AP: Watergate
Terms
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Watergate Scandal
Silent Majority
“Enemies List”
Wiretap
Pentagon Papers
Credibility Gap
“Plumbers”
CREEP
“Dirty Tricks”
“Hush Money”
“Cover Up”
Special Prosecutor
Impeach
Obstruction of Justice
“Imperial Presidency”
Executive Privilege
25th Amendment
Names
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Richard Nixon
Daniel Ellsberg
Spiro T. Agnew
Bob Haldeman
John Ehrlichman
John Mitchell
Henry Kissinger
Judge Sirica
Senator Muskie
Senator McGovern
Bob Woodward
Carl Bernstein
Senator Ervin
John Dean
Gerald Ford
Archibald Cox
George H.W. Bush
Scandals in American History
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Whiskey Ring
• Warren G. Harding
• Teapot Dome
• Richard Nixon
• Watergate
• Ronald Reagan
• Iran-Contra Affair
• Bill Clinton
• Whitewater, Paula Jones,
“Troopergate”, Monica
Lewinsky
(also Vince Foster, Travelgate,
Lincoln Bedroom)
Watergate
The events that led to the
resignation of President Nixon
Watergate—Pathways p. 838
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1. Richard Nixon
2. Watergate Scandal
3. Wiretap
4. Pentagon Papers (p. 813)
5. Special Prosecutor
6. Impeach
7. 25th Amendment
8. “Imperial Presidency” (see notes)
9. “Silent Majority” (see Glossary or p. 814)
10. Gerald Ford
1. Nixon, the Man
• Childhood in California
• Duke University, service during WWII
• Marriage to Pat
• Congress and Senate—Republican
• Election Tactics
• Alger Hiss case
• The Checkers speech
• Vice-president under Eisenhower
2. Elections of 1960s
• The press
• The debate
• The election of 1960—loss to JFK
• Feelings of being “the outsider”
• Loss in 1962 for governorship of California
• Election of 1968 (Republican Nixon over VP Humphrey
and the splintered Democratic Party)
• “The Silent Majority”
3. The Imperial Presidency
• “enemies list”
• “dirty tricks”
• “plumbers”—they plug up leaks
• Leaks—information exposed unintentionally
• Paranoia?
• “The Credibility Gap” (the truth vs. what the government presented as
the truth)
• The Pentagon Papers
• Daniel Ellsberg and his psychiatrist
• Edmund Muskie and his family
4. Watergate
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Five men break-in, June 1972 (before the convention and presidential election in
November) at the Democratic Party Headquarters in The Watergate Office Building
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Goal: To steal the secrets of the McGovern campaign for President
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Arrest and arraignment—they “take the fifth”—prison
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They were connected to the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP)
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Nixon told CIA and FBI not to pursue investigation
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Two reporters—Woodward and Bernstein—investigated for The Washington Post (book
and film, All the President’s Men)
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Secret news sources—newspaper coverage
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President won re-election by a landslide
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More newspaper coverage led to a televised Senate investigation
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Meanwhile, after accusations of bribery, VP Agnew resigned—appointment of Ford as VP
5. Executive Privilege
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Special prosecutors were appointed by the President
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White House aides fired by President
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Aides brought before Senate and reveal little
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John Dean told committee about a taping system in Oval Office
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Congress subpoened tapes
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“I am not a crook”
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Special Prosecutors fired by the President
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“Saturday Night Massacre”
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Public Outrage
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Transcripts of tapes released
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Supreme Court ordered release of tapes
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18 minutes missing
6. Exposure of the President
• “The smoking gun”—evidence that the president told the FBI and
CIA to stop investigating the Watergate break-in
• “Cover up” and “Hush Money” exposed
• House of Representatives voted for articles of impeachment—
Obstruction of Justice
• Republican Party Chairman, George HW Bush advised resignation
• Nixon announced resignation, August, 1974
• Nixon retired to California
• Ford was sworn in as President
Men who went to prison
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Former Attorney General Mitchell
Haldeman
Ehrlichman
Dean
Burglars
“Plumbers” and others…
• In 1974, President Ford issued a full pardon of Nixon,
thus ending a two-year nightmare
• Governor Nelson Rockefeller became Ford’s VP
7. Positive Aspects of Nixon’s
Presidency
• Troops came home from Vietnam in 1973 (Vietnamization)
• 26th amendment—18 year olds got the vote in 1971
• Historic visit to Communist China, 1972
• Détente (friendship) with USSR
• SALT I (arms limitation treaty)
• Clean Air Act
• National health insurance program proposed
Ideas…
• What did Nixon have to gain from the breakin? He was assured the victory over
McGovern.
• Could the Democrats have staged the breakin? Could the FBI and CIA have staged it?
• The tapes do not reveal that Nixon approved
the break-in—it revealed that he approved
the cover-up and hush money.
8. Changes since Watergate
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Full investigation of public officials
Freedom of Information Act
Scrutiny of candidates and records
Skepticism of public
Aggressive/assertive press
• In a later interview, Nixon affirmed that as
President he was “above the law.” Do you think
that our current President is “above the law”?
Recent events…
• Edward Snowden and the NSA exposure
• The Panama Papers