The Pros And Cons Of Watergate

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Famously known as Watergate, President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign brought in $20 million in secret donations. Nixon told his chief of staff to inform donors, “Anybody who wants to be an ambassador must at least give $250,000”. As a result, the Federal Election Commission was set up, and Congress imposed new limits on campaign gifts as a result.

The Federal Election Campaign Act, despite being backed by 75 percent of House Republicans, and 41 percent of Senate Republicans, caused immense controversy in Washington. Senator James Buckley sued the secretary of the senate Frances Valeo on the Constitutionality of FECA. In the end, the court upheld the law's contribution limits, presidential public financing program, and disclosure provisions. But they removed limits on spending, including independent expenditures, which is money spent by individuals or outside groups independent of campaigns. This shaped most major campaign financing rulings, including Citizen’s United.

NCPAC generated enormous fundraising for campaigns, including spending $1.2 million in the 1980 electi...

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