watergate

Question 1

why was watergate so important

Answer 1

Watergate is an office complex in Washington DC that housed the DNC headquarters. It has also become a kind of shorthand that sums up Nixons illegal actions while president. It came to symbolise corruption, illegality and abuse of power

Question 2

why is it not surprising that watergate occured

Answer 2

Nixon’s employment of vindictive cynics such as Haldeman and Ehrlichman was disastrous. They helped bring out the worst in him. Nixon was already deeply cynical of the political system, he felt that he had been robbed of the presidency in 1960 by dubious electoral practices in Mayor Daleys Chicago and LBJs Texas. He was also harassed by an IRS audit - checkers.

Question 3

other important individuals in watergate

Answer 3

John Dean - white house counsel from 1970, he gave Nixon legal advice over Watergate
Jed Magruder - appointed special assistant to Nicon in 1969, he encouraged positive phone calls and telegrams to the White House whenever the president felt in need of support
James McCord - an ex FBI and CIA employee, appointed security director of CREEP in 1972
Charles Colson - worked on CREEP, Haldeman recalled rumours of wild schemes hatched by Colson for example feeding LSD to an anti-Nixon commentator just before he went on television. Colson wanted to burgle and firebomb the Brookings Institution - a liberal think tank to access foreign policy documents.
Gordon Liddy - ran CREEP, he suggested electronic eavesdropping, kidnapping of political opponents and employing prostitutes to compromise democratic delegates at the national convention. He was one of the plumbers who organised the break-in of Daniel Ellsbergs psychiatrist office
Howard Hunt - member of the plumbers

Question 4

creep

Answer 4

Committee for the re-election of the President- Nixon unsure he would be re-elected in 1972 because of his prolongation of the vietnam war

He wanted secret documents regarding the Vietnam War to be kept quiet and not leaked to the press (Pentagon Papers)

Question 5

purpose of CREEP

Answer 5

Illegal fundraising - it collected $60M in campaign contributions
Political Subversion – They worked to discredit moderate Democrats such as Senator Edmund Muskie- they misled the press into believing he had insulted canucks
Criminal Surveillance- Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist and watergate

Question 6

historiography of CREEP

Answer 6

Iwan Morgan argues that the ‘dirty tricks’ of the Nixon campaign ‘went far beyond the customary rough and tumble of American elections’

Question 7

CREEP Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Answer 7

The White House Special Investigation Unit (plumbers)
was set up in 1971
Aimed to discredit Daniel Ellsberg (FBI Director J Edgar Hoover refused to do this)
Liddy and Hunt set out to burgle the offices of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist
Debate about how much Nixon knew about this
Nixon was concerned that information he wanted to keep secret about his Vietnam policies was being leaked to the press. The administration ordered the FBI to wiretap eleven officials. Nixon said that nothing the president ordered done on grounds of internal order and national security could be considered illegal. The plumbers broke into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist after he leaked the pentagon papers to discredit him.

Question 8

CREEP and the watergate break-ins

Answer 8

CREEP organised an illegal break in of the DNC headquarters in the Watergate building on 17th June 1972

James McCord and four Cubans were caught- Liddy and Hunt caught in building opposite with walkie-talkies

Question 9

why break into the Watergate buildings

Answer 9

Colson and Hunt wanted to expose Democrat Links to radical groups
Dean ordered the break in to get hold of a DNC list of expensive prostitutes
When the break in was authorized, in early 1972, Nixon was behind the Democratic Front Runner - Edmund Muskie in the polls - therefore any information on the Democratic campaign would be useful

Question 10

did Nixon know about the break ins

Answer 10

There is no doubt that he was involved in the cover-up. He complained to aides that the Democrats had been doing this sort of thing for years.

Question 11

getting caught

Answer 11

Within days of the break -in, the FBI traced laundered money found on the plumbers to CREEP. On 23rd June 1972, Nixon and Halderman discussed using the CIA to stop the FBI - a clear obstruction of justice which the CIA did not agree to. Nixon tried to pay the burglars $430,000, to keep quiet, obstruction of justice again. Burglars were inducted in Sept 1972 then convicted in Jan 1973 - harsh sentences 20-40

Question 12

role of the media

Answer 12

The press worked hard to uncover the plot. Washington Post reporters - Bob Woodhead and Carl Bernstein wrote a book called All the Presidents Men, their source was a mysterious character called Deep Throat - who in 2005 was Mark Felt. The media followed the unfolding scandal exhaustively. Television networks covered 300 hours of testimony in the subsequent Senate hearings.

Question 13

role of congress

Answer 13

Following the burglars conviction, the senate established the Bipartisan Select Committee on Presidential Campaign ACtivities aka the watergate committee in Feb 1973. By this time, the Watergate conspirators were willing to talk. The committee held 37 days of hearings. Former AG John Mitchell admitted to meeting the conspirators 3 times before the break-in. The nation watched and the heads of the committees - Ervin and Baker became national heroes

Question 14

resignations

Answer 14

April 30, John Dean who had managed the cover-up was fired and Haldeman and Ehrlichman resigned. May 22nd Nixon announced that they had been involved in the cover-up without his knowledge. Dean testified that Nixon was involved in the cover up but Halderman and Ehrlichman and Mitchell denied this. 16th July, White House aid Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of Nixon’s White House Taping system., which had been kept highly secret - even his family did not know.

Question 15

congress and special prosecutors

Answer 15

In May 1973, Congress forced Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor - Archibald Cox, who concentrated on getting hold of the Nixon tapes. Nixon sacked Cox and abolished his office on 20th Oct 1973 which was unwise. AG Elliot Richardson resigned rather than carry out the sacking, this was termed the saturday night massacre. Nixon’s approval rating sank to 17%. The House Judiciary Committee gave $1M to hire 106 staff, including Hilary Clinton for an impeachment investigation. Faced with the public outcry, Nixon decided to surrender 7 white house tapes

Question 16

disgrace and disarray

Answer 16

In Oct 1973, Spiro Agnew, the champion of law and order became the first VP to resign for tax evasion and accepting bribes while Governor of Maryland. The Nixon administration was in increasing disgrace and disarray. Nixon’s own finances came under investigation - he received $1.1M in income in his first term but only paid less than $80,000 in taxes. Nixon was under strain, outside the white house - pickets carried signs saying ‘Honk for Impeachment’ so car horns sounded throughout everyday.

Question 17

the surrender of the white house tapes

Answer 17

The 7 white house tapes that Nixon surrendered on 26th Nov 1973 contained an 18-and-a-half minute gap in a Nixon - Haldeman conversation. Subsequent testimony said the tapes had been tampered with. Nixon claimed that two other subpoenaed tapes did not even exist. Nixon’s assurance to reporters that ‘I am not a crook’ was mocked by the media

Question 18

the surrender of the white house tapes

Answer 18

The 7 white house tapes that Nixon surrendered on 26th Nov 1973 contained an 18-and-a-half minute gap in a Nixon - Haldeman conversation. Subsequent testimony said the tapes had been tampered with. Nixon claimed that two other subpoenaed tapes did not even exist. Nixon’s assurance to reporters that ‘I am not a crook’ was mocked by the media

Question 19

indictments and more tapes

Answer 19

March 1 1974, 7 of Nixon’s aides were indicted for the cover up. Rather than face impeachment, Nixon surrendered edited transcripts of other requested tapes in April 1974. The transcripts included many deleted things but nothing incriminating. The SC ruled in 24th July in US v Richard M. Nixon, that the subpoenaed tapes must be released and that the president cannot claim executive powers. The 23rd June tape known as the smoking gun tape proved that Nixon had ordered the cover-up and engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct justice

Question 20

what happened after the Smoking Gun tapes

Answer 20

After proof that the president had ordered the cover up - the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment on the grounds of -
obstruction of justice - participating in the cover-up
abuse of power - by invading the civil rights of Ellsberg, misuse of government agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and IRS, and by authorizing wiretapping
abuse of Congress - by ignoring subpoenas issued by the Judiciary Committee

Question 21

polls

Answer 21

75% of Americans believed Nixon guilty of the first charge and 66% favoured impeachment

Question 22

abuse of power

Answer 22

The authorization of the break-ins of Ellsberg psychiatrists office and the Watergate buildings are probably the best-known examples of the abuse of power. An example of the president’s involvement - occurred in Summer 1971 when a Long Island newspaper published a series on the finances of Nixon’s best friend. Nixon ordered Haldeman to ‘figure out a plan to harass - the newspaper- use the power we have’.

Question 23

abuse of congress

Answer 23

Nixon was uncooperative in responding to Ervins Senate committee investigating his misdemeanors. He also tried to circumvent congressional power, for example over the appointment of directors of government agencies for which Congress took him to court. He delayed, evaded and on 27 occasions flat out ignored congressional requests for information on executive actions. - imperial president. Nixon also challenged Congress by impounding money that congress had allocated to spend on programs such as the clean water act 1972. He only wanted to spend 25% of what Congress allocated because he wanted to increase presidential power or balance the budget.

Question 24

explanations for Nixon’s behavior

Answer 24

A pressured president
Guilty of getting caught
Us vs Them
Disloyalty as normal practice
The hostility of the press

Question 25

a pressured president

Answer 25

Nixon faced exceptional strain during his presidency with unprecedented protests, riots, and disorder.

Question 26

guilty of getting caught

Answer 26

Nixon#s predecessors had behaved similarly in many ways but they had not been caught. Both JFK and LDJ had ordered a great deal of wiretapping. JFK even had his brother bobby’s office bugged. Nixon saw nothing wrong in any of this as it was commonplace - pentagon papers

Question 27

it was us versus them

Answer 27

Nixon had a point when he described the Democrats as holding ‘all four aces in Washington - the Congress, The bureaucracy, the majority of the media and the lawyers’. This led to a seige mentality in the white house, CREEP was out to get ‘them’. Nixon felt that the president, not congress represented the American people. Before Waterfare, he continually received high approval ratings while Congress did not, so felt he had the popular mandate to do what he saw fit.

Question 28

disloyalty as normal practice

Answer 28

In Dec 1971, Ehrlichman discovered that the JCS had been spying on the NSC, using naval officer Charles Radford to steal classified documents from the NSC files. The Radford case confirmed Nixon’s belief that the federal government bureaucracy was crawling with unloyal people and treasonous people. Radford when caught claimed that this military intelligence operation aimed at bringing Nixon down or get rid of Kiddnger - this showed that Nixon’s methods were commonplace

Question 29

the hostility of the press

Answer 29

The media was often unfair to Nixon. He had a point when he said 75% of these guys hate my guts. For example, in spring 1970, the magazine parade reported that he had made the nation pay for a $60k win wall around his swimming pool at his San Clemente home - whereas the wall was a bulletproof glass shield which the secret service insisted on and Nixon had not wanted. Parade refused to retract. Press hostility contributed even after Nixon’s disgrace. Readers of Woodward and Bernstein’s 1976 book on the Final Days of Nixon’s Presidency were agog at the description of a dangerously unstable drinker. Nixon is frequently quoted as having said in the 1977 interview with Frost - ‘when the president does it, that means its not illegal’ but it is rarely mentioned that he was talking about national security actions.

Question 30

when did nixon resign

Answer 30

8th Aug 1974

Question 31

when did nixon resign

Answer 31

8th Aug 1974

Question 32

why did Nixon resign

Answer 32

Watergate gave him financial and legal concerns and lost him republican support

Question 33

financial and legal concerns

Answer 33

If Nixon resigned he would get $60k presidential pension and $100k for staff expenses, but if impeached, ‘ill be wiped out financially’ by legal fees and a $500k bill for unpaid taxes. He had paid virtually no tax while president obtaining a large tax write-off in exchange for donating his vice presidential papers to the National Archives and making dubious capital gains in selling property without paying tax. Nixon feared criminal prosecution if impeached.

Question 34

loss of republican support

Answer 34

Nixon was not sure whether Republican senators would continue to support him and deny the necessary two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to secure his impeachment. 27% opposed resignation

Question 35

nixons political legacy

Answer 35

first president to resign while in office. He left the presidency with an unprecedentedly villainous reputation. Nixon was responsible for the worst abuse of presidential power in American history and Watergate was not simply a scandal but a constitutional crisis of enormous magnitude. Nixon’s legacy included damage to the government, the republican party, Ford and the presidency

Question 36

damaged the government

Answer 36

Nixon contributed greatly to increased popular cynicism towards and distrust of government. In 1977, Nixon confessed to David Frost - ‘i let down our system of government and the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but think its all too corrupt and the rest’. Although government agencies were perhaps more important in exposing the affair, the press believed that their role in the Watergate scandal made them the great guardians of democracy. Woodward and Bernstein inspired a generation of reporters to seek similar fame by digging away at potential political scandals that had the word ‘gate’ stuck to it. This exacerbated the popular cynicism about the govt that began with the tet offensive and increased with Watergate, It was reflected in the decreased electoral turnout in the 1970s. Nixon’s biographer - joan hoff argued that watergate was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ the inevitable product of what she calls the ‘aprincipled American political system’

Question 37

damaged the Republican party

Answer 37

The republican party suffered greatly in the 1974 congressional elections, the four republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who had voted against impeachment lost their seats. Nixon also bore responsibility for the republican party’s move to the right. First, conservatives took the opportunity to associate the disgraced president with his moderate policies. Second, Ford pardon cost him the 76 election. Republicans chose to interpret Ford’s defeat as the electorate’s rejection of moderate republican policies and took control of the party. This dramatically affected American politics, government and economic affairs and FP afterwards

Question 38

Damaged the presidency

Answer 38

Congress enacted several laws to try to limit presidential power and avoid another watergate for example - the ethics in government act 1978, Ford demonstrated the damage Nixon had done to the prestige of the office.