“Journal”

“This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest.” –Richard Nixon (Resignation Speech)

What are some past events that affected the national interest? What was the affect on American citizens? How did the events affect their view of government?

BY: SCHUYLER GREEN, SARAH HIGLEY, CHRIS LIEB, AND MICHELLE MAZICK

The Watergate Scandal

CREEP

Committee for the Re-election of the President

Authorized a series of illegal activities during the election of 1972 to re-elect Nixon

To gain leverage or anything they could use to get a step ahead in the election

Sent burglars into the Democratic headquarters four times To gain information on the

Democratic party’s campaign strategies

Wondered if the Democratic party had any knowledge on the illegal campaign contributions made to the Republican party

The Watergate Break in

June 17, 1972- Five men arrested at 2:30am for the break in of the Watergate complex where the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters was based Caught with cameras and

electronic eavesdropping devices

The identities of the burglars made the incident more serious 4 were active in CIA activities

against Castro and the 5th was James McCord, the security chief of CREEP

Two accomplices were later named E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA

officer and White House staff member, and G. Gordon Liddy, a former FBI agent

The Reason for the Break In

At about 1 a.m. a security guard along with multiple police had discovered 5 men looking at files.

The contents of these files and folders on Daniel Ellsberg from a psychiatrists office.

Daniel Ellsberg was the military analyst who had leaked the Pentagon Papers.

The hope was to find any kind of “dirt” to discredit him and his voice from being heard during the re-election of President Nixon.

Other offices were broken into, but Ellsberg’s was the most noticeable.

The Cover Up

White House immediately claimed no involvement of the Nixon Administration

CREEP destroyed evidence of the break ins; transcripts of wiretaps, burglary equipment

June 23, 1972- Nixon ordered a block of an FBI investigation of the White House’s involvement Claimed it would endanger national security Nixon’s phone call documenting this order would

later be called the “smoking gun” when released because it provided evidence that the president had been part of the scandal all along.

Meanwhile, Washington Post writers, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were given tapes from a disguised source known as “Deep Throat” who was later revealed as FBI deputy director, W. Mark Felt, Sr. Using the evidence, they published articles

pointing to Nixon’s involvement, financial funding through campaign contributions, and the strategic basis of the break in to Nixon’s campaign

White House insisted that the accusations from Bernstein and Woodward were false, from a single “liberal” newspaper

Nixon won the 1972 election in a landslide.

Chapstick containers with hidden microphones.

The Trial

The trial of 5 burglars and 2 accomplices began about two weeks before Nixon’s inauguration

Judge John Sirica sentenced the burglars on March 23, 1973

John McCord, a defendant, charged the White House with trying to cover-up its connection to the break in, including pressuring defendants to lie His testimony resulted in

months of exposure of White House and campaign officials questionable actions and their legality

Resignations

April 1973- H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, Nixon’s tops aides resigned Nixon announced that the White House would conduct

an investigation on the matterVP Spiro Agnew resigned as a result of his

own scandal. He was replaced by Gerald Ford.

Senate Select Committee on Presidential Activities

Appointed by the Senate to investigate the Watergate Scandal and the 1972 election

Began the televised hearings in May 1973

Democratic Senator, Sam Ervin, was the chair

Cover up continued The exception: John Dean,

the president’s counsel, accused Nixon of involvement in the cover up The problem: there was no

other evidence except Dean’s word, thus far.

Senate Select Committee on Presidential Activities

July 16, 1973- Alexander Butterfield, former White House staff member, testified that there were secret recordings of all presidential conversations from with in his four offices, including the oval office

Nixon was asked to hand over the tapes but refused saying that it would compromise his “executive privilege” of confidentiality of conversations

“Saturday Night Massacre”

October 20, 1973 Justice Department’s special

prosecutor Archibald Cox went to court to force Nixon to hand over the evidence

Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox Richardson refused and

resigned in protest The Deputy Attorney General

also refused and was dismissed before he could resign

Robert Bork, Justice Department official, fired Cox eventually

Effects of the “Saturday Night Massacre”

Resulted in a huge protest of eventsTelegrams bombarded the White House in protestSpeaker Carl Albert called the House of

Representatives to order the following Tuesday Many introduced resolutions of impeachment of

the presidentDecember 8, 1973: 7 of the 9 tapes were released

Confusion erupted because one of the tapes had a huge gap

Impeachment

President/Vice President/Official can be impeached for treason, bribery, misdemeanors, etc.

Majority vote in House of Representatives needed to impeach

Senate holds the trial with two-thirds present

If convicted, must leave office and cannot hold any other form of office

Party cannot be held responsible

Impeachment of Nixon

May 9, 1974 – House began talks of impeachment

Pushed Nixon to release the other tapes

Grounds for impeachment:

Obstruction of justice Misuse of power Failure to cooperate

with House

The Tapes and Resignation

August 5 – Nixon releases tapes

Recorded 6 days after break in

Revealed Nixon stopping FBI investigation

Impeachment and outcome is certain

August 8 – Nixon broadcasts his resignation.

Resigned August 9 at 11:58 AM

The Effects

Gerald Ford sworn into office

Dealing with new challenges as president, Ford pardons Nixon

So controversial that it might have cost him the 1976 election

The Effects (Cont’d)

People lost faith in politicians which is still around today

Federal Campaign Act Amendments – created an agency to enforce limits for presidential campaign contributions and financing and election laws.

Freedom of Intelligence Act Amendments – increased public access to government documents

Intelligence Authorization Act – House and Senate must be informed on US activities

Assessment

1. What measures were taken to cover up the Government's involvement?

2. Was the government initially successful in covering up their involvement in the Watergate Scandal? If so, how is this evident?

3. What was known as the "smoking gun"?

4. What are some of the grounds for impeachment?

5. What are some of the effects of the Watergate Scandal?