Watergate Scandal: The United States Vs. Nixon

United States Vs. Nixon
President Richard M. Nixon was born in California in 1913. He had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. During World War II, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific. He was elected to Congress by his California district. Two years later he became Vice President. Later, he was nominated for President, but lost to John F. Kennedy. He finally went on and won an election to become president. Nixon committed a crime called the Watergate Scandal. This case went to the Supreme Court.
In 1972, Nixon was running for reelection. Nixon wanted to make his campaign better, so he got his advisors to break into the Watergate to steal top-secret

Nixon prevented the FBI’s investigation of the crime and abused presidential power. Five out of the seven advisors pleaded guilty of the crime they had committed. Some of the advisors testified that Nixon had taped every single conversation in the Oval Office. Prosecutors needed the tapes to prove him guilty. Nixon struggled to protect the tapes in the summer and fall of 1973. The Senate committee and Archibald Cox were determined to get the tapes. When Cox would not stop demanding for the tapes, Nixon ordered that he be fired. The Justice Department officials resigned in protest, which took place on October 20, 1973. This was called the Saturday Night Massacre. Nixon finally gave up some of the tapes, but not all of them. In July, the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over all of the tapes. Nixon was dragging his feet and not turning them in. Because of this the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. Nixon finally released the tapes on August 5. Nixon resigned on August 8 because of facing impeachment. He left the office the following day. Vice President Gerald Ford became president. Six weeks later, he pardoned Nixon from any crimes he had committed in office. However, Nixon’s aides were not as lucky as him. They were sometimes sent to federal

He should not have gone out of his way to make his advisors steal with the risk of getting caught. If he was that desperate for a better campaign, then he probably would not have won in the first place without breaking in. I do agree with the advisors or aides getting punished for their actions. I do not however, agree with Nixon getting pardoned from the punishments. Gerald Ford shouldn’t of let him get away with it. Nixon committed a huge crime and should have to suffer the consequences. Another thing I do not understand is how he did not get punished or was not forced to give away the tapes. Nixon’s abuse of presidential power had a long-lasting effect on American political life. This created an atmosphere of cynicism and distrust. Many americans had been deeply dismayed by the Vietnam War. However, Watergate added further disappointment to national climate already soured by the the difficulties and losses of the previous decade. After the Watergate Scandal there were many ways life changed. Some things that changed were: the Supreme Court remained supreme, the church committee, an era of legal reform, the era of celebrity journalists, and a legacy of