Nixon and Watergate Flashcards
When was Nixon elected as President?
1969
What group did Nixon set up to prevent leaks of sensitive information?
White House Plumbers
What did Nixon set up in 1972 to help his re-election campaign?
Committee to re-elect the President (CREEP)
Who was the director of CREEP?
John Mitchell
What is Watergate?
The Democratic National Committee headquarters
What happened on the 28th May 1972?
5 men broke into the Watergate building and planted bugging devices to eavesdrop on Democrat officials
How did the press begin to get involved in Watergate?
When 2 journalists from the Washington Post started to investigate- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
What organisation was also involved in investigating the break-in?
The FBI
What was the name of the White House Lawyer?
John Dean
Who was James McCord and how did he prompt the scandal?
Director of security for CREEP, sent a letter to the trial judge that stated White House officals had told the burglars to lie.
When did the trial of the White House Plumbers begin?
January 1973
Who was Archibald Cox?
The White House Special Investigator, appointed by Nixon
Who did the Democrats persuade to start an investigation alongside the White House?
The Senate
How did the scandal increase?
A witness revealed to the committee that all conversations and phone calls in Nixon’s office had been recorded.
What reason did Nixon give to resist handing over the tapes?
On the basis of ‘national security’
What had happened to the initial tapes that were handed over?
They were edited
What did the unedited tapes confirm?
Nixon had been involved in the coverup
What was the ‘smoking gun’ in 1974?
A tape revealing that Nixon had tried to stop the FBI investigating the break-in.
Identify 2 impacts of Watergate on the public
They lost trust in the government so many people did not vote in future elections, They became very interested in investigative journalism
Identify 3 impacts of Watergate on Nixon
His image: he was nicknamed ‘Tricky Dicky’, The Republican party publicly distanced itself from him, He became a writer and commanded huge fees for speeches
Identify 2 impacts of Watergate on politics
Some 30 people linked to the scandal received prison sentences, congress passed a series of laws to reduce the power of the President
What was the 1974 Privacy Act?
Set rules on how the government could collect information on individuals
What was the Freedom of Information Act 1974?
Gave people the right to access any government documents in which they featured.
What did Nixon do after Watergate?
He resigned
