Watergate Scandal
On June 17 of 1972, there was a break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Burglars were caught in action wiretapping telephone lines and stealing confidential documents by a janitor who was working the night shift at the time. The janitor walked past a door that had tape over the latch that prevented it from being locked. The janitor then removed the tape and continued his night duties. however, when he later returned, the tape was present once again. It was at this point when the janitor felt it was necessary to contact the local police department. Conspiracies arose that President Nixon and his administration were the ones behind the break in. President Nixon attempted to cover up any involvement of himself and his administration after the matter. He raised money for those convicted of burglary, destroyed evidence, and tried to end the FBI's investigation efforts. Throughout 1972, investigations went on and eventually revealed that Nixon and his officials did indeed have involvement in the break in and were trying to cover it up. There was proof that Nixon had been recording all kinds of phone calls through wire tapped lines. Eventually, the entirety of the Watergate scandal is what caused the downfall of Nixon’s presidency and also led him to become the first United States President to resign on August 9,1974. Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, pardoned Nixon of all crimes he may have committed. |
| Pictured above is the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. |
It is funny that tape was essentially the reason that Nixon got caught also the fact that it was the janitor. The fact that Nixon tried to cover it up really hurt hip reputation once it was proven that he was behind it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with joe when he said that the scandal really hurt Nixon's reputation once it was proven he was behind it. No one could trust him after that.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really amazing is that the majority of the U.S.A voted for Nixon for presidency, and he was really popular before the Watergate Scandal. Right after the Scandal, however, the citizens did a 180 and turned completely against him. One small event caused a chain reaction to something very large: from a janitor discovering tape on a door latch to the resignation of Nixon.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how Nixon expected to look innocent after blatantly trying to stop the FBI from investigating the scandal. I think that fact alone would have been enough motivation for the FBI to continue the investigation even without good evidence against Nixon.
ReplyDeletePerfect example of abusing power and access to a lot of money. Nixon deserved the reactions he got from the American people after lying to everyone, to their faces. Everyone makes mistakes but he had to have known this was very moral wrong and not something as the leader of our country should have carried out.
ReplyDeleteThis really marks the beginning of peoples complete distrust of the government. It is interesting to look at how this affects today, still making people cynical and untrusting of one another. Its sad to see how he was pardoned though and never actually had to face the reality of what he did and how it was against the law.
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