement in the break-in. Eventually, Nixon’s deceitful involvement would be revealed to the American public.

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

Seven men involved in the Watergate break-in, a break-in of the Democratic National Committee's headquarters located in the Watergate complex, were indicted by a federal grand jury. President Richard Nixon was named by the grand jury as an unindicted co-conspirator. Archibald Cox, who had been appointed as special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate affair, obtained a subpoena that required President Nixon to deliver to the district court tape recordings of his meetings with various assistants. The president released certain edited versions of the tapes to the public, but refused to yield the full transcripts to the district cou

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

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

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

In June 1972, a group of men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee were caught breaking into the the Watergate complex of the Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Following their uncovery, Nixon’s administration was exposed for various other illegal activities and scandals in order to obtain reelection. At the end of his first term, the President had ordered wiretaps on government employees in order to prevent more media leaks similar to the Pentagon Papers. Nixon’s team of illegal aides, known as the “plumbers”, burglarized the office of Daniel Ellsberg, who was responsible for the leak of the Pentagon Papers. They also created a list of various government officials and prominent Americans who had opposed the NIxon administration. Moreover, in 1973, Nixon’s vice president was forced to resign when it was uncovered that he had previously taken bribes as Governor of Maryland.  Eventually, Richard Nixon was forced to resign, vacating the office to Gerald Ford under the pressures of the

“I am not a crook” is one of the most famous quotes from President Richard M. Nixon.  Citizens of the United States of America would hope that their president would never have to defend himself as a crook, but that is just what happened in the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. President Nixon had to defend himself for not being a crook because of the events famously known as the ‘Watergate Scandal’. In 1972, members of Nixon’s re-election committee broke into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate offices and stole top-secret documents as well as trying to get into their phone system. They eventually were caught and so was President Nixon which led him to his resignation. Even though it was an unfortunate event, there have been positive outcomes because of it. The lasting implications of the Watergate Scandal have been generally positive on society because of the passing of Ethics in Government Act, amending the Freedom of Information Act and 42 states passing election reform laws.

The Watergate scandal began during the 1972 Presidential campaign between Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and President Nixon. On June 17, 1972, about five months before the general election, five burglars broke into Democratic headquarters located in the Watergate building complex in Washington, D.C.In May 1973, Nixon's Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, appointed Archibald Cox to the position of special prosecutor, charged with investigating the break-in.In October 1973, Nixon arranged to have Cox fired in the Saturday Night Massacre. However, public outrage forced Nixon to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who was charged with conducting the Watergate investigation for the government. Less than three weeks

There was no other evidence, however, until on July 16, 1973, Alexander Butterfield, a former White House staff member, testified that there were secret recordings of presidential conversations. The Committee and the special Watergate prosecutor, Archibald Cox, subpoenaed the tapes, but Nixon refused to turn them over. In response, Nixon ordered his Attorney General Eliot Richardson to fire Cox; Richardson refused and resigned as did his deputy, William Ruckelshaus. Cox was eventually fired by the Solicitor General, Robert Bork. This was known as the "Saturday Night Massacre" and provoked a huge outcry at Nixon's abuse of power. On December 8, 1973, Nixon released seven of the nine tapes, and one of the seven had

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

After the case was final, Richard Nixon released all of the tapes. It was confirmed that he was involved with the watergate scandal. He had contact with the men that he ordered to bug the committees office. He shortly resigned after everything releasing the tapes. He became known as the first president to resign in history. This case is very famous and will go down in history forever. It was reenacted in one of my favorite movies, Forrest

Among them would be Bob Bernstein, and Carl Woodward, reporters for The Washington Post. They used a background source “Deep Throat” to uncover the relationship between the scandal and the White House. “Deep Throat” later announced was W.Mark Felt. The Senate makes a special committee that nominated Archibald Cox to head the special investigations. James D St. Clair was appointed to be Nixon’s defense counsel. Startling information shocked the nation. There was a check of $25000 in one of the burglar’s bank account. Archibald then learns that Nixon taped all his conversations in the white house. Archibald demanded tapes but Nixon denied. Archibald was getting close to uncovering the case so Nixon demanded him to be fired. He demanded Attorney General Richardson but he protested and resigned. Next in line was Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus who also protested and resigned. Finally, Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out orders. John Sirica, a judge and he also realized not all the pieces of the puzzle were put together.