The Watergate scandal is probably one of the most controversial conspiracies to have ever hit the United States of America.It brought a whole nation to its knees and shook the peoples’ trust in the government like no other scandal.The saddest part is that it was investigated by numerous law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency who unveiled a scheme by incumbent President Nixon to use illegal means in the 1972 presidential elections against his opponent Senator George McGovern.It however did not go well and led to his resignation later on in August 9, 1974 in the most embarrassing political fete of the history of the United States.
President Richard Nixon had orchestrated a conspiracy to ensure that he won the 1974 elections and remained president through a series of well-plotted events that included break-ins, wire taps and blatant disregard for the voice of the American people when they asked for his resignation.It was plan that would see him retain office for the second term had the deal not gone south.The truth is it was a campaign strategy meant to propel him to the White House for another term with minimal struggle as he would know his opponent’s next campaign strategy and moves before he even made it.
He won the elections but in a sad twist of affairs, he had to resign halfway into his second term owing to numerous protests and impeachments after revelation of the Watergate scandal .But president Nixon did not go down easily as he ignorantly failed to acknowledge that the American people had lost all trust in the chief executive officer and the government as a whole.He also failed to heed to three impeachment articles approved by the Judiciary Committee who cited obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress and reported those articles to the House of Representatives. Two other articles of impeachment were debated but were never approved as president Nixon released the ‘Smoking Gun Tape’ which incriminated him and showed his participation in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal.He went on to resign a few days later.The whole mess from the start of the scandal, the cover up and his continued failure to acknowledge the will of the American people for him to resign broke the confidence of the nation in the Government to a large extent.
On May 28,1972, there was a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.Police reports called it a minor burglary and the case was not investigated further.The burglary was covered in the Washington Post newspaper but did not spark public interest.This was probably because election statistics released showed that President Nixon was leading by a double digit margin to his Democratic National Committee contestant Senator George McGovern.This was an almost sure win for President Nixon as the polls were released six months prior to the election.
Later on,June 17th,1972, there was another break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters only this time a security guard at the building tipped the local police.When the police arrived, they managed to arrest five burglars at gunpoint with USD 2300,quite a hefty amount to be carried in cash.The news were again covered by the Washington Post and documents found at the Watergate Hotel,the burglars’ residence at the time, linked them directly to the White House. An ex-worker of the White House,Howard Hunt,was primarily connected to Charles Colson(President Nixon’s close ally) who he had worked for before exiting service.Most of the men arrested the night of the burglary were also connected to President Nixon’s re-election campaign committee.This prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to begin their investigations into the Watergate scandal raising questions in the public domain.
The media could already tell from President Nixon’s reactions at the time of the scandal like dodging the press and considering them as enemies that he was afraid of something.One of the perpetrators of the break-in decided to come forward owing to disownment by the re-election committee.In September of the same year, the five burglars were indicted which brought in more controversy to the story.The FBI in October the same year found out that the burglars had also been carrying out more surveillance than previously thought of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters.On election day,November 7th,1972, Nixon won by the biggest landslide to have ever been seen in the United States of America by winning in 49 states.
A month later, four of the five burglars pleaded guilty to charges against them and while two other suspects pleaded not guilty.Later on, January 30th 1973, the two suspects were found guilty and charged accordingly.The presiding judge, Judge Sirica, however asked the Senate to investigate further into the Watergate scandal citing discontent.The Senate heeded to the plea and formed a committee a week later to look into whether President Nixon ran illegal activities during his election campaign and his involvement in the Watergate scandal .By then, President Nixon was already taking measures to ensure the story was out of the limelight.He hired a young attorney named John Dean to handle the Watergate Scandal by controlling information flowing in and out of the White House.
During the sentencing of the seven burglars on 23rd March 1973, a letter written by one of the burglars named James McCord was read out to the court implicating members of the Nixon administration in the crime.It further alleged that political pressure had been mounted for them to plead guilty in court.This brought public interest in the matter to a whole new level.Protests began for president Richard Nixon to resign.
On April 6th 1973, the young attorney John Dean hired by president Nixon approached the Senate to shed more light onto the Watergate scandal.This did not auger well with Nixon who believed that John Dean was leak information,the very role he had hired him to control.Nixon asked John Dean eleven days later.The final blow came when he also asked two of his most trusted allies Haldeman and Ehrilchman on 29th April,1973.Adding salt to the injury,he released a press statement the next day claiming Haldeman and Ehrilchman were involved in the Watergate scandal prompting their resignation.
Senate hearings began soon after on May 17th1973.Key witnesses were grilled by the Senate on what they knew about the Watergate scandal.The proceedings were aired live on all major national television networks as this was a matter of public interest.On June 25th, John Dean decided to testify.He confessed that Nixon had something to do with the bugging and the burglary of the Watergate complex.In July the same year, president Nixon’s little known deputy assistant was asked by the Senate if he knew about president Nixon recording his conversations in his oval office.He said yes.
The question of president Nixon taping himself took the whole nation by surprise.Everybody knew that if they got their hands on those recordings, they would get all the answers they had been looking for.In July,special prosecutor Archibald Cox made a decision to subpoena the recordings.Nixon refused to surrender them.Instead, he ordered the attorney general and his deputy to fire the special prosecutor later on in October.They refused to do it and instead offered to resign.The solicitor general at the time however agreed to it and fired the special prosecutor.
In February 1974, the House of Representatives passed a resolution.It gave its Judiciary Committee authority to look into the possibility of impeaching president Nixon by confirming sufficient grounds for the impeachment process. Richard Nixon finally gave in and in April 1974,many Watergate related scripts revealing the conversations in president Nixon’s oval office were released.He however did not release all of the tapes until the Supreme Court ordered him to do so three months down the line.At the same time, the Judiciary Committee passed three articles for the impeachment of president Nixon.They ranged from contempt of Congress, abuse of power to obstruction of justice.
Out of all the tapes that were revealed,one particularly implicated him in the Watergate office complex break-in.It was recorded six days after the recording.Nixon is heard admitting to his Chief of Staff at the time how the arrest of Howard Hunt and another ex-CIA operative in the Vietnam war is not good for his campaign and the White House at large.He straight-forwardly asks the Chief of Staff to interfere with the investigation into the Watergate scandal through the CIA director.The CIA director however refuses to oblige.It came to be known as the ‘Smoking Gun Tape” as it directly linked him to complacence with the break-in.
By August, Nixon had lost most of the political support.As well, the House of Representatives was underway with the impeachment process as the Judiciary Committee agreed that there was enough reason for president Nixon to be impeached.On August 8th 1974, Richard Nixon gave a public statement that would resign the next day in the interest of public good.He resigned the next day.
Metropolitan 