ipl-logo

Why Did The Watergate Scandal

1457 Words6 Pages

The day was June 17th, 1972. To most it was an ordinary day. U.S citizens across the country were going to work, school, etc. No one thought the day was ever going to be significant. Until they heard about the burglary. It occured at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) building located in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The burglars did not steal something small like computers but instead they stole numerous documents consisted of DNC classified information about the Committees plans for electing our next president. The burglars also wiretapped the phones so they could hear in on every conversation that occured. These burglars were not terrorists trying to get information on the U.S but they were from their own country and citizens soon found the culprits were working for President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign. But why did they do it? How did it involve Richard Nixon? What was his motive? Were the burglars ever caught? And has it ever been done again since? The Watergate Scandal affected the mental and emotional state of Richard Nixon which lead to the country having several trust issues with future …show more content…

Richard M. Nixon is the most well known culprit of the Watergate scandal. He was from the Republican political party. Biography.com states, Richard Nixon was a former aviation ground officer who grew up in a quaker home.[E: Relevant Facts] Nixon was a congressman, senator, and vice president. He ran for president once before and lost to the late John F. Kennedy. Nixon was president for four years before Watergate occurred. The scandal did not happen until his second term in office. Before Watergate, Nixon received conflict for his decision to stay in Vietnam.[E: Relevant Facts] Many citizens believed it was not our business being there but Nixon still deemed it our duty to stay. Nixon never saw conflict in the service, which is highly ironic because he caused so much in the

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The Watergate Scandal: United States Vs. Nixon

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Watergate Scandal eventually led to President Nixon’s resignation from office. Before his re-election, a group aptly coined CREEP, illegally broke into the Democratic National Committee office to steal information to use in the upcoming election. Nixon tried to cover up the incident by denying his involvement in the crime. His top aides, including his Vice President Spiro Agnew, resigned to avoid giving anything away that would connect Nixon to the Watergate Scandal. The only piece of evidence seemed to be Nixon’s recordings of all conversations had by him in the White House; however, Nixon refused to give up the tapes, claiming Executive Privilege.

    Read More

  • Saturday Night Massacre Pros And Cons

    1925 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Break-Ins And Some Of The Early Cover-Up Attempts May of 1972, the first break in at DNC’s (Democratic National Committee) Watergate headquarters occurs, as members of President Nixon’s C.R.E.E.P.(Committee to Re-Elect the President) break in stealing copies of top-secret documents and wire-tapping their phones and neither caught nor detected by guards or any other personal on duty. However, the burglars later realized that the bugs they placed in the phones were faulty so they sent a group of 5 men back that same year, on the seventeenth of June, to fix or replace them. But just as smoothly as the first break-in was the second break-in was just as much of a failure. The group was quickly spotted by one of the guards on duty that night

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Watergate Scandal

    549 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being the thirty-seventh president of the United States in 1974, President Richard Nixon was involved in a scandal known as the “Watergate Scandal”, that eventually led to the replacement of presidency from vice president at the time, Gerald Ford. Both Nixon and Ford believed Ford taking over the position of the president was the best decision as Nixon was never charged with the crimes from the “The Watergate Scandal”. Emotional responses from the people were also a key factor to accept as Ford took over the president position, and overall Nixon and Ford had to work together to figure out the prime decision regarding the nation. President Nixon was always attempting to do what is best for the nation. However, after the entire “Watergate Scandal”,

    Read More

  • Us Vs Nixon Case Study

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    He then tried paying off the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the scene. Nixon then went on to destroying evidence and firing any staff that wouldn’t cooperate with him. Nixon was accused of withholding information from other government officials. The Special Prosecutor held motion for a subpoena

    Read More

  • Explain The Key Events In The Cold War Under President Truman

    785 Words  | 4 Pages

    on June 17, 1972. The scandal made it to the top levels of American government, and the effort of Nixon to try and cover it up is what ultimately leads to Nixon's striking resignation on August 9, 1974. I thought it was very ironic that Nixon felt the need to lower himself to such performances because he won the 1972 election in one of the most overpowering mainstreams in history. It also seemed highly doubtful that anything discovered at the Watergate Hotel would have made that much of a difference anyway. With him resigning that proved off top that he was a victim the whole time.

    Read More

  • Comparing Watergate Scandals Of President Richard Nixon And President Donald Trump

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Prior to the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s tight victory in the election of 1968 made him scared that he was going to lose this election; thus, he had a great incentive to sway public opinion, and through a means of infamy and misconduct, he was successful in securing his victory in the election of 1972. In the Watergate scandal, President Nixon was investigated because the burglars whom were arrested for infiltrating the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex of buildings, were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign . The goal of the robbery was to find the “nitty gritty” to get dirt on his enemies and use it to secure a republican victory. Similarly, President Trump is getting investigated for collusion in seeking aid of Russia to influence the outcome of the election. The Intelligence Community has stated with high confidence that the Russian government has sought to influence the outcome of the U.S Presidential election favoring Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton through disinformation campaigns, breaching election data, and hacking the Democratic National Committee to access their emails and releasing them to WikiLeaks.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Richard Nixon

    302 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conclusion Sixty-nine political aides from President Nixon’s administration were charged with federal crimes such as obstruction of justice and abuse of power, just to name a few. Forty-eight of these individuals were found guilty. It was not until Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States that Richard Nixon was granted a “full, free and absolute pardon” (The Washington Post) for any and all of his crimes that violated the Constitution of America. This granted pardon was the most controversial component of the Watergate scandal.

    Read More

  • The Break-In: The Impeachment Of President Nixon

    165 Words  | 1 Pages

    On July 17, 1972, the Watergate hotel, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, was broken into by five men. After being caught, it was found that these men carried top of the line surveillance equipment. It was also found that these men had ties to the committee to re-elect Nixon as President of the United States, and this discovery eventually led to the ironic impeachment of President Nixon. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the break-in, it was Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two common reporters from the Washington Post, who cracked this case wide open. This team, nicknamed Woodstein, went above and beyond, not only covering the break in, but traced why it occurred all the way up to the white house.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast United States Vs Nixon

    826 Words  | 4 Pages

    He violated many U.S. laws and abused his presidential power. This ordeal became the greatest presidential scandal in U.S. history. It all started when President Nixon needed some extra help with his reelection campaign. He offered some of his aides a whole lot of money if they would break into the democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. Here they would plant listening devices and steal top secret documents.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Lewinsky And Bill Clinton Impeachment

    746 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each scandal was an awful decision made by both presidents for all people involved, though Nixon's Watergate scandal appeared to be filled with disappointment our country. The Watergate scandal

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Bill Clinton And Nixon

    888 Words  | 4 Pages

    These men arrested, on of them a CIA agent, had planted wiretapping devices in the Watergate building (Fienberg 27). Immediately after the breakin, Nixon's white house staff quickly shredded incriminating documents, and payed off the burglars not to give names of people (Goldman 107). Nixon, however, did not become fully involved in Watergate until the “Saturday night massacre” (Fienberg 69). Previously, before this night Nixon had already been accused of being part of the coverup as to what had been done during the breakin; However, the “Saturday night massacre” proved to be catastrophic to Nixon.

    Read More

  • Barbara Jordan We The People Speech Analysis

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    The water gates scandal is why President Nixon was being impeached but he resigned before the house voted on the Articles hence Nixon was not impeached during the

    Read More

  • Watergate Scandal In American History

    971 Words  | 4 Pages

    Just as the year was ending President Richard Nixon found himself in between a rock and hard place. All of his tricks and decoys were being soiled by the F.B.I and he was running out time before he was caught. Both citizens and congressman were growing tired of hearing the things that the president of the United States of America was being convicted for so they decided to do something about it. On February 6, 1974 the House of Representatives passed a House resolution to authorize the Judiciary Committee to consider impeachment proceedings against Nixon (Watergate.info, 1995). At this point, Richard Nixon sees the writing on the wall and he knows that if stay’s then he and his cabinet can get in some major legal

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Richard Nixon's Resignation

    669 Words  | 3 Pages

    The men arrested would not speak of who sent them there but they were later traced back to Richard Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President members. Nixon seemed to be in enough trouble, being moderately involved with this scandal, it was then known that the crooks had also been wiretapping the office and stole copies of top secret files. Although even to this day it is unknown if Nixon knew of the break-ins in the Watergate while it happened, it is fact that the President had sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush-money” to the burglars to keep it out of the public eye. Nixon and his affiliates then began attempting to create the CIA to stop any further investigations of the FBI’s on the Watergate scandal (Staff). The former president continuously denied he was involved in the scandal, until the court ordered he handed over recordings that proved he attempted to redirect the fact-finding (“Richard”).

    Read More

  • Richard Nixon's Rhetoric In The Watergate Scandal

    578 Words  | 3 Pages

    Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States; he resigned as president after his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. People broke into the Watergate building to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. Nixon knew about the break in before hand and tried to cover it up. When people found out about him trying to cover it up, he decided to resign as president. He gave his speech on August 8th 1974 and resigned on the 9th.

    Read More

More about Why Did The Watergate Scandal

Open Document