Watergate: the Nixon scandal
On June 17th, 1972 five men broke into the Watergate hotel to plant listening
devices and take photographs for the second time. The first time they got
away with it but when they came back to fix some of the devices that weren’t
working and to plant more they were caught. This was the beginning of the
Watergate scandal and the end of Nixon’s Presidency. A President is a
citizen of the United States and must follow the same laws no exceptions.
Nixon tried to take advantage of his position and behaved more like a
tyrant rather than a President.
Richard Nixon was born on January 9th, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He
grew up in a typical home but with below average income. He attended
Fullerton High School but was transferred to Whittier High School later on. At
Whittier High School he ran for student body president and lost to a
more popular student. It would be his only loss for 31 years. He was
very smart and finished second in his class. He was offered a scholarship
to Harvard but that was all the way across the country and his family couldn’t
afford to send him so instead he attended Whittier College and excelled very
much, he was a great debater, as well as an athlete. He was also a
talented drama performer. Once he graduated from Whittier he was given a
full ride scholarship to Duke University Law School. After graduating and
working at a law firm for a while Nixon joined the Navy and climbed the ranks to
Lieutenant Commander. He later returned to his normal life and ran for
congress. This started Nixon’s ruthless political career. He
developed a strategy for making his opponent look bad and exploiting their
weaknesses. This strategy would carry him all the way to the top and then
ironically all the way to the bottom. He developed a reputation as an
anti-communist which caught the attention of Eisenhower and he ran as
Eisenhower’s V.P. After the New York Post reported Nixon’s “Slush Fund” he
was nearly removed from the ballet. It was this at this time he gave his
famous “Checkers Speech”.
Nixon later ran against Kennedy and lost. There were cases of voter fraud in
some states and not wanting to cause a constitutional crises Nixon halted
further investigations. He was admired for his professionalism and
dignity. Nixon returned to California and ran for Governor where he lost
by a large margin. It looked like the end of Nixon’s career but Nixon was
a fighter and would not give up. He ran for President in 1968 and this time he
won. Nixon was an interesting president to say the least.
The Watergate scandal is complicated to say the least. If it had not been for James
McCord with Hunt’s phone number in it no one would of most likely pursued the
idea that the Whitehouse was involved. Upon questioning Nixon denied over
and over that he knew nothing of the Watergate break in but evidence showed
otherwise.
The media played a large role in unraveling the Watergate Scandal. More
specifically Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. These two men were
relentless in investigating and discovering information. They had an
informant in the FBI named Mark Felt. He was known as Deep Throat to keep
his identity safe and it was kept safe for many many years. Woodward and
Bernstein opened up Watergate and kick started the investigations and curiosity.
They first discovered that the Whitehouse was involved in the break in and
confirmed many things that the FBI themselves discovered.
The Smoking Gun tape is ultimately what sealed the deal that Nixon was involved.
Nixon had a habit of taping every conversation that went on in the Oval
Office. These tapes were used as evidence to confirm the Whithouse
involvement in the Watergate break in. At first Nixon refused to turn over
the tapes but the court ordered him to. This was the main part of the
Saturday Night Massacre. October 20th 1973 when Cox (special prosecutor
for the Watergate break in he was also a Career Reserve for the Justice
Department). Nixon then ordered Richardson (Attorney general) to fire Cox
because legally Nixon could not fire a Career Reserve without a just cause.
Richardson refused and then resigned. Nixon then ordered
Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox who also refused
and resigned. After the Saturday Night Massacre Senators all across the
state were getting calls demanding the impeachment of President Nixon.
Later Resolution 21 was introduced to congress and impeachment of the
President was now up for discussion and it seemed by everyone that impeachment
was a certainty.
To avoid impeachment on September 8th, 1974 Richard Nixon resigns from Presidency
and one month later on October 8th, 1974 President Ford pardons Richard
Nixon