Overview+Section

= Overview of the Watergate Scandal =

“Watergate” is term used to describe a series of events that happened between 1972 and 1974 that would eventually end in the resignation of President Nixon. In June of 1971 Daniel Ellsberg, a former defense analyst, leaked the pentagon papers to the New York Times exposing secrets about the Vietnam War. In September 1971 the “plumbers,” Nixon’s informants broke into a psychiatrist’s office to find Ellsberg’s files. In May of 1972 the plumbers installed different bugs and listening devices in the office of the democratic national committee. No Junes 17, 1972 five men were arrested at 2:30 a.m. after they broke into the office of the democratic national committee and security guard frank wills found the taped open door to the offices. These men were found to be a part of an organization called CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the President) and had a direct connection to the Whitehouse. Instead of removing these men from the Whitehouse Nixon paid them money from illegal government funds. He then denied to give up the tapes from the recording device inside the democratic offices and had his subordinates lie to investigators. These critical mistakes essentially forced congress to impeach him. On August 8, 1974 Richard Nixon announced his resignation, before he could be impeached. He became the first president to resign and no president has done it since.

Timeline of Watergate Scandal Richard Nixon (55) is elected president, defeating democrat Hubert Humphrey. This was one of the closest elections in the history of the U.S. A plan is approved for greatly expanding domestic intelligence by Nixon. This plan is gathered by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. A few days later, Nixon takes a second look on this plan and rescinds his approval. The Pentagon Papers were now being published in the New York Times. The Pentagon Papers were the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War. The White House’s “plumbers” were the people in charge of making sure that no secrets were leaked out of the White House. These “plumbers” raid and stole from a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg was the former defense analyst, who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Five men are arrested at 2:30am for a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington. The men were trying to bug the room. One man said that he used to work for the CIA. The Washington Post reports that a GOP security aid was one of the burglars at the Watergate Hotel. John Mitchell, the former attorney general and head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to this operation. Nixon and aide H.R. Haldeman discuss Watergate. Part of this conversation was later found on a 18 minute long tape by the prosecutor. The Washington Post says that a $25,000 cashier check was found in one of the burglars accounts. The check was supposedly earmarked for the Nixon campaign. Seven more men are brought under suspicion of the Watergate break-in. The seven include two former White House aids. John Mitchell was found to control a secret Republican fund, used to finance widespread intelligence. This was gathering operations against the Democrats. The break-in at Watergate was found by the FBI stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage. This was happening because of Nixon’s reelection. In the next election, Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history. Nixon defeated the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota with more than 60 percent of the vote. Five of the men, including Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr., plead guilty and were charged with conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping at the Watergate Hotel. H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, aides of Nixon, resign over this scandal. The White House counsel, John Dean, is fired. ** May 18, 1973 ** Elliot Richardson, Attorney General-designate, taps Archibald Cox, former solicitor general, as the Justice Department's special prosecutor for Watergate. Also the nationally televised hearings of the Senate Watergate committee begin. John Dean, who was fired from the White House, told investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon about 35 times. The Washington Post reports that a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman was found by Watergate prosecutors. The memo described in detail the plans to burglarize the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. ** July 13, 1973 ** In a congressional testimony Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals that since 1971, Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices. Nixon immediately ordered for the recording system in his offices to be disconnected. Nixon refused to hand over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor. The tapes and documents were now subpoenaed by special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. This was the night of the Saturday Night Massacre. Archibald Cox refused to compromise on the tapes, and Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox, so Nixon fired Cox and abolished the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus refuse and resign in protest. All this lead to more pressure for the impeachment of Nixon ** December 7, 1973 ** There was an eighteen and a half minute gap in one of the recorded tapes that could not be explained. One theory from Alexander Haig, chief of staff, was that “some sinister force” erased the segment. Instead of the releasing of the tapes, the White House gives the House of Judiciary Committee more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes. They still said it was necessary to have the tapes be given up. The Supreme Court finally voted on Nixon giving up the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations. The House of Judiciary Committee approves Nixon’s three articles of impeachments. The articles were obstruction of justice, misuse of powers and violation of his oath of office, and finally failure to comply with House subpoenas. Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign and Vice President Gerald R. Ford takes his place.
 * November 1968 **
 * July 23, 1970 **
 * June 13, 1971 **
 * September 9, 1971 **
 * June 17, 1972 **
 * June 19, 1972 **
 * June 20, 1972 **
 * August 1, 1972 **
 * September 15, 1972 **
 * September 29, 1972 **
 * October 10, 1972 **
 * November 11, 1972 **
 * January 11-30, 1973 **
 * April 30, 1973 **
 * June 3, 1973 **
 * June 13, 1973 **
 * July 18, 1973 **
 * July 23, 1973 **
 * October 20, 1973 **
 * April 30, 1974 **
 * July 24, 1974 **
 * July 27-30, 1974 **
 * August 9, 1974 **

__**Watergate overview**__ -Took place between 1972-1974 -Called Watergate because that’s where the Democratic National Committee’s office was burgled. Occurred June 7, 1972 -The burglars were Bernard L. Barker; a former CIA Agent supposedly involved in the Bay of Pigs and was working as a realtor in Miami, Virgilio R. Gonzales, a refuge from Cuba who became a locksmith in Miami, James. W. McCord, who worked as a security coordinator for both the Republican National Committee and the Committee for the Re-election of the President and a former CIA and FBI agent, Eugenio R. Martinez, he worked with Baker in Miami, and Frank A. Sturgis who was an associate of Baker. Frank Willis was the security guard on duty at the time that caught them. -The “Smoking Gun Tapes” were recordings of President Nixon and H.R. Haldemen in the Oval Office on June 23, 1972 talking about the break in of Watergate and about the FBI investigation. Burglary and wiretapping were the crimes committed. They also spoke about how they should cover-up the break-ins and even use the CIA to slow the FBI’s investigation down. In some of the tapes that were recovered, key moments were erased that would incriminate Nixon directly. • one presidential resignation • one vice-presidential resignation • 40 government officials indicted or jailed • H.R. Haldeman & John Erlichman (White House staff) resigned April 30, 1973, subsequently jailed • John Dean (White House legal counsel) sacked April 30, 1973, subsequently jailed • John Mitchell, Attorney-General and Chairman of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) was jailed • Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy (ex-White House staff), planned the Watergate break-in, both were jailed • Charles Colson, special counsel to the President was jailed • James McCord (Security Director of CREEP) was jailed -Deep Throats identity is W. Mark Felt, at the time he was the deputy director of the FBI -Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were the reporters who uncovered the scandal -Nixon never formally impeached, he resigned so he wouldn’t go on public trial, so he never had to admit that he had anything to do with the scandal. -Pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford - Howard Hunt and G. Gordon broke into Daniel Ellsburg’s office, a psychiatrist who was the former Defense Department analyst who gave the top-secret Pentagon papers to the New York Times -John,​ a presidential aide to the white house testified that Nixon knew of the plot - Alexander Butterfield, another white house aide revealed that Nixon had a taping system for every phone call and conversation he had in the Oval Office
 * __Watergate Casualties and Convictions__**

- John McCord (burglar leader, security coordinator for Nixon’s committee to Re-elect the president (CREEP) former CIA employee) - Former attorney general John Mitchell, chair of (CREEP), he knew campaign was directly connected to the burglary, John Mitchell attended a meeting with Nixon in which presidential aide [|G. Gordon Liddy] had proposed illegal electronic surveillance of the Democrats. Liddy was now finance chair of the CREEP - G. Gordon Liddy provided presidential aide to the meeting between Nixon and Mitchell, he had proposed illegal electronic surveillance Democrats and soon became finance chair of CREEP. Fired in July when he failed to answer questions about the burglary - E. Howard Hunt, White House consultant, soon connected to 5 burglars, 2 days after burglary - President Nixon. Met with closest advisors. He wanted a cover-up so no one would discover the truth about his connection to Watergate - McCord sends letter to Judge John Sirica saying that there was a perjured testimony at the trial and the defendants had been paid in large sums of money to keep them from revealing others that were higher up in the Nixon Administration. - John Sirica was judge at the trial for the burglars at the Watergate hotel. He received letter from McCord and read it aloud and cover-up began to unveil itself. - Attorney General Elliot Richardson, special prosecutor to complete the Watergate investigation on Watergate. - E. Howard Hunt and John Liddy guided the burglars through the break in from a hotel across the Watergate hotel by walkie-talkies - Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward aka “Deep Throat” were the reporters who were to work on the Watergate case - In Woodward’s notes he found out from police sources that the men were from Miami and had worn surgical gloves and had carried thousands of dollars in cash with them and it was said to be, “a professional type operation”, from one source - H.R Haldeman, chief of staff to the Nixon’s committee, and Nixon had discussed how to get the CIA to tell the FBI to back away from the burglary investigation, this meeting between the two was held privately. They said that publicly a white house spokesman would not comment on a “third rate burglary’. - While in Miami Bernstein learned that there had been a $25,000 check for Nixon’s campaign and that the check was deposited into one of the burglar’s bank accounts. The check was made out to Maurice Stans, the former Secretary of Commerce who served as Nixon's chief fundraiser. - White House had denounced the Washington Post’s coverage to be biased and misleading, Katharine Graham, the Post’s publisher, had worried about the administrators “unveiled threats and harassment.” - E. Howard Hunt was a “cancer on the presidency” as told by John Dean, white house lawyer, to President Nixon because of the demands for “hush money” persisted John Dean. - FBI had finally pierced the White House’s denials, and some senior officer officials had faced prosecution on claims for perjury and obstruction of justice, this had ultimately ended in 4 of Nixon’s top aides including Haldeman had lost their jobs in April of 1973. As well as John Ehrlichman, chief domestic policy advisor, Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, and finally John Dean. - Ron Zeigler, Nixon’s press secretary, said that the White Houses criticisms of the Post had been “inoperative”, vindicating Woodward’s and Bernstein reports
 * __Watergate (People Involvement)__**

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