Watergate Scandal

At 1:42 AM on June 17, 1972, a man named Frank Wills noticed something strange on his rounds as a security guard at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. He called the police, discovering that five men had broken into the Democratic National Committee Offices.

The subsequent investigation of the break-in uncovered that not only was Nixon's Re-election Committee attempting to bug the room illegally, but Nixon had attempted to cover up the break-in and had also made some politically dubious decisions. The incident became known as the Watergate Scandal, which rocked politics at the time and forced Nixon to resign.

Watergate Scandal Summary

Having been elected for his first term in 1968 and second term in 1972, Richard Nixon oversaw most of the Vietnam War and became well known for his foreign policy doctrine called the Nixon Doctrine.

During both terms, Nixon was wary of information about his policies and top secret information being leaked to the press.

To stop more information from leaking out without their knowledge, Nixon and his presidential aides created a team of "plumbers," who were tasked with stopping any information from leaking to the press.

The plumbers also investigated people of interest, many of whom had ties to communism or were against the President's administration.

It was later discovered that the work of the plumbers contributed to an "enemies list" made by the Nixon administration, including many prominent Americans who opposed Nixon and the Vietnam War. One well-known person on the enemies list was Daniel Ellsberg, the man behind the leaking of the Pentagon Papers - a classified research paper about America's actions during the Vietnam War.

The paranoia of leaked information reached Nixon's Committee for the Re-election of the President, also known as CREEP. Unknown to Nixon, CREEP had concocted a plan to break into the Democratic National Committee Offices at the Watergate to bug their offices and steal sensitive documents.

On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for burglary after a Watergate security guard called the police. The US Senate formed a committee to investigate the origins of the break-in and discovered that CREEP ordered the burglary. Further, they found evidence that CREEP had resorted to forms of corruption, such as bribery and forging documentation, to get the President re-elected.

Another damning piece came from Nixon's tapes, recordings he had kept of meetings in his office. These tapes, which the Committee demanded Nixon to hand over, revealed that Nixon knew about the coverup.

Watergate Scandal Date and Location

The break-in of the Democratic National Committee Offices at Watergate occurred on June 17, 1972.

Fig 1. The Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Watergate Scandal: Testimonies

Shortly after discovering that the break-in to Watergate had ties to the Nixon administration, the U.S. Senate appointed a committee to investigate. The Committee quickly turned to Nixon's administration members, and many members were questioned and put on trial.

The Watergate scandal reached a turning point on October 20, 1973 - a day that came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre. To avoid handing over his tape recordings to Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, Nixon ordered Deputy Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Both men resigned in protest of the request, which they saw as Nixon overstepping his executive power.

The testimonies and trials of the Watergate were heavily publicized, and the nation watched on the edge of its seat as staff member after a staff member was either implicated in the crime and sentenced or forced to resign.

Martha Mitchell: Watergate Scandal

Martha Mitchell was a Washington D.C. socialite and became one of the Watergate trials' most well-known and vital whistleblowers. In addition to being prominent in social circles, she was also the wife of U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell, who is said to have authorized the break-in of the DNC offices in Watergate. He was convicted on three counts of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice.

Martha Mitchell had inside knowledge of the Watergate scandal and the Nixon Administration, which she shared with reporters. She had also claimed to have been attacked and kidnapped due to her speaking out.

Mitchell became one of the most well-known women in politics at the time. After Nixon resigned, it is said she blamed Nixon for much of how the Watergate Scandal unfolded.

Fig 2. Martha Mitchell (right) was a well-known Washington socialite at the time.

John Dean

Another person who changed the course of the investigation was John Dean. Dean had been a lawyer and a member of Nixon's counsel and became known as the "mastermind of the coverup." However, his loyalty to Nixon soured after Nixon fired him in April 1973 in an attempt to make him the scapegoat of the scandal - essentially blaming Dean for ordering the break-in.

Fig 3. John Dean in 1973.

Dean testified against Nixon during the trials and stated that Nixon knew about the coverup and was, therefore, guilty. In his testimony, Dean mentioned that Nixon often, if not always, taped his conversations in the Oval Office and that there was credible evidence that Nixon knew about the coverup on those tapes.

Watergate Scandal: Nixon's Involvement

The Senate Committee appointed to investigate the break-in learned of one of the most incriminating pieces of evidence attempted to be used against President Nixon: the Watergate tapes. Over his two Presidential terms, Nixon had recorded conversations held in the Oval Office.

Fig 4. One of the tape recorders used by President Nixon.

The Senate committee ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes as evidence for the investigation. Nixon initially refused, citing executive privilege, but was forced to release the recordings after the Supreme Court decision in U.S. v Nixon in 1974. However, the tapes that Nixon had handed over had a gap of missing audio about 18 minutes long - a gap, they figured, that was likely intentional.

On the tapes was evidence of recorded conversation showing that Nixon had engaged in the coverup and even ordered the FBI to cease investigations into the break-in. This tape, referred to as the "smoking gun," contradicted Nixon's earlier claim that he had no part in the coverup.

On July 27, 1974, there was enough evidence for Nixon to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He was found guilty of obstruction of justice, contempt of Congress, and abuse of power. However, Nixon resigned before he could be officially impeached due to pressure from his party.

Watergate Scandal Significance

People across America stopped what they were doing to witness the trials of the Watergate scandal unfold. The nation watched as twenty-six members of Nixon's White House were convicted and received jail time.

Fig 5. President Nixon addressed the nation about the Watergate tapes on April 29, 1974.

The Watergate Scandal also led to a loss of confidence in the government. The Watergate Scandal was an embarrassment for Richard Nixon and his party. Still, it also raised the question of how the U.S. government was viewed by other countries, as well as how American citizens were losing faith in the government's ability to lead.