Watergate
President Richard Nixon's involvement in
the Watergate scandal forces him to resign
from office.
(Corresponds to 24.2)
Basic Information
This was a chain of political scandals
between 1972 and 1974.
“Watergate” comes from the Watergate Hotel
in Washington, D.C.
Involved the Nixon administration and
President Nixon himself.
Scandal
June 17, 1972 Burglary occurs at the Watergate
hotel
Burglars broke into the Democratic National
Committee offices
Security guard Frank Wills caught the burglars
Burglars were anti-Castro Cuban refugees and
former FBI & CIA agents
Frank Wills
If it wasn’t for him
the burglary may
have never been
stopped
Wills’s security log
the night of the
incidents is right
Scandal
The night of the burglary five men arrested
Two other men arrested that evening
All seven men tried & convicted in Jan 1973
All were directly or indirectly employees of
Nixon’s re-election committee
The Seven
Bernard Baker
– Former CIA operative, was involved with Bay of Pigs
Virgilio Gonzales
– Miami locksmith, Cuban refugee
James McCord
– Security co-worker for the Committee to Re-Elect the
Presdient (CREP) & former FBI & CIA agent
Eugenio Matinez
– CIA connections and was anti-Castro Cuban Exile
Frank Sturgis
– CIA connections and involved in anti-Castro activities
The Seven
Gordon Liddy
– Former FBI agent & White House staffer
– Refused to answer questions about the
burglary – was fired
Howard Hunt
– Former White House staffer & former CIA
employee
– Worked to declassify the Pentagon Papers
The Investigation Begins
Judge John Sirica presides over burglars' trial
Burglar leader James McCord says lied under
oath - says advisers involved
White House Counsel John says Nixon involved
in cover-up
Nixon dismisses Dean
Senator Samuel J. Ervin heads investigative
committee
Alexander Butterfield says Nixon tapes
presidential conversations
The Investigation
Investigation highly influenced by media
Two Washington Post reporters at the
forefront:
– Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Woodword & Bernstein received all info
from an anonymous informant - “deep
throat”
Committee discovered secret tape
recordings leading to a legal battle b/w
Congress & the President
The Investigation
Bernstein & Woodward learned
– That the burglars came from Miami
– Wore surgical gloves
– Carried thousands of dollars in cash
Bernstein & Woodward relied upon “deep throat”
Bernstein learned that a $25,000 check for
Nixon’s re-election had been deposited in
a banking account of one of the burglars
“Deep Throat”
31-year FBI agent
Some stories were half fictional and half truth.
Felt’s identity was one of the best kept secrets
Identity was revealed in 2005 - 30 years after
the burglary
Felt is now 91 years old
Saturday Night Massacre
October 20, 1973
Prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed tapes
– Nixon refuses
Nixon orders the firing of Cox
– Attorney General Elliot Richardson refuses;
resigns
– Deputy A.G. William Ruckelshaus refuses;
resigns
– Solicitor General Robert Bork ordered;
complies
Nixon Reacts to Watergate
Nixon re-elected in November of 1973
Nixon releases partial transcripts of the tapes on
April 29, 1974
Nixon’s Last Days
Judiciary Committee
accepts 3 Articles of
Impeachment
Nixon ordered to
release tapes by the
Supreme Court
– One tape the day after the
break-in had an 18 minute
gap…erased
August 9, 1974, Nixon
resigns
A Brief Timeline of Events
November 1968
– Nixon wins presidency
July 23, 1970
– Nixon approves a plan for expanding
domestic intelligence-program for FBI, CIA
June 13, 1971
– New York Times publishes Pentagon Papers
A Brief Timeline of Events
June 17, 1972
– 5 men arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the
offices of the Democratic National Committee
at the Watergate hotel
August 1, 1972
– $25,000 cashier's check is discovered in the
account of a Watergate burglar
A Brief Timeline of Events
November 11, 1972
– Nixon re-elected with 60% of the vote
January 30, 1973
– Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W.
McCord are convicted of conspiracy, burglary
and wiretapping
A Brief Timeline of Events
April 30, 1973
– White House staffers H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman
& Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign
– White House counsel John Dean fired
July 18, 1973
– Nixon orders White House taping system disconnected
July 23, 1973
– Nixon refuses to turn over tape recordings to the Senate
October 1973
– Saturday Night Massacre
A Brief Timeline of Events
April 30, 1974
– White House releases 1,200 pages of edited
tape transcripts to the Judiciary Committee
– Committee insists that they must have the
tapes themselves
July 24, 1974
– Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon
must turn over the tapes of White House
conversations
– Rejects the president’s claim of executive
privilege
A Brief Timeline of Events
July 27, 1974
– Judiciary Committee
passes one of three
impeachment articles
August 8, 1974
– Nixon is the only U.S.
president to resign
– V.P. Gerald Ford
assumes presidency
– Ford later pardons
Nixon of all charges