Beliefs hold that, the Watergate affair dealt heavy blows to public confidence in the political system because it has exposed dishonesty and illegality in the presidency, among the most respected of public offices. American citizens perceive Watergate not only as evidence that an irresponsible few have acted unwisely or illegally, but also as proof that the system itself is fundamentally flawed. It caused several showdowns between the executive and the other branches of government and is regarded as one of the most important constitutional crises in American history. This controversy resulted in multiple arrests, creation of new laws, and the first resignation of a United States president in history. It undoubtedly changed US politics in America forever.
The Aftermath
A series of events resulted after the break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The events of the Watergate scandal led to a sense of political alienation among Americans. Watergate changed political culture in America which, lead to numerous initiatives to counteract the idea of the abuse of presidential power. The effects of Watergate caused a resurgence in Congress. Throughout the 1970's the efforts by Congress to regain the powers of the purse and the sword, along with its general institutional standing were ambitious. The purse refers to the Legislative branch whereas the sword refers to the Executive branch which, Congress were trying to regain control in both branches. Congress began to push back against the presidency's two-century long expansion of privileged authority. The motives for this was to gain public trust and confidence in government.
After examining Watergate and the impact it has left on America Michael Schudson, author of Notes on Scandal and the Watergate Legacy, explains that:
"Watergate also became the touchstone, the definitive point of reference for subsequent political scandals in the United States and an archetype for political scandals around the world. Watergate contributed to the decline of Americans' trust in the government, which was already deteriorating from the Vietnam years. In an effort to restore governmental legitimacy, a variety of post-Watergate reforms became law, including the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 that set up a procedure for appointing a special counsel to investigate alleged wrongdoing at the highest levels of the executive branch. Critics soon urged that the reforms overreached themselves and forced public attention away from policy substance to personal morality, discouraged good people who valued their privacy from seeking careers in government, and promoted a dangerous scandal-and-investigation-centered mode of politics in Washington. Another reformed that passed was the Intelligence Authorization Act in 1980, which required the Executive Branch to keep the House and Senate Intelligence Committees "fully and currently informed" of all U.S. intelligence activities. Watergate not only inspired journalists to seek out scandals and not only offered a public language for discussing scandal, but it generated the governmental machinery for official investigation and pursuit of scandal."
A series of events resulted after the break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The events of the Watergate scandal led to a sense of political alienation among Americans. Watergate changed political culture in America which, lead to numerous initiatives to counteract the idea of the abuse of presidential power. The effects of Watergate caused a resurgence in Congress. Throughout the 1970's the efforts by Congress to regain the powers of the purse and the sword, along with its general institutional standing were ambitious. The purse refers to the Legislative branch whereas the sword refers to the Executive branch which, Congress were trying to regain control in both branches. Congress began to push back against the presidency's two-century long expansion of privileged authority. The motives for this was to gain public trust and confidence in government.
After examining Watergate and the impact it has left on America Michael Schudson, author of Notes on Scandal and the Watergate Legacy, explains that:
"Watergate also became the touchstone, the definitive point of reference for subsequent political scandals in the United States and an archetype for political scandals around the world. Watergate contributed to the decline of Americans' trust in the government, which was already deteriorating from the Vietnam years. In an effort to restore governmental legitimacy, a variety of post-Watergate reforms became law, including the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 that set up a procedure for appointing a special counsel to investigate alleged wrongdoing at the highest levels of the executive branch. Critics soon urged that the reforms overreached themselves and forced public attention away from policy substance to personal morality, discouraged good people who valued their privacy from seeking careers in government, and promoted a dangerous scandal-and-investigation-centered mode of politics in Washington. Another reformed that passed was the Intelligence Authorization Act in 1980, which required the Executive Branch to keep the House and Senate Intelligence Committees "fully and currently informed" of all U.S. intelligence activities. Watergate not only inspired journalists to seek out scandals and not only offered a public language for discussing scandal, but it generated the governmental machinery for official investigation and pursuit of scandal."
This political cartoon by Ed Valtman depicts the provision of the checks and balances system being disproportionately unfair among the legislative and executive branch. In the picture, Congress is shown as a small congressman who is being coerced by larger executives. Although the principle of checks and balances was adopted into the constitution to prevent any one group of the branches of government from becoming too power, this ideology dissipated with the Nixon presidency. In the picture the executive branch is portrayed by three suspecting men in black coats labeled, "veto power", "executive privilege", and "impoundment of funds". The powers of the executive branch urged congress to go along with President Nixon's ideology eliminating the power of checks and balances and decreasing congress' ability to keep the balance of power because the executive branch is keeping it all to itself demonstrating the abuse of executive power and the declination of public distrust.
Among other things, Watergate led to the passage of initiatives to improve government ethics in hopes to restore faith in the American government:
Senate Hearings
February 7, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities is established. Senator Sam Ervin (D-NC) is its chairman.
March 21, 1973
John Dean tells President Nixon, “We have a cancer – within – close to the Presidency, that’s growing.” He tells the president that the burglars are demanding money and that maybe one million dollars would be needed in the end. “We could get that…,” the president replies.
March 23, 1973
Prior to Judge John Sirica imposing sentences on the convicted burglars, James McCord writes a letter to the judge claiming pressure had been applied to the defendants to ensure silence. Perjury was committed in the courtroom. Sirica makes the letter public and imposes harsh sentences, ranging from twenty to forty years, to force the defendants’ cooperation.
April 6, 1973
John Dean begins cooperating with Watergate prosecutors.
April 17, 1973
White House staff will appear before the Senate committee, says Nixon, who promises major new developments. An official White House statement claims Nixon had no prior knowledge of the break-in.
April 22, 1973
Nixon sends Dean to Camp David to write a report about Watergate.
April 30, 1973
Appearing on national television, Nixon announces the dismissal of Dean and the resignations of his closest advisors, Haldeman and Ehrlichman. Attorney General Kleindienst also resigns. Elliot Richardson is appointed to replace him.
May 3, 1973
According to a Louis Harris poll following the resignations of his key assistants, 54% believes the president’s credibility has suffered, rendering him less effective, yet only 42% agree that he “does not inspire confidence personally….” A strong majority believe “his own office was deeply involved in the Watergate affair,” and almost as many (51%) believe his action “has gone a long way toward restoring public confidence in the integrity of the White House.” Most are willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, believing that Democrats as well as Republicans engage in dirty politics.
May 4, 1973
President Nixon appoints General Alexander Haig to replace Haldeman as White House chief of staff.
May 18, 1973
Having begun its work a day earlier, the Senate Watergate committee now begins televised hearings. Richardson announces former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department’s special prosecutor.
June 3, 1973
The Post reports that John Dean has told investigators that he discussed the cover-up with Nixon at least 35 times.
June 13, 1973
Prosecutors find a memo to Ehrlichman containing detailed plans to burglarize the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.
June 25, 1973
Dean testifies before the Senate Watergate committee claiming Nixon was involved in the cover-up soon after the break-in and that the White House had conducted political espionage for years.
July 7, 1973
Claiming executive privilege, Nixon refuses to grant the Senate Watergate committee access to presidential documents. He informs Senator Ervin that he will not testify before the committee.
July 16, 1973
Alexander Butterfield, a former aide to the president and one of the few who knew about Nixon's tape recorders, testifies before the Senate committee and says that “there is tape in the Oval Office.” In doing so, he supposed he was confirming what Haldeman had already told the committee. This sets off a legal battle between the White House, special prosecutor’s office, Judge Sirica, and the Watergate committee.
July 18, 1973
Nixon orders an end to secret taping.
Battle for the tapes
July 22, 1973
A Louis Harris poll shows 44 percent of participants agreeing that Nixon should resign if it can be proven he ordered a cover-up, with 70 percent rating his handling of the matter as “only fair or poor.” An even 50 percent believe Dean’s charges against the president but split 38 percent to 37 percent over whom they would believe if Nixon denied those charges.
July 23, 1973
The Watergate committee and special prosecutor Cox demand Nixon surrender certain tapes and documents.
July 25, 1973
Nixon refuses to surrender the tapes, claiming executive privilege.
July 26, 1973
The Senate committee subpoenas White House tapes.
August 9, 1973
Nixon refuses to comply and the Senate committee takes legal action.
August 15, 1973
Nixon addresses the nation for a second time concerning Watergate. He explains his claim of executive privilege and why the tapes should not be turned over to the committee. The special prosecutor and the Senate committee ask the Supreme Court to decide the issue.
August 29, 1973
Nixon loses his first court battle when Judge Sirica orders him to hand over nine tapes for private review.
October 10, 1973
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns amidst allegations of bribery.
October 12, 1973
Nixon nominates Congressman Gerald R. Ford (R-MI) as vice president. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholds Sirica’s order.
October 19, 1973
Offering a compromise to the Senate Watergate Committee, Nixon proposes that Senator Stennis (D MS) prepare summaries of the subpoenaed tapes.
October 20, 1973
Cox declines this compromise offered by the White House, and is asked by Nixon to resign. Cox refuses. Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns. Nixon orders Richardson 's assistant, William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox. He, too, refuses and resigns. Nixon orders his solicitor general, Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork does so. The press dubs this extraordinary series of events the "Saturday Night Massacre."
October 22, 1973
Many members of the House of Representatives begin drafting resolutions calling for the impeachment of the president.
October 23, 1973
Feeling the heat, Nixon agrees to surrender some tapes.
November 1, 1973
The Justice Department appoints Leon Jaworski its new special prosecutor.
November 16, 1973
In a Louis Harris poll, 83 percent of respondents have a negative impression of how Nixon has handled the Watergate case. Fifty-nine percent believe he should resign if proven he knew about a cover-up of Watergate. Sixty-five percent agree he should be impeached if the tapes reveal his involvement in Watergate.
November 17, 1973
At a press conference, Nixon urges the nation to move beyond Watergate and defends himself, arguing “I’m not a crook.”
November 21, 1973
The White House reports that two of the subpoenaed tapes are missing and one contains an erased gap of 18 ½ minutes. Nixon’s secretary, Rose Mary Woods, cannot account for what experts conclude are multiple erasures covering that span. Suspicions surface that evidence is being destroyed.
Trials and Tribulations
February 6, 1974
The House votes to authorize the Judiciary Committee to investigate grounds for impeaching the president.
March 1, 1974
Seven of Nixon’s former staff are indicted by a grand jury for Watergate-related crimes. Nixon is named an “unindicted co-conspirator” by the grand jury.
April 16, 1974
Jaworski subpoenas sixty-four additional tapes.
April 20, 1974
Given what the public knows about Watergate, a Louis Harris poll reveals that 49% believe Nixon should not resign, yet 51% believe he “will be found to have violated the law….” Most believe the president is using executive privilege as an excuse to keep incriminating evidence from Congress.
April 30, 1974
Nixon ignores the subpoena and instead provides edited transcripts, announcing his intention to release a total of 1,200 such pages. The House Judiciary Committee insists on hearing the tapes. The public is shocked by the language in the transcripts, its coarser adjectives masked by the repeated phrase “expletive deleted.”
The Aftermath
May 9, 1974
The House Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings.
July 24, 1974
The United States v. Richard Nixon: The Supreme Court decides 8-0 that the president must surrender the subpoenaed tapes, denying his claim of executive privilege.
July 27-30, 1974
The House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment against the president:
Nixon releases transcripts of three conversations between himself and Haldeman held on June 23, 1972, six days after the Watergate break-in. These transcripts become known as the “smoking gun.” They show that Nixon obstructed justice by ordering the FBI to stop its investigation of the break-in. Other transcripts show he directed a cover-up. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who voted against impeachment announce they will change their vote.
August 7, 1974
Senators Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott and Representative John Rhodes meet with Nixon and advise him that his prospects on Capitol Hill regarding impeachment look “very bad.”
August 8, 1974
President Nixon announces to the nation in a televised address that he will “resign the Presidency, effective at noon tomorrow.”
August 9, 1974
Nixon delivers a farewell speech to his staff, assembled in the East Room of the White House and departs from the South Lawn by helicopter. At noon, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger swears in Vice President Ford as President in an East Room ceremony.
August 19, 1974
A Gallup poll shows 56% of those surveyed believe Nixon “should be tried for possible criminal charges arising from Watergate.”
September 8, 1974
In a surprise Sunday morning announcement, President Ford grants a “full free and absolute” pardon to Nixon for “all offenses against the United States” committed between January 20, 1969 and August 9, 1974.
- House and Senate Open Meeting Rules (1973 and 1975) opened all congressional committee meetings to the public
- Federal Campaign Act Amendments (1974 and later) established limitations on campaign contributions which was a financing system for presidential elections.
- FBI Domestic Security Investigation Guidelines (1976 and later) restricted political intelligence-gathering activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977) prohibited American companies from bribing foreign officials, politicians, or political parties.
- Congressional Ethics Code (1977 and later) set standards of conduct and limited congressional outside earned income, honoraria fees, and gifts, and led to the formation of the House and Senate Ethics committees.
- Special Prosecutor Provision of the Ethics in Government Act (1978 and later) established a mechanism for appointing independent counsel to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing by high government officials.
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978) regulated electronic surveillance conducted within the United States for foreign intelligence purposes.
- Intelligence Authorization Act (1980) required the Executed Branch to keep the House and Senate Intelligence Committees "fully and currently informed" of all U.S. intelligence activities.
Senate Hearings
February 7, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities is established. Senator Sam Ervin (D-NC) is its chairman.
March 21, 1973
John Dean tells President Nixon, “We have a cancer – within – close to the Presidency, that’s growing.” He tells the president that the burglars are demanding money and that maybe one million dollars would be needed in the end. “We could get that…,” the president replies.
March 23, 1973
Prior to Judge John Sirica imposing sentences on the convicted burglars, James McCord writes a letter to the judge claiming pressure had been applied to the defendants to ensure silence. Perjury was committed in the courtroom. Sirica makes the letter public and imposes harsh sentences, ranging from twenty to forty years, to force the defendants’ cooperation.
April 6, 1973
John Dean begins cooperating with Watergate prosecutors.
April 17, 1973
White House staff will appear before the Senate committee, says Nixon, who promises major new developments. An official White House statement claims Nixon had no prior knowledge of the break-in.
April 22, 1973
Nixon sends Dean to Camp David to write a report about Watergate.
April 30, 1973
Appearing on national television, Nixon announces the dismissal of Dean and the resignations of his closest advisors, Haldeman and Ehrlichman. Attorney General Kleindienst also resigns. Elliot Richardson is appointed to replace him.
May 3, 1973
According to a Louis Harris poll following the resignations of his key assistants, 54% believes the president’s credibility has suffered, rendering him less effective, yet only 42% agree that he “does not inspire confidence personally….” A strong majority believe “his own office was deeply involved in the Watergate affair,” and almost as many (51%) believe his action “has gone a long way toward restoring public confidence in the integrity of the White House.” Most are willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, believing that Democrats as well as Republicans engage in dirty politics.
May 4, 1973
President Nixon appoints General Alexander Haig to replace Haldeman as White House chief of staff.
May 18, 1973
Having begun its work a day earlier, the Senate Watergate committee now begins televised hearings. Richardson announces former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department’s special prosecutor.
June 3, 1973
The Post reports that John Dean has told investigators that he discussed the cover-up with Nixon at least 35 times.
June 13, 1973
Prosecutors find a memo to Ehrlichman containing detailed plans to burglarize the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.
June 25, 1973
Dean testifies before the Senate Watergate committee claiming Nixon was involved in the cover-up soon after the break-in and that the White House had conducted political espionage for years.
July 7, 1973
Claiming executive privilege, Nixon refuses to grant the Senate Watergate committee access to presidential documents. He informs Senator Ervin that he will not testify before the committee.
July 16, 1973
Alexander Butterfield, a former aide to the president and one of the few who knew about Nixon's tape recorders, testifies before the Senate committee and says that “there is tape in the Oval Office.” In doing so, he supposed he was confirming what Haldeman had already told the committee. This sets off a legal battle between the White House, special prosecutor’s office, Judge Sirica, and the Watergate committee.
July 18, 1973
Nixon orders an end to secret taping.
Battle for the tapes
July 22, 1973
A Louis Harris poll shows 44 percent of participants agreeing that Nixon should resign if it can be proven he ordered a cover-up, with 70 percent rating his handling of the matter as “only fair or poor.” An even 50 percent believe Dean’s charges against the president but split 38 percent to 37 percent over whom they would believe if Nixon denied those charges.
July 23, 1973
The Watergate committee and special prosecutor Cox demand Nixon surrender certain tapes and documents.
July 25, 1973
Nixon refuses to surrender the tapes, claiming executive privilege.
July 26, 1973
The Senate committee subpoenas White House tapes.
August 9, 1973
Nixon refuses to comply and the Senate committee takes legal action.
August 15, 1973
Nixon addresses the nation for a second time concerning Watergate. He explains his claim of executive privilege and why the tapes should not be turned over to the committee. The special prosecutor and the Senate committee ask the Supreme Court to decide the issue.
August 29, 1973
Nixon loses his first court battle when Judge Sirica orders him to hand over nine tapes for private review.
October 10, 1973
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns amidst allegations of bribery.
October 12, 1973
Nixon nominates Congressman Gerald R. Ford (R-MI) as vice president. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholds Sirica’s order.
October 19, 1973
Offering a compromise to the Senate Watergate Committee, Nixon proposes that Senator Stennis (D MS) prepare summaries of the subpoenaed tapes.
October 20, 1973
Cox declines this compromise offered by the White House, and is asked by Nixon to resign. Cox refuses. Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns. Nixon orders Richardson 's assistant, William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox. He, too, refuses and resigns. Nixon orders his solicitor general, Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork does so. The press dubs this extraordinary series of events the "Saturday Night Massacre."
October 22, 1973
Many members of the House of Representatives begin drafting resolutions calling for the impeachment of the president.
October 23, 1973
Feeling the heat, Nixon agrees to surrender some tapes.
November 1, 1973
The Justice Department appoints Leon Jaworski its new special prosecutor.
November 16, 1973
In a Louis Harris poll, 83 percent of respondents have a negative impression of how Nixon has handled the Watergate case. Fifty-nine percent believe he should resign if proven he knew about a cover-up of Watergate. Sixty-five percent agree he should be impeached if the tapes reveal his involvement in Watergate.
November 17, 1973
At a press conference, Nixon urges the nation to move beyond Watergate and defends himself, arguing “I’m not a crook.”
November 21, 1973
The White House reports that two of the subpoenaed tapes are missing and one contains an erased gap of 18 ½ minutes. Nixon’s secretary, Rose Mary Woods, cannot account for what experts conclude are multiple erasures covering that span. Suspicions surface that evidence is being destroyed.
Trials and Tribulations
February 6, 1974
The House votes to authorize the Judiciary Committee to investigate grounds for impeaching the president.
March 1, 1974
Seven of Nixon’s former staff are indicted by a grand jury for Watergate-related crimes. Nixon is named an “unindicted co-conspirator” by the grand jury.
April 16, 1974
Jaworski subpoenas sixty-four additional tapes.
April 20, 1974
Given what the public knows about Watergate, a Louis Harris poll reveals that 49% believe Nixon should not resign, yet 51% believe he “will be found to have violated the law….” Most believe the president is using executive privilege as an excuse to keep incriminating evidence from Congress.
April 30, 1974
Nixon ignores the subpoena and instead provides edited transcripts, announcing his intention to release a total of 1,200 such pages. The House Judiciary Committee insists on hearing the tapes. The public is shocked by the language in the transcripts, its coarser adjectives masked by the repeated phrase “expletive deleted.”
The Aftermath
May 9, 1974
The House Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings.
July 24, 1974
The United States v. Richard Nixon: The Supreme Court decides 8-0 that the president must surrender the subpoenaed tapes, denying his claim of executive privilege.
July 27-30, 1974
The House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment against the president:
- Obstructing the Watergate investigation
- Misuse of power and violating his oath of office
- Failure to comply with House subpoenas
Nixon releases transcripts of three conversations between himself and Haldeman held on June 23, 1972, six days after the Watergate break-in. These transcripts become known as the “smoking gun.” They show that Nixon obstructed justice by ordering the FBI to stop its investigation of the break-in. Other transcripts show he directed a cover-up. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who voted against impeachment announce they will change their vote.
August 7, 1974
Senators Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott and Representative John Rhodes meet with Nixon and advise him that his prospects on Capitol Hill regarding impeachment look “very bad.”
August 8, 1974
President Nixon announces to the nation in a televised address that he will “resign the Presidency, effective at noon tomorrow.”
August 9, 1974
Nixon delivers a farewell speech to his staff, assembled in the East Room of the White House and departs from the South Lawn by helicopter. At noon, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger swears in Vice President Ford as President in an East Room ceremony.
August 19, 1974
A Gallup poll shows 56% of those surveyed believe Nixon “should be tried for possible criminal charges arising from Watergate.”
September 8, 1974
In a surprise Sunday morning announcement, President Ford grants a “full free and absolute” pardon to Nixon for “all offenses against the United States” committed between January 20, 1969 and August 9, 1974.
References
- Schudson, Michael. "Notes on Scandal and the Watergate Legacy." Pro Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
- "The Watergate Files - The Watergate Trial: May 1972 - June 1973 - Overview." The Watergate Files - The Watergate Trial: May 1972 - June 1973 - Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
- "Watergate's effects." Watergate's effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014.
- Perry, James. "Watergate Case Study." Watergate Case Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
- "What you don't know, can't hurt you."." Democracyworks. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
- Rudalevige, Andrew. "The World After Watergate." The new imperial presidency renewing presidential power after Watergate. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2006. 101-138. Print.