...(DNC) at the Watergate Hotel and Complex on June 17, 1972, the burglary was reported briefly and soon forgotten amidst other headlining news. Months later, the Watergate Burglary exploded when ties were found between the break-in and Richard Nixon’s Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) (Bernstein). Thus began the Watergate Scandal: the bugging and burglary at the Watergate Complex, the cover-up ordered by President Nixon himself, and the Watergate trials which revealed patterns of ethical misconduct within the Nixon administration. The scandal’s traditional timeline ranges from the break-in at the Watergate Complex, Washington D.C. in June of 1972...
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...Watergate Student’s Name Professor Course Institution Date The Watergate Scandal was considered one of the most of disturbing political scandals in the history of America. This Scandal brought down a President and his administration, also made the American public distrust the government which still goes on today. In 1972 there were two break-ins at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate office and apartment complex located in Washington D.C. The first was 27, 1972 and was performed by G. Gordon Liddy the leader of the group called “ The Plumbers”, E. Howard Hunt, and James W. McCord along with six members of a group known as “the Plumbers”. The break- in was used to place wiretaps and make copies of documents. Although the first break-in was successful some of the wiretaps were not working correctly or placed in the wrong place. So on the night of 17 June, 1972 another break-in was conducted to fix the problems encountered from the first Break-in. While on patrol on the night Frank Wills a security guard for the Watergate complex discovered several doors in the office complex noticed several door were taped open and removed them. When he made another round he found that were re-taped, upon discovery he called the Washington police and the burglars were arrested. While being booked the police discovered E. Howard Hunt’s White House telephone number on 2 of the burglars. This was the first step in discovering...
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...The Watergate Scandal Richard Milhous Nixon was the thirty-seventh President of the United States of America from 1969 until 1974. Nixon completed his first term as President in 1973 and was re-elected for the position for the next four years. However, Nixon would have his time in the White House cut short by the series of events that occurred in the twenty-six months that followed the Watergate burglary. On June 17, 1972 five men, one White House employee and four Cubans, broke into the Watergate Office Building in Washington, DC in an attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee (DNC) office. The break in and the events that took place afterwards led to the resignation of Richard Milhous Nixon on August 8, 1974. The morning of June 18, Nixon was at his home in Key Biscayne, FL. when he read a headline about the Watergate break in. The idea was out of this world and Nixon did not believe what he was reading. Nixon dismissed the story as a political prank (Nixon 625-626). James McCord, Bernard Barker, Virgilo Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, and Frank Sturgis had been arrested and charged with second-degree burglary by the Washington police (WHT 820). McCord, a former CIA officer, was employed by the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) as a security consultant. Ironically McCord was supposed to prevent the very things he was doing to the DNC. Nixon telephoned Charles Colson, a special counsel to President Nixon, that evening to discuss the Watergate break in. Colson said...
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...Out of the events in American History that have occurred throughout the period, one of the ones that interests me the most is the Watergate Scandal. With that in mind, the book I chose to read is called Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon by Fred Emery. Although I had a basic knowledge of the scandal, I learned much by reading this book including those behind it and the coverup itself, in greater detail than I had known before. The book starts off by giving some background information including events that were transpiring during the Nixon administration. Many of these consist with Nixon’s handling of Vietnam and other events such as the Kent State Shootings and then the Pentagon Papers. Through this...
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...Watergate Paper 03/19/2012 His/145 Cynthia Grant Watergate Paper By 1968 the unpopularity of Lyndon B. Johnson due to the Vietnam War, ushered in yet another American President, Richard M. Nixon. Thought the United States was in the middle of a cultural revolution the change was welcomed. President Richard Nixon could relate to the average American. A product of the hard working middle class, President Nixon rose to prominence through his own will and determination. While not the ideal time to become the President of the United States of America, President Nixon would project a stern image that supported traditional Values. President Nixon inherited the Vietnam conflict and an economy that was weakening the greatest scandal that would send an American President packing. was about to unfold. An obscure break in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in Washington D.C. in 1972 would create one of the most serious crises in the history of the United States Presidency’s. In 1961 we learned that the first presidential debate was televised live so media coverage of the scandal would surely steer up the American People. The Watergate Scandal would occupy the American Nation for the next two years beginning in 1972; and ultimately, in the summer of 1974. On June 17, 1972 police arrested 5 men who had broken into the offices of the Democratic National Committee’s Headquarters and would eventually arrest 2 additional men who were responsible for the break in. The Washington...
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...Richard Nixon was the first President to be impeached in America but the legal system was also on trial. The political fiasco put the legal profession in a bad light. Some of the lawyers pleaded guilty. It seemed like it was hard to keep a secret if there were lots of people that were involved in this secret plan. The Watergate scandal rocked the whole nation of America, and to a great extent it also shocked the world. The center of this controversy Richard Nixon was the most powerful man in the world. The president of the most powerful nation on earth was under trial here. Nixon’s aides were charged with different crimes in connection with the break- in at the Watergate building. President Nixon had resigned from his office while insisting on his innocence of the crime being attributed to him. Investigators couldn’t find the “smoking gun” that would point to the president as the mastermind or as a part of a grand conspiracy in the break-in. It is also an important to note that the public’s access to this information and their following reaction that really helped to understand the real issue. The question as to how did the Watergate scandal changed America? There are...
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...The story of Watergate is both historically and politically interesting. It began to occur from the Pentagon Papers, in which Daniel Ellsberg handed over to the press. The Pentagon Papers contained secret documents outlining the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam (p.848).These secret documents would bring to light the deception of the the morning of June 17, 1972, at 2:30 a.m. 5 burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee, located inside of the Watergate building in Washington, D.C.. Being connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. It was not immediately clear that the burglars were connected to the president, though suspicions were raised when detectives found copies of the reelection committee’s White House phone number among the burglars’ belongings.While historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate espionage operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars, trying to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members. In August 1974, after his role in the Watergate conspiracy had finally come to light, the president resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, immediately pardoned Nixon for all the crimes he “committed or may have committed” while in office. Although Nixon was never...
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...Watergate is widely believed to be the largest political scandal that the United States has seen. This scandal turned heads with the extensive association with the then United States President Richard Nixon, and many of his administration that aided in the execution and cover up of the events. The Watergate scandal of the 1970’s proved to be one of the most significant political scandal in history which included lies, breaking and entering, cover-ups and the first ever resignation of a United States President from office. The Watergate scandal events originated in 1969, with the composition of President Nixon’s enemies list. The list had a collection of names of opponents and potential opponents that have the possibility of causing trouble...
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...POL 241 – American Government Group Assignment 03 Suranga Sarukkali #1093 The Watergate Scandal from the media angle Introduction The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex inWashington, D.C. Effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, on August 9, 1974, the first and only resignation of any U.S. President. It also resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of several Nixon administration officials. While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Woodward was teamed up with Carl Bernstein; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were assigned to report on the June 17, 1972 break-in of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in a Washington, D.C. office building named Watergate. Their work, under editor Benjamin C. Bradlee, became known for being the first to report on a number of political "dirty tricks" used by the Nixon re-election committee during his campaign for reelection. Their book about the scandal, All the President's Men, became a #1 best-seller and was later turned into a movie. The 1976 film, starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, transformed the reporters into celebrities and inspired a wave of interest...
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...impeached. If Watergate was omitted from Nixon’s history most people would think he was a good president with a good track record and that he accomplished many things. Nixon left office to avoid being impeached; there was too much evidence against him and the media was having a field day with the evidence that was made public. Because a president has been given an enormous amount of power that is not give him the right to abuse the power. Therefore, any president or anyone for that matter should be accountable for the wrongdoings that they have done. Nixon should have been impeached. And probably would have because the numbers and the senate’s showed there was enough votes to impeach him. When Richard Nixon was pardoned by president Ford it did not set a good precedent for our nation. It became clear that a president or a politician can break the law and a successor can clear him of all his or her wrongdoings without any input from the judicial system. Although Nixon’s pardon was controversial it is rumored that Nixon made a deal to have resign only if he was given a full pardon (Herbers, 2010). It was sold to the public as the better thing to do for the country, but letting a person go that has clearly broken the law is not a good thing for our country (Dennison, 2012). The Watergate disgrace taught our country not to trust presidents or politicians for that matter. If our country learned that politicians are no different than anyone else. Politicians can and will break the law...
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...America, be specific and detailed. Use APA style requirements. * NAFTA * H. Ross Perot * Rodney King * Immigration * Clinton’s Scandals * Wal-Mart * “Contract With America” * The technological divide * Disputed Election of 2000 The Clinton Recovery When President Nixon resigned in August of 1974, then Vice President Gerald Ford took over as President. President Nixon’s resignation was the first in Presidential history due to a scandal that is still considered controversial to this day. Termed “Watergate,” the break-ins at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was orchestrated by a group of President Nixon’s aides who eventually were caught and indicted for their involvement. The group was part of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP) whose “plan was to burglarize, use electronic surveillance, kidnapping, and prostitution to gather information.” (Editorial Board, 2012) The CRP made four attempts to break into the DNC. On the third attempt they were able to get wire taps planted in the offices of the DNC Chairman and Executive Director of Democratic States Chairman. But seeing that the information was not enough, the CRP decided to plan another and on their fourth try, they were caught by a security guard who noticed a door being held closed by a piece of tape. Five people were found guilty by jury. It was also found that a fund was being...
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...Watergate Paper Paul Salabarria HIS/145 June 26, 2012 Jeff Wilson Watergate Paper Watergate was a scandal that involved a break-in into the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the Nixon administration. Watergate was one of the most famous political scandals in American history. Decades after Watergate historians and others continue to argue about its causes and significance (Brinkley, 2007). It marked a period that both weakened our relationships with other countries as well as weakened the public’s belief in the President. A majority of Americans believe that newspapers, radio and television are devoting too much space and time to covering the Watergate scandals (“53%,” 1974). Both Time and Newsweek reported that John Dean, counsel to the president, was ready to say that the President knew of the Watergate cover-up. Newsweek put out an advance press release of this story first, and this became the basis of stories elsewhere. The Washington Post, however, reported the story carefully framed to put the charges in a proper context. Their articles carefully “pointed out the key fact that the statements by Mr. Dean were made while negotiating for immunity” (“Watergate,” 1973). The whole Watergate case is surely an example of why the press is important to a free society. With due respect for Judge Sirica’s persistence in breaking down those convicted in the break-in, it’s doubtful that the story of the scandal would ever have come out as completely if there had...
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...Watergate Scandal (The Alienation of the Youth from Government) We have had forty-three different presidents. Almost all of the presidents had done something to blemish their presidency, by accident or not. Richard Nixon’s presidency was blemished from the beginning, but this blemish may have saved the Republican party for the future to come. This incident was known as the Watergate Scandal. The scandal revolves around a place known as the Watergate Hotel. This was where the Democratic party’s campaign meetings were taking place for the 1974 election. This was the same election to provide many “dirty tricks” on both sides. To switch gears for a moment, during this election, the Republican party had formed a group known as the Committee for...
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...In the 1976 film, All the President’s Men directed by Alan J. Pakula, it includes the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. These two men are known to have uncovered the facts about the Watergate Scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. It looked like it might have cost these two their jobs, reputation, and most importantly, their lives due to the extent they went through to obtain information. The film begins with a security guard, Frank Wills, who plays himself at the Watergate complex working the night shift. He soon finds a door that is unlocked with tape and notices it to be suspicious so he calls police who then find and arrest five burglars in the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Following this, everyone is searching for news and who these burglars were and why they did it so the Washington Post assigns Bob Woodward who is one of the new reporters to cover the story. Woodward becomes knowledgeable that out of the five men, four were Cuban Americans from Miami and the last was named as James McCord. McCord reveals that he had recently left the CIA as other have CIA ties. Woodward then connects the burglars to Howard Hunt who was a former...
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...conversations and phone calls. In addition, one former aide said the President had approved a plan to cover up their involvement in the break-in. The tapes were the key to discovering the truth and the committee demanded to hear the tapes because they would either clear Nixon or condemn him. Did Nixon order the Watergate break-in and then try to cover it up? If true, this was criminal activity and corruption at the highest level of government. The committee needed to get those tapes, but Nixon refused citing executive privilege. A confrontation was brewing and it was about to play out in public for all to see. Nixon was in crisis mode and was trying to save his presidency. On August 9, 1973 the committee sued the President for access to the tapes and other material that was not provided. October 20, 1973 is called the Saturday Night Massacre since Nixon fires the special prosecutor of the Watergate investigation and in response the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General resign. Nixon is attempting to get rid of people that could implicate him. Finally in July 1974 the Supreme Court stepped in and ruled that Nixon had to provide the tapes for review. The beginning of the end was starting for the Nixon presidency. The tapes provided direct evidence that Nixon had approved a plan to cover up the White House’s involvement in the Watergate break-in. With this evidence the House Judiciary Committee began the process of impeaching the President and removing him from office...
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