Watergate

Question 1

What were the Pentagon papers?

Answer 1

• documents revealing the secrets of the Johnson and Kennedy Administrations
• released by Daniel Ellsberg, alarming Nixon
• showed that US leaders had planned to expand the war despite promising not to - trust in politicians began to erode

Question 2

How did Nixon react to the release of the Pentagon Papers?

Answer 2

• fearful the same would happen to him, approached FBI director Edgar J Hoover but he wasn’t convinced
• set up his own investigative team called ‘The Plumbers’ - role was to fix leaks

Question 3

What was the first thing the ‘plumbers’ did?

Answer 3

• smear campaign against Ellsberg
• ex-CIA agent Howard Hunt and ex-FBI agent Gordon Liddy put together team to burgle offices of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist
• some of the team were Cuban expats who were involved with the Bay of Pigs

Question 4

What was the watergate break-in?

Answer 4

• 1972: five men, including Cuban expats linked to the CIA, were caught trying to bug the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel
• debate exists on how much Nixon knew about the bugging

Question 5

How did Nixon try to cover up the Watergate break in?

Answer 5

• tried to obstruct the FBI investigation by involving the CIA
• despite these efforts, several men indicted

Question 6

Why was suspicion raised regarding the Watergate break in?

Answer 6

• $500,000 from the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) was used to pay the legal fees of the indicted men
• this was suspicious as Nixon’s former Attorney General John Mitchell was now running the CRP
• Hunt went on the record to say that Watergate was only the tip of the iceberg and there had been a number of illegal activities carried out on behalf of senior White House staff

Question 7

Who led the investigation into Watergate?

Answer 7

• Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
• uncovered connections to the White House
• aided by anonymous informant “Deep Throat”, later revealed as FBI Associate Director Mark Felt in 2005

Question 8

What evidence led to Nixon’s downfall?

Answer 8

• evidence of a cover up emerged when the judge read a letter from James McCord revealing that the defendants were paid to stay silent
• John Dean, the White House lawyer, began to secretly cooperate with the Senate investigation
• fired in April but by this time it was too late
• May: televised Senate Watergate hearings began and witnesses revealed corruption in the White House - N’s approval rating plummeted

Question 9

What happened when Prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed the tapes?

Answer 9

• Nixon fought it citing Executive Privilege and National Security
• led to the House of Representatives to vote to impeach him for obstruction of justice and abuse of power
• 3500 hours of conversations released by Nixon for prosecutors to go through
• Nixon forced to resign

Question 10

What was the role of Congress in Watergate?

Answer 10

• Senate Committee investigated headed by Sam Ervin
• Republicans controlled Senate in 1973 and pushed for an even split of Republicans and Democrats in the Committee
• seven senator committee supported by team of investigative lawyers
• Nixon’s intransigence in handing over the tapes ended Republican interest in supportting him