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. Following …show more content…
For the forthcoming election, the United States government chose to enact the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, which capped presidential campaign spending and made all fundraising public. Corruption among government officials can be traced back to the 1950s, when a slew of illegal FBI and CIA operations were exposed. As a result, Congress established permanent committees to monitor several agencies. Because numerous government entities were getting corrupted, the government desired several reforms to avert any scandals. For example, the Hughes-Ryan Amendment, passed by Congress in 1975, required the president to accept and transmit confidential material to Congress. Eventually, one short-term effect drove the CIA and Congress to sever their relationship. Congress also enacted additional reforms to help reshape America's political system and, hopefully, avoid another Watergate scandal. This resulted in the Ethics in Government Act, which obliged executive and judicial branch officials to disclose their financial and job histories. Many of these officials were not allowed to work in the private sector or use their skills in