Citation
Brinkley, Alan. "Where Historians Disagree." Where Historians Disagree. Mcgraw-Hill, 2007. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. Smoller, Fred. "Watergate Revisited." Cambridge Journals Online. Cambridge Journals, Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. “Watergate.” 18 Apr. 2014 Watergate.info. "Brief Timeline of Events." Watergate.info. Watergate.info, 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. |
Overview of WatergateAugust 8th, 1974
Breaking news tonight, we have just found out that President Nixon has resigned. Facing certain impeachment by congress, he has decided instead to step down. Local reporerts caught sight of the president leaving the white house, his only comment was “I have committed no crime.” Let us recap the events of the past couple years that have led to this resignation. Two long years ago on June 17th, we received news that five men had been arrested while trying to plant bugs in the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex. As investigation continued it was found out that a $25,000 cashier’s check from the Nixon campaign had been deposited in one of the Watergate burglar’s account. This started the FBI’s investigation into Nixon’s ties with the massive political spying and sabotage being done in efforts to re-elect Nixon, although at first, the president was not in question. On January 20th 1973, Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr are convicted for the Watergate incident under conspiracy, burglary and wire-tapping charges and five additional men related to the scandal also plead guilty. A few months later, some of Nixon’s closest associates in the white house staff resign, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst. On May 18th, the world watched as the televised hearings for the Watergate case played out. Then the bomb drops as Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals under oath that Nixon has a private recording system for all conversations and telephone calls in his office and the fight for the alleged tapes begins. October 20th, 1973 became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” as Nixon, under threat of impeachment by congress fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor while Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign instead of taking orders from Nixon which went against their conscience. On November 7th, the iconic term “I am not a crook” is coined as Nixon continues to defend his innocence in the Watergate trial. Even after the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to turn over the tapes earlier this year, Nixon claimed presidential privilege and therefore was charged with obstruction of Justice, one of the first three articles needed for impeachment. This lead to the President stepping down (the first president to ever resign) to avoid being impeached. This furthered the distrust American citizens have in the governement. Starting with Vietnam, the governement has been under question, especailly after the release of the Pentagon Papers which disclosed the details of the Vietnam war, that had been unknown to most Americans before, about the real reasons we went into war with Vietnam. That distrust has continued today as we learn about governemnt surveillance. |