The Watergate scandal happened in the United States during the 1970s. The scandal began June 17, 1972, when seven burglars were arrested in the early morning at the Democratic National Committee office located in the Watergate buildings in Washington DC. These burglars were connected to President Richard Nixon. Nixon tried covering up his role in the crime and resigned as president as he was failing to protect himself. This scandal changed American politics forever.
At the time of the Watergate scandal, the United States was in the middle of the Vietnam War. The American people were divided. Richard Nixon was looking for reelection in the presidential campaign. Nixon and his key advisors took drastic steps most of which were illegal and unconstitutional. His reelection campaign party became known as CREEP.
The scandal began after five men were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee located in the Watergate tower. The men we found trying to bug the offices, one of the men was a former CIA agent. Police found the men with transmitters to pick up walkie talk from local police stations, door jimmies, $2,300 worth of cash in the form of $100 bills all with chronological serial numbers and the phone number to the White House for the reelection committee. This was not the first time the men had broken into the offices. The men had already bugged the phones and steal top-secret documents. They returned because the wiretaps had failed. The men were not connected to Nixon at the time of the crime, although suspicion was raised when the copies of the phone numbers were found. Nixon said in a speech following the incident that the white house had nothing to do with the crimes of the five men. This statement made many Americans believe he was innocent resulting in his reelection. Reporters and researchers did not piece Nixon and the crime together until months after his inauguration. An investigation into the scandal did not come into play until February 1973. The investigation rooted in suspicions of Nixon being involved in Watergate, by two Washington Post writers Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Many of the conspirators began to crack under pressure revealing Nixon’s part in the crime. It was revealed that Nixon was providing thousands of dollars of “hush” money to keep the burglars silent. Nixon even had a plan to have the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation to the crime, which was an abuse of presidential power and obstruction of justice. Nixon even convinced some of the conspirators to plead guilty to avoid trial, helping to protect his role in the crime.
Judge John J. Sirica and members of the Senate investigation committee also began suspecting something bigger to be happening. Many of Nixon’s top white house officials began to resign over the scandal. The investigations began to reveal that Nixon had taped recordings of all conversations in the Oval Office. Nixon refused to hand over the tapes, Archibald Cox, the prosecutor on the case, was very determined to get the tapes. The Saturday Night Massacre on October 20, 1973, became known as the day when Nixon ordered for Cox to be fired and in protest, several officials of the Justice Department resigned. Nixon finally agreed to surrender some tapes, but not all. The coverup and secrets of the Watergate scandal began unraveling in 1974. On March 1st seven of Nixon’s former aides were indicted on various charges relating to the Watergate crime. In July the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to hand over all the tapes, Nixon continued to refuse. “The House of Representatives voted to impeach Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up and several violations of the Constitution”(Watergate Scandal par 15). On August 5 Nixon finally released the tapes which fully proved his role in the Watergate crimes.
On August 8, 1974, Nixon resigned from office. He left the White House the following day. Nixon apologized for his actions and mistakes made. Vice President, Gerald Ford, was sworn into office six weeks later. A month later Ford pardoned Nixon for the crimes he committed while in office. Many of Nixon’s aids were not let off as easily and sent to federal prison.
The Watergate scandal was a big turning point in American politics. Americans learned that who they choose as a president is very important. Although the country was very divided at the time, re-electing the same President is not always the best choice. Many Americans began to lack trust in future elections affecting the outcome of the elections. Americans also became very skeptical about the federal government and its effect on society. Congress began to pass reforms that were designated to fix abuse of power in federal agencies such as the CIA. The Watergate Scandal continues to affect politics to this day making Americans more assertive in their voting choices.
Works Cited
History.com Staff. “Watergate Scandal.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,
www.history.com/topics/watergate.
The Washington Post. “The Watergate Story.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 1996,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/timeline.html.
Watergate.info. “Watergate: The Scandal That Brought Down Richard Nixon.” Watergateinfo,
1995, watergate.info/.