The Watergate scandal tarnished Nixon’s presidency, resulting in the conviction of his advisers and his resignation. The break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters was just the beginning of illegal activities by Nixon’s administration. The scandal revealed abuses of power, political sabotage, and an attempted cover-up. Nixon refused to release tapes that were central to the investigation, leading to the “Saturday Night Massacre.” Nixon resigned after a tape containing evidence of a cover-up was released. The scandal led to a distrust of the Republican party and a rewrite of the Freedom of Information Act.
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal that forever tarnished the US presidency and Richard Nixon’s reputation. It resulted in the indictment and eventual conviction of many of the president’s closest advisers and prompted Nixon’s resignation from office on Aug. 09, 1974.
The scandal actually started more than two years before Nixon’s resignation. In June of 1972, five men were arrested for attempting to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located in the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC. Virgilio Gonzalez, Bernard Baker, James W. McCord Jr., Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis were charged with attempted burglary and attempted wiretapping of telephone and other communications. After extensive investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate Watergate Committee and the national press, it became apparent that the break-in was likely just the tip of the iceberg of dubious or outright illegal activities undertaken by Nixon administration personnel.
The Watergate scandal revealed countless abuses of power by Nixon and his staff, as well as the existence of a “dirty trick squad” responsible for political sabotage, the creation of an election slush fund associated with the Nixon Re-election Committee of the president (CPR), and the attempted cover-up of the Watergate scandal itself.
During the Congressional investigation into the White House’s role in the scandal, it was revealed that there was a listening device in place that recorded everything in the Oval Office on tape. These tapes became central to the investigation into Nixon’s knowledge and potential involvement in the Watergate scandal and as such were first subpoenaed by Archibald Cox, the special counsel within the Attorney General’s Office assigned to the Watergate inquiry and then by the Senate. Nixon refused to release the tapes on grounds of executive privilege and ordered Cox to abandon his subpoena. When Cox refused, Nixon orchestrated what has come to be known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.”
After it became clear that Cox intended to pursue the subpoena, Nixon asked Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. Richardson declined, as did his deputy, William Ruckelshaus. Nixon had them both fired in an effort to find someone in the Justice Department willing to fire Cox. After Cox’s eventual removal at the hands of new department head Robert Bork, Leon Jaworkski was appointed to take his place. Jaworski was able to get Nixon to release at least partial versions of the controversial tape recordings, one of which showed evidence of an 18-minute portion being erased. Since the tape had never left White House custody, many considered it evidence of a cover-up.
Nixon resigned from office on August 09, 1974, soon after the release of a tape containing recorded conversations days after the raid between Nixon and his staff regarding a plan to block the ongoing investigation. The tape was and still is called Nixon’s “smoking gun”. Later President Gerald Ford issued a controversial pardon for Nixon a month later on September 08, 1974, which prevented him from being prosecuted for any crimes he may have committed while he was president.
The Watergate scandal has generated a general distrust of the Republican party, leading the Democrats to gain five seats in the Senate and 49 in the House in the next election. It also became a major factor in the rewrite of the Freedom of Information Act in 1976. Its impact on national and popular culture has been so profound, in fact, that many modern scandals since have been cursed with the “-gate” suffix.
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