5.1 The Watergate Scandal Flashcards
The pentagon papers incident
An employee of the pentagon leaked secret documents. Nixon was furious so he set up the White house plumbers
The committee to re-elect the president (CREEP)
in 1972 Nixon stood for re-election
He set up CREEP to raise funds for his campaign
Some of the money was spent on spying and sabotaging opposition
Watergate Break-in
5 burglars were caught in the offices of democratic committee trying to repair bugs which they had previously planted
The role of Washington post
Bob Woodward and Carl Berntstein are reporters who investigate the Watergate scandal
The role of FBI in uncovering the truth behind the Watergate Break-in
The FBI worked with the reporters to find out that the burglars were linked to CREEP
How did Nixon respond to the reporters and FBI at first
He and White house plumbers denied the accusations and most people were patriotic and had faith in Nixon
The Watergate Scandal
5 burglars are on trial and all found guilty.
James McCord, one of the burglars, send a letter to the judge saying the burglars were told to lie in court
Nixon’s actions after the scandal
He denied any involvement and ran his own investigations in which Haldeman and Ehrichman resigned from the White house
Senate’s investigation into the scandal
They held televised meetings
Senior white house official John Dean claimed there had been a cover up by Nixon, and the senate was told that the president’s conversations were taped
The Watergate recordings
Nixon refused to hand over tapes but eventually handed 7/9 of tapes
SC got involved and ordered him to hand all the tapes
Smoking Gun
One of the recordings believed he tried to stop the FBI from investigating
Impeachment
Nixon accused of obstructing justice and defying congress
Before he was found guilty… He resigned in 1974
The presidential pardon
New president Gerald Ford granted Nixon full pardon
Ford said this was the only way the country could move on
