Watergate:

The Scandal That Shocked A Nation

 

President Nixon

  The Watergate Scandal began with the arrest of five burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office building on June 17, 1972. It ended with the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. This became one of the biggest political scandals in American history. As quoted by Mr.Ervin,"...it increased the credibility gap, where the American public began to distrust the government."

The burglary was discovered by by the security guard, Frank Wills at around 1:47 a.m. on the morning of June 17, 1972. Mr. Ervin explained how Wills noticed a piece of tape on the door to Democratic Headquarters. Wills removed the tape, only later to find another in the exact same spot. It was from there that he called the police.

  The full affect of this crime did not hit the American public until the summer of 1973. For about the period of one year, Ervin explained that this story rode the back pages of various popular newspapers. Also, that Nixon fired the special investigator, Archibald Cox and before that, the attorney general, Eliot Rich. This made Nixon look more guilty.

As we all know from history, the man responsible for linking the burglary with Nixon was a person known as 'Deep Throat'. He gave this information to the Washington Post. Ervin told how many people were have been thought to have been 'Deep Throat". He also shared his desire to know who that person was.

 

The public expresses its opinions about the Watergate incident.

 

John Dean at the Watergate Hearings

  In the summer of 1973, the Congress started its investigations of the crime. The investigation was headed by a man named Sam Ervin. It was in these hearings that they first uncovered that there might be tape recordings that might show whether Nixon had been lying or not. The tapes were never found as Ervin explained.

On August 9, 1974, under the threat of impeachment, Richard M. Nixon became the first U.S. chief executive to resign.

 NOVEMBER 5, 1968 Nixon defeats Hubert Humphrey to win the presidency with 43.4% of the popular vote  FEBRUARY 7,1973 The Senate votes 70-0 to establish a select committee to
investigate Watergate		  JULY 25, 1973 Nixon, citing executive privilege, refuses to turn over subpoenaed tapes
 JANUARY 20, 1969 Nixon inaugurated as the 37th President  APRIL 30, 1973 Nixon announces the resignations of Haldeman, John
Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, and Dean's dismissal		  APRIL 30, 1974 Nixon releases 1,254 pages of edited transcripts of White
House tapes, although he still refuses to release the actual tapes
 JUNE 17, 1972 Five men are arrested after breaking in to the DNC national headquarters in the Watergate office building  MAY 17, 1973 The Senate Watergate Committee, chaired by North Carolina Democrat Sam Ervin, begins its nationally
televised hearings		  JULY 24, 1974 The U.S. Supreme Court rules 8-0 that Nixon must turn over the 64 subpoenaed tapes to the Special Prosecutor
 JUNE 20, 1972 The President and his advisor H.R. Haldeman discuss the arrests. A portion of this conversation was obliterated on the White House tapes by an 18-and-a-half minute gap  MAY 18, 1973 Archibald Cox named Special Prosecutor  JULY 27-30, 1974 The House Judiciary Committee passes three articles of
impeachment against the President, charging him with obstruction of justice in attempting to cover-up Watergate
 NOVEMBER 7, 1972 Nixon and Vice-President Agnew are reelected over George McGovern, garnering 60.8% of the popular vote  JUNE 25-29, 1973 Dean testifies before the Senate Committee, implicating the President  AUGUST 9, 1974 President Richard Nixon becomes the first president in U.S.
history to resign from office. Gerald R. Ford becomes President

 

JANUARY 8-30,1973 Trial of the 7 men indicted for the Watergate burglary. All enter guilty pleas except for Liddy and head burglar James McCord, both of whom are convicted

 JULY 16, 1973 Testifying before the Watergate Committee, White House
aide Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a taping system in the White House		  

Links 

The Watergate Decade

Watergate Articles

An Essay on Watergate

National Archives and Records Administration

 

Nixon giving his resignation speech.

 

I would like to thank Mr. Ervin, the Latitudinarian, for his participation in this project.

 

 Site Created By: L.M.Kenyon