An Age of Limits
President Nixon reaches out to Communist
nations, but leaves office disgraced by the
Watergate scandal. His successors face a
sluggish economy, environmental concerns, and
a revolution in Iran.
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Section 2
Watergate:
Nixon's Downfall
President Richard Nixon’s involvement in the
Watergate scandal forces him to resign from office.
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Learning Objectives: Section 2
Watergate: Nixon's Downfall
• 1. Analyze how Nixon and his advisors sought to
increase the power of the presidency.
2. Summarize the details of the Watergate burglary.
3. Describe how the Watergate scandal was
uncovered.
4. Explain why the House Judiciary Committee
voted to impeach Nixon and analyze the impact of
Watergate on American politics.
SECTION
2
Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall
President Nixon and His White House
An Imperial Presidency
• Depression, WW II, Cold War make executive
most powerful branch
• Nixon expands presidential powers, ignores
Congress
The President’s Men
• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,
desire secrecy
- H. R. Haldeman, White House chief of staff
- John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser
- John Mitchell, Nixon’s former attorney general
- John Dean, White House counsel
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By the time Nixon became president, the executive
branch had become powerful. He confided in a
small group of very loyal advisers.
H.R.
Haldeman
John Ehrlichman
These advisers included H.R. Haldeman, chief of
staff; John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser; &
John Mitchell, the attorney general.
John
Mitchell
SECTION
2
The Drive Toward Reelection
A Bungled Burglary
• Committee to Reelect the President break into
Democratic headquarters
• Watergate scandal is administration’s attempt to
cover up break-in
- destroy documents, try to stop investigation, buy
burglars’ silence
• Washington Post reporters link administration to
break-in
• White House denies allegations; little public
interest in charges
• Nixon reelected by landslide over liberal Democrat
George McGovern
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GUIDED READING
1. How were the “plumbers” connected to
President Nixon?
The plumbers’ leader was an official of the
Committee to Reelect the President;
John Mitchell, CRP's director, had resigned as
attorney general to run Nixon's campaign.
The men were caught photographing files &
placing wiretaps on phones.
The press soon discovered that the
group’s leader, James McCord, was a
former CIA agent.
Chap Stick
microphones used
by E. Howard Hunt
and
G. Gordon Liddy
during the burglary.
After Nixon’s reelection, the cover-up began to
unravel. In Jan. ’73, the Watergate burglars, except
McCord, changed their pleas from innocent to guilty.
(He was found guilty by a jury)
The trial’s presiding judge, Judge
John Sirica, believed that the
burglars did not act alone.
SECTION
2
The Cover-Up Unravels
The Senate Investigates Watergate
• Judge John Sirica presides burglars’ trial,
thinks did not act alone
• Burglar leader James McCord says lied
under oath, advisers involved
• Nixon dismisses White House counsel John
Dean; others resign
• Senator Samuel J. Ervin heads
investigative committee
Continued . . .
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GUIDED READING
2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out
maximum sentences?
Judge John Sirica;
to encourage the defendants who received sentences
to identify others who were also involved
McCord was also an official of a group known
as the Committee to Reelect the President
(CRP).
John Mitchell, who had been
attorney general, was the CRP’s
director.
Nixon & his staff tried to hide the link to
the White House.
Workers shredded evidence. Nixon & his staff asked
the CIA to urge the FBI to stop its investigations into
the burglary.
SECTION
2
Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall
President Nixon and His White House
The President’s Men
• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,
desire secrecy
- John Mitchell, Nixon’s former attorney general
- John Dean, White House counsel
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GUIDED READING
3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to
Nixon?
Mitchell had been Nixon's attorney general;
Dean had been White House counsel.
Soon the public interest in the Watergate
burglary increased. In April ’73, Three top
Nixon aides resigned.
The President then went on television
& denied any cover-up.
SECTION
2
Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall
President Nixon and His White House
The President’s Men
• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,
desire secrecy
- H. R. Haldeman, White House chief of staff
- John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser
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GUIDED READING
4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected
to Nixon?
Haldeman was Nixon's chief of staff;
Erlichman was Nixon's chief domestic adviser.
In May 1973, the Senate began its own
investigation of Watergate. The Senate
hearings were televised live.
In the hearings, one of Nixon’s aides
said that Nixon knew about the coverup.
SECTION
2
The Cover-Up Unravels
Startling Testimony
• Dean declares Nixon involved in cover-up
• Alexander Butterfield says Nixon tapes
presidential conversations
Continued . . .
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Then it was reveled that White House
meetings had been tape-recorded.
A Uher 5000,
An example of
similar to the one
a Sony 800B
used by Nixon's
recorder, as
erase
TheinSenate
committee demandedsecretary
the tapes.toNixon
used
Nixon's
part of one of the
refused to release them.
office
GUIDED READING
5. What did the following men tell the Senate
about Nixon?
a. Dean - Nixon was deeply involved in the Cover-up.
b. Butterfield - Nixon had taped nearly all of his
presidential conversations.
Nixon announced that he was appointing
Elliot Richardson as the new attorney
general.
He authorized Richardson to appoint
a special prosecutor to investigate
Watergate.
Court battles over the tapes lasted a year.
Archibald Cox, the special
prosecutor, took the president to court
in Oct. 1973 to get the tapes. Nixon
refused & ordered Richardson to fire
Cox.
In what became known as the Saturday Night
Massacre, Richardson refused the order &
resigned.
Robert
Bork
The deputy attorney general also refused &
resigned. Solicitor General Robert Bork finally
fired Cox. But his replacement, Leon Jaworski
was determined to get the tapes.
SECTION
2
continued
The Cover-Up Unravels
The Saturday Night Massacre
• Special prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenas
tapes; Nixon refuses
• Nixon orders Cox fired, attorney general Elliot
Richardson refuses
• Saturday Night Massacre: Richardson resigns;
deputy refuses, fired
• Cox’s replacement, Leon Jaworski, also calls
for tapes
• Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns, revealed
he accepted bribes
• Nixon nominates, Congress confirms Gerald R.
Ford as vice-president
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GUIDED READING
6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the
“massacre”?
Attorney General Richardson resigned;
the deputy attorney general was fired;
special prosecutor Cox was fired.
In March 1974, a grand jury charged 7 Nixon aides
with obstruction of justice & perjury.
Nixon released more than 1,250
pages of taped conversations.
But he didn’t release the
conversations on some key dates.
In July ’74, the Supreme Court
ordered the White House to
release the tapes.
President Nixon giving a
televised address explaining
release of edited transcripts of
SECTION
2
The Fall of a President
Nixon Releases the Tapes
• March 1974, grand jury indicts 7 presidential aides
- charges: conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury
• Nixon tells TV audience he is releasing edited
transcripts
• July, Supreme Court rules unanimously Nixon must
surrender tapes
Continued . . .
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GUIDED READING
7. Why weren’t investigators satisfied with the
transcripts?
because only unedited tapes could provide evidence
involving possible criminal activity
Three days later, a House committee voted to
impeach President Nixon.
If the full House of Representatives
approved, Nixon would go to trial in the
Senate. If found guilty there, he would be
removed from office.
When the tapes were finally released, they
proved that Nixon had known of the cover-up.
On August 8, 1974, before the
impeachment could happen, Nixon
resigned.
SECTION
2
continued
The Fall of a President
The President Resigns
• House Judiciary Committee approves 3 articles
of impeachment
- formal accusation of wrongdoing while in office
- charges: obstruction of justice, abuse of power,
contempt of Congress
• Nixon releases tapes; show he knew of
administration role, cover up
• Before full House votes on impeachment, Nixon
resigns
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GUIDED READING
8. What did the tapes reveal?
that within a week, Nixon had known of his
administration's role in the burglary and had
participated in the cover-up
Watergate produced distrust about the
presidency.
A poll taken in 1974 showed that 43% of
Americans had lost faith in the presidency. In the
years after Vietnam & Watergate, Americans
developed a deep distrust of government.
SECTION
2
continued
The Fall of a President
The Effects of Watergate
• 25 members of administration convicted, serve
prison terms
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