ipl-logo

Richard Nixon And The 1972 Watergate Scandal

1068 Words5 Pages

June 17, 1972. Five men were caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel and into the Democratic National Committee . These five men were caught, tried, and questioned in court. What the courtroom heard shocked all of America, and the shock is still felt today. The shocking event these five men were a part of was the great Watergate Scandal of 1972. From the five burglars all the way up the political “food chain” to Richard Nixon, there were many people involved in one of the biggest scandals in U.S. history. The major fact that stunned a large number of Americans was not that many of the people in Congress were a part of the scandal, but that their own president orchestrated the whole thing. These actions, and the sly sneaking around of the government, …show more content…

The first event of the Watergate scandal took place in June 1971. In an attempt to plug security leaks, Nixon creates a Special Investigations Unit called “The Plumbers”. Whether Nixon knew what his men were planning on the night of June 15, 1972, is up for debate, but it was highly controversial. The five burglars on the night of June 15th broke into the Watergate Hotel for a second time. They had previously broken into the hotel to bug the Democratic National Committee office, but one of the wiretaps in the phone was faulty and required the “Plumbers” to replace …show more content…

The burglary was just the tip of the iceberg, merely a cover-up. In the following months after the arrest of the “Plumbers”, Hunt and Liddy, a half-hearted investigation takes place concerning this incident in September of ’72. On November 7, 1972, Richard Nixon wins the Presidential election, while the nation was still oblivious to the fact that the election was rigged due to the events deep under the iceberg of the Watergate scandal. The scandal began to escalate on June 26 when John Dean, the former presidential counsel who was very closely intertwined in the White House, read his report out loud. Dean’s testimony was highly anticipated and as he read it out loud for seven hours straight, it was revealed that Nixon was indeed personally active in working to try and cover up the Watergate scandal. Proving that the President of the United States was directly connected to the burglary of the Democratic National Committee was a shock to all of America as a

Show More
Related

  • How Did Gordon Liddy's Break-In?

    305 Words  | 2 Pages

    I apologize for their actions and they will be dealt with.” Instead, he and the rest of his administration decided to cover- up and deny having any relationship with the break-in at Watergate. “The initial reaction of the White House and Creep to the Watergate break-in, from Nixon to John Mitchell down through the organizational structure, launched the administration on a course to commit additional crimes to hide CREEP’s involvement.”

    Read More

  • How Is Albert Fall Related To The Teapot Dome Scandal

    685 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crimes and scandal were rampant in the 1900’s especially in the 1920’s with gangs and prohibition. What made Albert Fall special was not that he was the ringleader of a scandal but that he was a cabinet member for Warren G. Harding. The Teapot dome scandal which illegally leased oil fields to private companies, was sourced in the department of the interior, which was responsible for the nation's resources. Being one of the biggest scandals of the twentieth century, this is how Albert Fall, The Navy, and aftermath of the scandal all played to the extremity of the situation. Starting his adult life as a rancher, Albert Bacon Fall spent his spare time learning politics.

    Read More

  • Saturday Night Massacre Pros And Cons

    1925 Words  | 8 Pages

    There are so many unanswered questions left-over from this scandal that it really makes it hard to say that it was resolved and even harder to decide whether or not it was resolved in a positive or negative manner. This is also not to say that there weren’t ways in which the crisis was resolved in positive ways. The more positive ways that this predicament was resolved in are still able to be seen today as after all of this happened Congress passed various laws in regards to government ethics, campaign financing, and freedom of information. Although there were many, many

    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

  • 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

  • The Nixon Resignation: The Watergate Scandal

    998 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone knew it was best in several ways. Even Nixon himself knew and some say he fulfilled his duties to his country by resigning. On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested while breaking into and wiretapping the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C., which was illegal. Back in May, the burglars had broken in to bug the office’s phones and steal copies of top-secret documents (Watergate Scandal, History).

    Read More

  • Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal Essay

    463 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Watergate scandal was one of the most infamous political controversies in American history during the early 1970s. It uncovered a web of lies created by former president Richard Nixon. The Watergate Scandal affected the trust of US citizens to the government by spreading false information, obstruction of justice, and deceiving politicians to cover up his tracks. President Nixon has instilled a distrust between the people and the government that will leave its mark for years. During the 1968 election, President Nixon had won by a landslide vote against the democrats.

    Read More

  • How Did The Watergate Scandal Of 1972

    1708 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Watergate Scandal of 1972 is considered to be particularly significant in the history of America; it encompassed an array of illegal activities including the bugging of offices, break-ins, cover-ups and a serious abuse of presidential power, all of which led to the first and last resignation of a U.S president. Although Watergate is typically remembered as a political scandal, it was also a defining event for the media, and more importantly in this case, the relationship between president Nixon and the media. It is important to recognise that the hostility between Nixon and 'the press' had existed for almost a decade before the emergence of the Watergate scandal in 1972, therefore this essay will focus on Watergate as the pinnacle of a

    Read More

  • White House Plumbers Essay

    1479 Words  | 6 Pages

    The scandal led to the formation of stronger laws and protections against presidential abuse of power and .further exposed the corruption and abuse of power within the federal government. The legacy of the Plumbers serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency and accountability in government, as well as the dangers of unchecked power and secrecy. Their actions emphasize the need for ethical conduct within political institutions. The lessons learned from the White House Plumbers continue to shape and inform political discourse and policy decisions in America to this day including the importance of transparency, accountability, and respect for the rule of law in

    Read More

  • The Iran-Contra Affair: A Political Scandal In The Late 1980s

    1383 Words  | 6 Pages

    Congress launched several investigations into the affair, as did an independent counsel appointed by a special court. The investigations revealed that the affair involved a web of lies, cover-ups, illegal activities, and constitutional violations by various members of the Reagan administration. They also exposed the flaws and loopholes in the system of checks and balances that was supposed to prevent such abuses of power. The investigations resulted in several indictments and convictions of some of the key players in the affair, such as North, Poindexter, Secord, Hakim, and others.

    Read More

  • Corruption Of President Nixon Essay

    1496 Words  | 6 Pages

    “I am not a crook.” As President Nixon claimed after the Watergate scandal. That caused his downfall. The Watergate scandal on June 17, 1972, after burglars were arrested trying to break into the DNC. Due to his reckless responses to Watergate, President Nixon should have been impeached by Congress.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Long Term Effects Of Watergate

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nixon was accused of sending five men from his presidential campaign to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in order to avoid impeachment. Once the Watergate incident was resolved, it had significant long-term and short-term consequences that altered American history. President Nixon's actions altered voters' perceptions of American authorities, which harmed succeeding presidents and undermined public trust in the government. The Watergate incident demonstrates how corrupt the American government was and how far politicians were ready to go to avoid accountability. Since the Watergate crisis weakened the American political system, many Americans thought that certain reforms were required to avoid another scandal.

    Read More

  • Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal

    933 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Watergate Scandal and Impeachment of Richard Nixon Scandals throughout history have had an increased effect on our society. Thousands of people have been caught in their own. Scandals can most accurately be described as a situation or issue that causes great public outrage or interest. It is mostly that of one that is illegal or wrong by moral standards. One of the most well known scandals, is the Watergate scandal, which affected dozens of Americans.

    Read More

  • Effects Of The Watergate Scandal

    697 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Watergate Scandal began on June 17th, 1972, early in the morning. It stemmed from the Nixon administration’s persistent attempts to cover up its involvement in the break in of the Democratic National Committee Watergate headquarters. When Nixon was running for president, the United States was still involved in the Vietnam War, and the country was deeply divided. The Watergate Scandal didn’t help gain the nations’ trust, but it actually lowered it because of the abuse of power from the person that they should have trusted the most, the president of the United States of America: Richard Nixon. In the morning on June 17th, several burglars were arrested, which later came out that these break-ins were connected to President Richard Nixon’s

    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 Richard Nixon And The 1972 Watergate Scandal

Open Document