Transcript Nixon`s Presidencey (watergate)

President
Richard Nixon
Meanwhile…..
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Nixon was one of the most successful American presidents of the
twentieth century in terms of foreign policy, his domestic policy
has marred his reputation….
“Watergate"
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June 16, 1972:
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Men working for Nixon planted illegal wiretaps in the Democratic
offices.
Botched affair from the very beginning, which….
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Name of a Washington, D. C. hotel and office complex
The Democratic National Committee located its campaign
headquarters for the 1972 election.
Ended Nixon's presidential career
Changed Americans' ideas about politics, in general, and about the
Presidency, in particular.
After Watergate, many Americans refused to trust the executive
branch of government to the extent that they had in the past.
Background on Watergate
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Richard M. Nixon had a paranoid fear of political
enemies.
This fear manifested itself in Nixon's efforts to
isolate and destroy any potential dangers and to
try and control dissent in American society.
Many of Nixon's closest advisers shared the
President's siege mentality.
These people included:
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Charles Colson, Special Assistant to the President
John Mitchell, Attorney General
H.R. Haldeman, White House Chief of Staff
John Ehrlichman, Chief Domestic Advisor
“The List”
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Advisors drew up list of “enemies”
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numbered about 300 people
The list labeled twenty persons "especially dangerous."
Next step: Determine how best to neutralize the enemies.
John Dean, a lawyer and White House staffer, said:
"How can we maximize the fact of our incumbency in
dealing with the persons known to be active in their
opposition to our administration? Stated a bit more
bluntly, how can we use the available federal
machinery to screw our political enemies?"
“Law & Order”
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1968 Platform
Squash political dissent.
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(1) IRS investigate tax records of his “enemies”
(2) Wiretap the National Security Council
(3) Take over United States intelligence (Houston Plan)
Create his own intelligence-gathering group, the
"Plumbers," to plug leaks of secret presidential
activities and foreign policy actions.
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Their first major operation was to stop the publication of
the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
Pentagon Papers
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The Pentagon Papers were a classified study of the Vietnam
War carried out by the Department of Defense.
June 13, 1971:Daniel Ellsberg, a Defense Department
official, believed that the public had the right to know the
secret details of the administration's war plans, so he
released copies of the study to the New York Times and to
the Washington Post.
Nixon tried to prevent the paper from releasing the papers
to the public, the Supreme Court ruled that the newspaper
had the right to publish the documents.
In response to the incident, the "Plumbers,"
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Broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist in search of
damaging information.
"if done under your assurance that it is not traceable."
CREEP
Committee to Re-Elect the President, known as
CREEP was headed by John Mitchell (Attorney
general).
 1972: New campaign laws created
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Mitchell worked to get around the laws before laws went
into effect
Favorite methods was "government by stickup.“
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Approach major corporations for money with the
understanding that, in exchange for generous campaign
contributions, the Justice Department would turn a blind
eye to any of that corporation's illegal activities.
Break-In at the Watergate
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G. Gordon Liddy proposed the break-in
Mitchell refused to authorize the plan at first, but
approved it after two months.
The night of June 16, 1972:
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A group of inept burglars broke into the Democratic
National Committee's headquarters.
Police quickly discovered the break in and arrested the
culprits.
Investigators eventually traced large amounts of cash
carried by the burglars back to CREEP
During the campaign, the Democrats did not
exploit the issue, and Nixon won reelection..
Washington Post
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journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
began an in-depth investigation into the burglary
and reported their findings.
The public learned that on June 23, 1972, Nixon
had authorized the FBI to cover up the scandal,
although it remained unclear whether Nixon
himself had ordered the Watergate break-in in
the first place.
Soon after, a Senate select committee,
investigated the break-in and the cover-up and
began to unearth a sordid tale of political
corruption and rampant abuse of government
power.
United States v. Nixon
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May 1973: Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox
subpoenaed tapes of Oval Office meetings and
telephone conversations
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Backlash
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Nixon cited executive privilege and refused to comply
with the request.
Damage Nixon's public image
The Supreme Court eventually rejected the President's
claim of executive privilege in United States v. Nixon
(1974) and forced the President to hand over the tapes.
Bad timing:
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Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accepting bribes.
Agnew became the first United States Vice President to
resign from office.
House Hearings
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House hearings began in July 1974.
Although Nixon had not surrendered all of the tapes,
Congress heard enough to learn that Nixon had been the
ringmaster of a deceitful administration.
The House planned to impeach the President for:
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Organizing a cover-up,
Obstructing justice, and
Abusing power.
Nixon’s Decision:
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Facing a largely unsympathetic public and the prospect of an
impeachment trial, Nixon resigned from office on August 9,
1974.
Eventually, 378 federal officials either pleaded guilty or were
indicted in connection with Watergate.
Impact of Watergate
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Campaign Finance
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Why: Nixon Administration took large sums of $ from
private donations
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Reform: Create Presidential Election Campaign Fund
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Result: Donations buy influence
Est’d federal financing of presidential campaigns
limit role of private contributions
Presidential Power
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Why: Nixon Administration use executive privilege to
cover up information
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Result: Nixon try to block publication of Pentagon Papers
& refuse to hand over tapes during Watergate
investigation
Reform: Freedom of Information Act
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Public has right to know