The Watergate Scandal Scandal
analytical Essay
1427 words
The name “Watergate” is a term to describe a difficult web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974. This word refers to the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. On June 17, 1972, the “Watergate Burglars” broke into the Democratic Party’s National Committee offices. A total of five burglars were apprehended and prosecuted for this crime. These five guys were Bernard L. Barker, Virgilio R. Gonzales, James W. McCord, Eugenio R. Martinez, and Frank A. Sturgis. Bernard was a realtor from Miami, Florida. He was a former Central Intelligence Agency operative which allowed him to play a major role in this heist. Virgilio was a locksmith from Miami, Florida. He was a refugee from Cuba that followed Castro’s takeover. Virgilio had no mercy since …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains the term "watergate" to describe a difficult web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974.
- Explains that five burglars were apprehended and prosecuted for this crime. bernard l. barker, virgilio r. gonzales, james w. mccord, eugen
- Explains the chronology of the scandal begins during 1972, following the break-in at the watergate hotel. nixon was re-elected in 1973, but the storm clouds were building.
- Narrates how nixon paid off the burglars to not say anything to the feds and tried to stop them from investigating the case.
- Narrates how the five burglars were caught on june 17, 1972, breaking into the dnc for the second time. a security guard spotted them and called the police.
- Explains that when the burglars were first elected they were not connected to nixon or anything with the reelection.
- Explains that nixon had arranged for hundreds of thousands of dollars to be paid to the burglars just a few days after the break-in.
- Opines that nixon was using his presidential powers wrongly and using them for wrong. if every president were to do this they would get away with a lot of stuff.
- Opines that nixon was an obstruction to justice and should have had a more serious consequence than just resigning from office.
- Narrates how a handful of people had begun to suspect there was more to this scheme than what nixon was setting it out to be.
- Explains that one of nixon's aides testified against nixon, while white house counsel john dean went before a jury to testify about his crimes. one of the conspirators came out and said that they had secretly taped every conversation with nixon in his oval office.
- Analyzes how nixon struggled to protect the tapes during the fall and summer of 1973. the senate committee, sirica, and archibald cox were determined to get them from nixon.
- Describes how nixon's cover began to fall apart in 1974, when a special prosecutor indicted seven of his aides on various charges related to the watergate affair.
- Explains how the supreme court ordered nixon to hand over the tapes. the house of representatives voted to impeach him for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and criminal cover up.
- Analyzes how gerald ford pardoned nixon for any crimes he had committed while in office. nixon's aides were convicted of serious offenses and were sent to a federal prison.
He was abusing his powers as president and using them for wrong. If every president were to do this they would get away with a lot of stuff they shouldn’t get away with. President or not, they should still be treated with equal rights as every other American citizen. Nixon was being an obstruction to justice and should have had a more serious consequence than just resigning from office. While all of this was happening several other people were indicated on charges related to the Watergate affair. Out of the seven five pleaded guilty and avoided trial. The other two waited for their trial and were then convicted in January of 1973. By this time there was a handful of people that had begun to suspect there was more to this scheme than what Nixon was setting it out to be. These handful of people that were catching onto Nixon was reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, trial judge John J. Sirica and members of a Senate investigating committee. As most convicts and conspirators do, they all crack under pressure and under the stress of being questioned. Some of the conspirators of this case ended up cracking under the pressure. They couldn’t take it anymore and they …show more content…
President Nixon’s lawyer tried arguing that he had executive privilege and that allowed him to keep the tapes to himself. This is another reflection of a president using his powers for wrong. The Senate committee, Sirica, and Archibald Cox were very determined to get these tapes from Nixon. They knew once they had these tapes they could prosecute Nixon for what he did. Cox was so determined that Nixon ended up firing him because of him constantly demanding to have the tapes. Several Justice Department officials did not approve of this and resigned in protest. These events all happened on one night, October 20, 1973, that is now familiar as the Saturday Night Massacre. After the determination from everyone Nixon became fed up and agreed to surrender some of the tapes. He surrender on some but not all the
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- History Of The Watergate Scandalexplanatory essayThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal involving President Richard Nixon hiring thieves to possibly rig the voting, in other words, cheating to win the next election. This resulted in the first ever resignation along with a lot of attention on the issue.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the watergate scandal was a political scandal involving president richard nixon hiring thieves to possibly rig the voting, in other words, cheating to win the next election.
- Explains how the nixon administration tried to hide the evidence of their connection to the crime. the scandal led to various abuses of power, as well as documents of impeachment.
- Explains that nixon had a tape recording system which recorded all phone conversations in the white house, and the supreme court ruled that he had to hand over the tapes.
- Explains that a $25,000 check for the nixon re-election campaign was found in one of the watergate burglars accounts.
- Explains that the break-in and the re-election were exposed by the media, specifically the washington post, time, and the new york times. two post reporters, bob woodward and carl bernstein, revealed information and attempted to cover up the act.
- Explains that "deep throat" was william mark felt, a former fbi deputy, who secretly met with reporters about robert hunt's participation in the watergate break-in.
- Explains that one of the five men who broke into the watergate complex had written a letter to judge john sirica explaining the illegal cover-up. time magazine had described nixon as undergoing "very little trust".
- Recounts how judge john sirica sentenced three people, two of which were buglers 40 years in prison. nixon's aide told the jury that they were unaware of the burglary.
- Explains that on february 7, 1973, the senate voted 77-0 to issue an investigation on watergate.
- Narrates how an interviewer asked a minority counsel if there were any type of recording systems in the white house. the counselor didn't want to answer, but confessed that the recording system automatically recorded everything in oval office, cabinet room, nixon's private office.
- Narrates how nixon refused to give the tapes to a televised audience on july 16, 1973.
- Explains that the supreme court ordered nixon to release the tapes to a special prosecutor in the case united states vs. nixon.
- Analyzes how nixon and dean talked about the watergate case and the cover-up. the burglars were being paid to keep quiet.
- Explains that the house of representatives passed h.res 803, allowing investigation for the impeachment of nixon on the following accounts: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress.
- Describes how the release of the "smoking gun tape" politically ruined nixon's career. the house judiciary committee supported the impeachment of nixon.
- Opines that nixon was guilty. there is a ton of evidence, including the smoking gun tape, the tape recorders, five burglars, and funding, such as the slush funds.
1187 wordsRead More - Nixon Watergate Scandalopinionated essayThe Watergate scandal was one of the worst political scandals to the nation. In the beginning of the scandal, equipment was installed to “bug” the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate assembly. There was a lot of attention on President Nixon aids John Ehrlichman and H.R Haldeman and their knowledge of the break-ins. Nixon feeling the pressure, made the two men resign. Later, he let go his White House counselor, John Dean. Dean informed the Senate of the tapping system, and agreed to testify about Nixon’s watergate role. Nixon hired Archibald Cox, special prosecutor, to investigate the Watergate to prove the White House had no involvement. Although, Cox wanted to see the tapes and documents. Nixon refused Cox’s request and told him that it was national security and his presidential privilege to refuse. However, in 1974, Supreme court ruled that Nixon in fact did not have a special privilege, and was forced to hand over all of the tapes. While this was going on, Nixon was trying to find a man to fire Cox. This was known as “The Saturday Night Massacre,” where Nixon tried to
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the watergate scandal was one of the worst political scandals to the nation. nixon hired archibald cox, special prosecutor, to investigate the watergate.
- Opines that president nixon should have been impeached for obstructing justice, misusing executive power, and disobeying subpoenas.
404 wordsRead More - Watergate Scandal Essayanalytical essayThe WaterGate Scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s. The affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex in june 1972. The FBI connected cash found on the burglars to a slush fund used by the Committee. President Nixon tried to cover up that he was involved in this. When the were able to connect this to Nixon they found out that Nixon had abused he's adminstration powers in many different ways.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the watergate scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the 1970s. the fbi connected cash found on the burglars to slush funds used by the committee.
- Explains that the purpose of the break-in has never been established, based on records from the united states liddy trail that showed that four of five burglars testified that they were told the campaign operation hoped to find evidence that linked cuban funding to democratic campaigns.
- Explains that nixon had a tape-recording system in his office and recorded many conversations with the government investigators. nixon's reaction to the break-in was skepticism.
- Analyzes how cia blocked fbi's investigation into the source of the founding for the burglary. the smoking gun tape revealed nixon, swingle and haldeman meeting in the oval office.
505 wordsRead More - President Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandalnarrative essayIn November of 1972, President Richard Nixon became president for the second time. While beginning his second term a group of burglars went into the Democratic Party's’ national headquarters which was in the Washington's Watergate complex. It is said that Nixon had given the men instruction to rob to Democratic before they became powerful. The Burglary was successful but the men left clues that made the government officials suspicions. Therefore, they began a research and investigation to find out what had happened at Watergate. After this became a big news story, Nixon, and his administration tried to cover up the burglary and everything that connected to it. In addition, while investigating several were doubting Nixon and believed he was
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how nixon and his administration tried to cover up the burglary at washington's watergate complex. nixon refused to release the tapes and abused his executive privileges.
395 wordsRead More - President Richard Nixon's Breaking Into Watergateanalytical essayChapter 16, Breaking into Watergate, in the textbook, After the Fact covers the topic that revolves around President Richard Nixon that involves recordings that occurred in his office. The However, the main focus was on Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal on June 7, 1972. An unusual group of burglars had forced their way into Democratic Party headquarters at the water gate complex in Washington D.C. In 1973, the five arrested burglars and the two former presidential aides were threatened prison of twenty to forty years due to refusing to say who had ordered the burglary. However, during the time in March 21, 1973, Dean met with the President and his aides to provide a million dollars in order to buy the Watergate burglar’s silence.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nixon's involvement in the watergate scandal led many americans to think more critically about the presidency.
336 wordsRead More - Nixon And The Watergate Scandalexplanatory essayFinally in July Nixon was ordered by the Supreme Court to overturn the remaining tapes. While Nixon procrastinated on doing so the House of Representatives voted to impeach president Nixon for many violations to the constitution, abuse of presidential power, criminal cover-up, and obstruction of justice. Then on August 5th Nixon had finally surrendered the tapes providing the obvious proof of his affiliation in the Watergate scandal. However before facing impeachment by the Senate Nixon instead resigned on August 8th.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that nixon was ordered by the supreme court to overturn the remaining tapes. while nixon procrastinated on doing so, the house of representatives voted to impeach nixon for violations to the constitution, abuse of presidential power, criminal cover-up, and obstruction of justice.
80 wordsRead More - How Did The Watergate Scandalopinionated essayThe 1970s was a time of flourishing entertainment, space travel, and politics. However, whenever people think about this decade, they think of the falling out of President Richard Nixon’s presidency. This was the event of the decade. There has never been a president to resign while in office up to this point, so this was unheard of. When the media caught wind of the President’s name being mentioned in a scandal that was nationally known as the Watergate Scandal, it made headlines on every major newspaper in the country.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the 1970s was a time of flourishing entertainment, space travel, and politics, but the fallout of president richard nixon's presidency was the event of the decade.
- Explains that most headlines didn't question why five burglars broke into the watergate hotel and tried bugging telephone lines. richard nixon won the 1972 presidential election by an overwhelming total of five hundred and twenty electoral votes.
- Explains that nixon was the popular vote in the country and most people fell in love with him during his second term, but speculations began to arise that he was involved in watergate scandal.
- Analyzes how nixon is doing everything in his power to cover his tracks so word doesn't get out that he is guilty of formulating plans for the watergate scandal.
- Opines that nixon was not the only man that was guilty of the watergate scandal.
- Explains that watergate affected america in numerous ways, including a bad name for presidents and richard nixon.
576 wordsRead More - Richard Nixon Watergate Scandalanalytical essayOne of the alarming times in American history came directly after August 9, 1974 when President Richard Nixon was forced to resign by the United States Congress. Nixon had been convicted for secretly recording every conversation he ever had in the White House, whether in person or on the telephone, and for the discovery of his involvement behind the Watergate complex break-in. Although considered a victory for the Constitutional government of the United States, Richard Nixon’s resignation for the crimes of the Watergate Scandal of 1972 brought an inadvertent consequence for the American people of a growing lack of faith and cynicism for the government and the office of the president.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that nixon's resignation for the crimes of the watergate scandal of 1972 brought an inadvertent consequence for american people of a growing lack of faith and cynicism.
- Analyzes how the fbi and senate investigated the watergate hotel break-in, which was to sabotage the democratic national headquarters convention. nixon and his administration were involved in many controversial episodes that went unnoticed.
- Analyzes how congress and the supreme court had vital decisions to make after the fbi found out that nixon and others were behind the watergate scandal.
- Analyzes how nixon's resignation caused american citizens to question the trustworthiness of the government.
- Explains that the american people's confidence in the government was shaky but it was completely gone for the white house. day revealed that even though there was corruption in executive office before watergate nixon made it clear that not every situation in washington was being handled correctly
- Explains that ronald reagan gave the people hope for trusting the government again after the watergate scandal and the terrorist attack at the world trade towers in 2001.
- Opines that the negative effects of watergate outweigh the positive instances since then.
- Explains that the watergate scandal of 1972 caused a large amount of discordance in the united states between the people and government.
1642 wordsRead More - President Nixon's Involvement In The Watergate Scandalopinionated essayIn the early morning of June 17, 1972, five burglars were caught at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. The Watergate break-in led to investigation by the Senate Watergate Committee and eventually revealed President Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal from the beginning. Watergate scandal proved that the president was not above the law. Based on our study, it was my contention that pardoning President Nixon was most beneficial for the country in order to move forward and focus on economic problems.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that pardoning president nixon was beneficial for the country in order to focus on economic problems.
- Opines that president ford's decision to pardon nixon was proper to spare the nation from further division and embarrassment.
- Explains that the pardon allowed president ford to focus on solving the severe economic and energy issues in the 1970s due to recession and foreign competition.
- Concludes that president ford's political career was ruined on account of the pardon, but it was best for the country at that point.
427 wordsRead More - US v. Nixonopinionated essayIn 1972, Nixon and his aides hired people to break into the Watergate, a hotel where Democratic election plans and budgets were stored. Nixon’s plan was to steal the campaign plans and counter them, getting the winning results. When all of this information came out, a special prosecutor working on the case asked for the tapes recording calls in the Oval Office as a part of the investigation. Nixon didn’t want to hear it, so he fired the first special prosecutor. The next one assigned to the case also wanted the tapes. Nixon finally gave up edited versions of the tapes, but the D.C. Appellate Court of Appeals wanted the full tapes, but Nixon wouldn’t let it happen. It finally was taken to the Supreme Court where Chief Justice Warren E. Burger had the task of proving Nixon guilty. But Nixon claimed he had Executive Privilege, which states that he does not have to give up confidential information involving his branch as it could be sensitive to his branch only, due to checks and balances. Nixon was eventually convicted, because of his two operations. Operation Sandwedge, and Operation Gemstone. Operation Sandwedge was essentially collecting sensitive information on the other presidential candidate that would harm his chances of being elected, and taint him in the eyes of the public. Operation Gemstone was actually the action of breaking into the hotel and stealing the information.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how nixon hired people to break into the watergate hotel where democratic election plans and budgets were stored. when the information came out, a special prosecutor asked for the tapes recording calls in the oval office.
- Explains that nixon claimed executive privilege when he didn't want to turn over tapes, and andrew jackson used it in 1833. jefferson set a similar precedent in the case against aaron burr for treason.
- Analyzes how nixon and his administration thought they were above the law. he broke laws about campaigning and contributions and had a special investigation unit break into someone's psychiatric office.
- Opines that the short-term consequences of this case were not major. nixon was implicated and resigned, and gerald ford pardoned nixon.
- Explains that the supreme court's decision was easy, yet hard. it was all riding on the allegation that there was incriminating evidence.
- Opines that the u.s. v. nixon case puts a restraint on the presidentials ability to declare executive privilege.
692 wordsRead More