Watergate Scandal Summary PDF

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Watergate Scandal Summary Seth Offenbach’s summary based on Korasick, John. “Watergate scandal.” In Critchlow, Donald T., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Contemporary United States, 1969 to the Present, Revised Edition (Volume X). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. The Watergate scandal was one of the worst political scandals in American history. It resulted in the resignation of the president, Richard M. Nixon, under threat of impeachment and the conviction of several high-ranking members of his administration. Watergate takes its name from the break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., in June 1972. By the summer of 1974 Nixon resigned from office. The activities that fall under the umbrella term “Watergate” began early in the Nixon administration. In Nixon’s first year in office, he approved wiretaps on the phones of government officials and news reporters (which is illegal) to learn the source of news leaks about activities in Vietnam. In 1971, Nixon’s re-election campaign hired a special investigations unit, dubbed the “plumbers,” which illegally broke into the office of the psychologist of Daniel Ellsberg to find damaging information about Ellsberg. In 1972, the Attorney General John Mitchell resigned to lead Nixon’s re-election campaign. The Attorney General’s job is to be the nation’s lawyer. Shortly thereafter a plan was approved to break into the Democrats headquarters. On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested at the DNC headquarters. The burglars were caught adjusting surveillance equipment they had installed in May. Immediately a cover-up began. Some documents were destroyed and false testimony was given by some of the involved. One week after the burglars were arrested, Nixon met with his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman to discuss the burglary. This is the recording you’re listening to. Nixon and Haldeman discussed blocking an FBI inquiry into the break in by declaring that it was a national security operation undertaken by the CIA. This was a lie which Haldeman told the FBI. It’s illegal to lie to the FBI. From the original investigation only the five burglars, plus organizers Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, were indicted. In January 1973, all seven were convicted, but the cover-up was beginning to unravel. In March 1973 U.S. District Court judge John Sirica received a letter charging that witnesses had committed perjury at the trial. The letter implicated campaign officials who eventually confessed and offered testimony that implicated more White House and Nixon campaign officials. In May 1973, the Senate began investigating the affair. At the same time, Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson appointed Archibald Cox, Jr., as special prosecutor to investigate the entire affair. Cox soon uncovered widespread evidence of political espionage, illegal wiretaps, and influence peddling. In July 1973, it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded conversations in the White House since 1971. Cox sued to obtain the tapes. On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned; his assistant, William Ruckelshaus, refused and was fired. Finally, Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox. This became known as the "Saturday Night

Massacre." It led to calls for Nixon's impeachment, and the House of Representatives began an impeachment investigation. By April 1974 Nixon appointed a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. Upon assuming office, Jaworski subpoenaed 64 tapes needed for the trials resulting from the indictments. Nixon refused to comply with the subpoena and proposed a compromise in which he offered to provide edited transcripts in place of the actual tapes. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, United States v. Nixon, on July 8, 1974. The Court unanimously ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes. On August 5, 1974, the transcripts were released, including the one you will read. All the tapes were eventually made public, except for one tape which was destroyed; Nixon’s administration claimed the destruction was an accident. In the tape you are going to hear, Nixon discussed using the CIA to obstruct the FBI investigation of the Watergate break-in. These tapes led to the indictments of Haldeman and five other White House staffers, one of whom pled guilty to some of the charges and further cooperated with the investigation. Ultimately, three others were found guilty while Nixon was pardoned. Timeline: 1969- Nixon begins his Presidency and shortly after begins wiretapping government officials and journalists. 1971- Nixon forms Re-election campaign which hires “Plumbers” who break into office of psychologist of Daniel Ellsberg. June 1972 – Plumbers get arrested while breaking into Democratic headquarters in Watergate. June 1972 – Recording of Nixon talking to Haldeman. January 1973 – Plumbers convicted and sentenced to jail. March 1973- Judge learns about possible perjury among convicts. May 1973- Senate begins investigating break in; Special Prosecutor is appointed to investigate break in. July 1973- Public learns that Nixon recorded all conversations in Oval Office. October 1973 – “Saturday Night Massacre”; House begins impeachment investigation. April 1974 – Nixon appoints new Special Prosecutor. July 1974 – Supreme Court orders Nixon to turn over tapes, including the one we are listening too. August 1974 – Nixon resigns....