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Why Did The Watergate Scandal

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The day was June 17th, 1972. To most it was an ordinary day. U.S citizens across the country were going to work, school, etc. No one thought the day was ever going to be significant. Until they heard about the burglary. It occured at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) building located in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The burglars did not steal something small like computers but instead they stole numerous documents consisted of DNC classified information about the Committees plans for electing our next president. The burglars also wiretapped the phones so they could hear in on every conversation that occured. These burglars were not terrorists trying to get information on the U.S but they were from their own country and citizens soon found the culprits were working for President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign. But why did they do it? How did it involve Richard Nixon? What was his motive? Were the burglars ever caught? And has it ever been done again since? The Watergate Scandal affected the mental and emotional state of Richard Nixon which lead to the country having several trust issues with future …show more content…

Richard M. Nixon is the most well known culprit of the Watergate scandal. He was from the Republican political party. Biography.com states, Richard Nixon was a former aviation ground officer who grew up in a quaker home.[E: Relevant Facts] Nixon was a congressman, senator, and vice president. He ran for president once before and lost to the late John F. Kennedy. Nixon was president for four years before Watergate occurred. The scandal did not happen until his second term in office. Before Watergate, Nixon received conflict for his decision to stay in Vietnam.[E: Relevant Facts] Many citizens believed it was not our business being there but Nixon still deemed it our duty to stay. Nixon never saw conflict in the service, which is highly ironic because he caused so much in the

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These men arrested, on of them a CIA agent, had planted wiretapping devices in the Watergate building (Fienberg 27). Immediately after the breakin, Nixon's white house staff quickly shredded incriminating documents, and payed off the burglars not to give names of people (Goldman 107). Nixon, however, did not become fully involved in Watergate until the “Saturday night massacre” (Fienberg 69). Previously, before this night Nixon had already been accused of being part of the coverup as to what had been done during the breakin; However, the “Saturday night massacre” proved to be catastrophic to Nixon.

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He then tried paying off the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the scene. Nixon then went on to destroying evidence and firing any staff that wouldn’t cooperate with him. Nixon was accused of withholding information from other government officials. The Special Prosecutor held motion for a subpoena

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The water gates scandal is why President Nixon was being impeached but he resigned before the house voted on the Articles hence Nixon was not impeached during the

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Prior to the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s tight victory in the election of 1968 made him scared that he was going to lose this election; thus, he had a great incentive to sway public opinion, and through a means of infamy and misconduct, he was successful in securing his victory in the election of 1972. In the Watergate scandal, President Nixon was investigated because the burglars whom were arrested for infiltrating the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex of buildings, were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign . The goal of the robbery was to find the “nitty gritty” to get dirt on his enemies and use it to secure a republican victory. Similarly, President Trump is getting investigated for collusion in seeking aid of Russia to influence the outcome of the election. The Intelligence Community has stated with high confidence that the Russian government has sought to influence the outcome of the U.S Presidential election favoring Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton through disinformation campaigns, breaching election data, and hacking the Democratic National Committee to access their emails and releasing them to WikiLeaks.

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Although it is debateable whether or not Nixon knew of the break-ins, he did behave very suspiciously. He became very secretive, resentful, and defensive towards his critics, even going so far as to make

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Nixon went out and got a heist crew to do a high risk, high reward robbery against the Democratic party trying to get an advantage on McGovern. This event known as the Watergate Scandal, would change America's view on presidents for decades to come. In May 1972, members of Nixon’s committee broke into the Watergate building of the Democratic Committee, they stole top-secret files and

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Each scandal was an awful decision made by both presidents for all people involved, though Nixon's Watergate scandal appeared to be filled with disappointment our country. The Watergate scandal

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Conclusion Sixty-nine political aides from President Nixon’s administration were charged with federal crimes such as obstruction of justice and abuse of power, just to name a few. Forty-eight of these individuals were found guilty. It was not until Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States that Richard Nixon was granted a “full, free and absolute pardon” (The Washington Post) for any and all of his crimes that violated the Constitution of America. This granted pardon was the most controversial component of the Watergate scandal.

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On July 17, 1972, the Watergate hotel, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, was broken into by five men. After being caught, it was found that these men carried top of the line surveillance equipment. It was also found that these men had ties to the committee to re-elect Nixon as President of the United States, and this discovery eventually led to the ironic impeachment of President Nixon. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the break-in, it was Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two common reporters from the Washington Post, who cracked this case wide open. This team, nicknamed Woodstein, went above and beyond, not only covering the break in, but traced why it occurred all the way up to the white house.

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He violated many U.S. laws and abused his presidential power. This ordeal became the greatest presidential scandal in U.S. history. It all started when President Nixon needed some extra help with his reelection campaign. He offered some of his aides a whole lot of money if they would break into the democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. Here they would plant listening devices and steal top secret documents.

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Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States; he resigned as president after his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. People broke into the Watergate building to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. Nixon knew about the break in before hand and tried to cover it up. When people found out about him trying to cover it up, he decided to resign as president. He gave his speech on August 8th 1974 and resigned on the 9th.

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These burglars were caught carrying enough equipment to wiretap telephones and take pictures of papers. Because people expected Nixon to have something to do with it, which he did. When brought up to trails or questioning, Nixon would lie or make excuses so one would get caught. The president paying bribes and impeding the FBI investigation so that he would not be removed. An firing government officials and destroying evidence made the US that made them look bad.

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Just as the year was ending President Richard Nixon found himself in between a rock and hard place. All of his tricks and decoys were being soiled by the F.B.I and he was running out time before he was caught. Both citizens and congressman were growing tired of hearing the things that the president of the United States of America was being convicted for so they decided to do something about it. On February 6, 1974 the House of Representatives passed a House resolution to authorize the Judiciary Committee to consider impeachment proceedings against Nixon (Watergate.info, 1995). At this point, Richard Nixon sees the writing on the wall and he knows that if stay’s then he and his cabinet can get in some major legal

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This is not to say that an outsider cannot value religious truth claims. As discussed, the nature of the outsider can vary greatly, and their background will play a large role in their ability to do so. For example, a person who left a religious tradition, despite technically being an outsider, would have full contextualisation for truth claims, and have experience of the value of truth claims. Anthony Kenny in his book A Path from Rome recounts both his training to become a Catholic Priest, and his gradual withdrawal from Catholicism. Even as a religious outsider, Kenny recognises the emotional value of the religious tradition he used to belong to, and writes that nothing he has ever seen compared to religious ceremonies at the Vatican in ‘dramatic impact’, a feeling that remains true ‘from a secular and agnostic standpoint’ that he now occupies.

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The men arrested would not speak of who sent them there but they were later traced back to Richard Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President members. Nixon seemed to be in enough trouble, being moderately involved with this scandal, it was then known that the crooks had also been wiretapping the office and stole copies of top secret files. Although even to this day it is unknown if Nixon knew of the break-ins in the Watergate while it happened, it is fact that the President had sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush-money” to the burglars to keep it out of the public eye. Nixon and his affiliates then began attempting to create the CIA to stop any further investigations of the FBI’s on the Watergate scandal (Staff). The former president continuously denied he was involved in the scandal, until the court ordered he handed over recordings that proved he attempted to redirect the fact-finding (“Richard”).

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