Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal

The Watergate Scandal Today, the presidency of Richard Milhous Nixon (January 20, 1969—August 9, 1974) holds top billing as the most scandalous in U. S. history—“a classic example of the abuse of political power” (Foner 1019). Prior to the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s presidency, replete with key successes in terms of domestic and foreign policies, maintained favorable popularity. Although the Vietnam War’s official ended after his resignation, Nixon’s negotiations—which facilitated the Paris peace agreement—made possible the final withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam (Foner 1017). In other arenas of foreign policy, President Nixon’s early engagements with China and the Soviet Union paved the way for increased positive dialogue between

Beginning in 1971, with the public release of Daniel Ellsberg’s “Pentagon Papers,” Nixon became increasingly paranoid in terms of his control over national security—positive the presidency was “surrounded by enemies” (Foner 1018). Ellsberg, a State Department analyst and Vietnam War opponent, published a series of articles in the New York Times, revealing a secret Department of Defense study which showed the true level of U.S. political and military involvement in Viet Nam. In retaliation, Nixon and his staffers created a secret office nicknamed “the Plumbers,” headed by CIA intelligence officers E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy (Foner 1018). Obtaining medical records from Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office became the first covert operation carried out by “the Plumbers”, but definitely not the

The sudden and unprecedented fame of two reporters—Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—brought investigative journalism into the spotlight. In an attempt to provide more transparency in government, Congress strengthened and expanded the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (Foner 1019). The scandal fractured the Republican party for years—handing Democratic Nominee Jimmy Carter the 1976 presidential election. Although massive evidence implicated Nixon, the president never admitted any guilt in the Watergate affair. On the eve of his resignation, in an address to the nation, Nixon continued denying any wrong doing on his part. Instead, the president insisted that, “he had done nothing wrong—or at any rate, that previous presidents had also been guilty of lying and illegality” (Foner 1019). Apparently, Nixon told the truth in that respect. Following Nixon’s resignation—and as a direct result of Watergate—Senator Frank Church of Idaho conducted hearings