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Nixon's Involvement In The Watergate Scandal

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“The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” This quote from Bess Myerson seems innocent on the surface, but it actually conveys an interesting concept; she implies that if not for the lack of involvement by voters in the United States, the government would have less corruption and interference from secretive organizations. However, one situation arises that expresses the opposite of what Myerson indicates. As Nixon ran for office a second time, he had not yet faced exposure for his crimes that would lead to distrust from the American people. In fact, after winning reelection and beginning his second term, Nixon held an approval rating of 68 percent (Kohut 1). His good favor, however, began coming to a close …show more content…
On June 17, 1972, four burglars--one had served as head of security for president Nixon--broke into the Watergate office complex, which served as a headquarters for the Democratic Party (Perlstein 50). Upon interrogation, many officials testified that the Watergate burglars had received aid from inside the White House. The first to accuse Nixon of involvement in the scandal was John W. Dean. A White House counsel, Dean betrayed the president’s trust by sharing information regarding his involvement in Watergate, as well as in the disruption of Democratic campaigns from the 1972 election. (Jeffrey et al. 12) On October 23, 1973, Nixon turned over tapes of his conversations in the Oval Office, and would later disclose more in April of 1974. The second set of tapes proved not only to further incriminate President Nixon, but to have undergone heavy editing before their release. (13) Finally, the original, unedited tapes released on August 5, 1974, provided audio evidence of Nixon ordering the Central Intelligence Agency to keep the Federal Bureau of Investigation from analyzing Watergate further. On August 9, 1974, Nixon decided to resign instead of facing his inevitable impeachment. (14) In the words of Harry P. Jeffrey, a professor of history at California State University, Fullerton, “The June 23 tape was the smoking gun, and the president’s fingerprints were all over it.”

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