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Watergate

Watergate. Thinking Skill : Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions Objective : Understand the events of Watergate and assess its overall impact on US history and politics. Watergate. Why did Watergate occur? How did it take place? What were they specifically doing here?.

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Watergate

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  1. Watergate Thinking Skill: Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions Objective: Understand the events of Watergate and assess its overall impact on US history and politics

  2. Watergate Why did Watergate occur? How did it take place? What were they specifically doing here?

  3. What you must know… • Watergate –not as much about the actual break in but much more about the cover-up • Watergate break-in itself was one of several in a series of events going back well before 1972 (“Dirty Tricks”) • Nixon was never called to testify and resigned just before inevitable impeachment • Nixon and the entire nation were preoccupied with Watergate throughout 1973 and much of 1974, making it nearly a 2 year ordeal which likely would have been drawn out even longer had Nixon not resigned when he did

  4. Watergate: An Overview • Personality and psychology of Nixon • Pentagon Papers, leaks, creation of Plumbers-during Nixon’s first term • CRP (“Creep”) • “All the President’s Men”-Several spent time in prison for their role • Operation “Gemstone” – included several “black bag ops” • June 17 1972—the break in—broke big rule of espionage (direct link to the White House) • 5 men caught and arrested, story made the paper but few people, if any, would understand its full significance at the time

  5. The President’s men: H.R. Haldeman and John Erlichman

  6. John Mitchell—Attorney General

  7. The Break-In

  8. A key piece of evidence

  9. The Break-In

  10. The Level of Nixon’s involvement • “Smoking gun” conversation June 23, 1972 just 6 days after break-in -this dialogue would prove important later when discovered Nixon: When you get in these people . . . say: "Look, the problem is that this will open the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing, and the President just feels that” – without going into the details — don’t, don't lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre, without getting into it. "The President's belief is that this is going to open the whole Bay of Pigs thing up again. And because these people are plugging for, for keeps, and that they should call the FBI in and say that we wish for the country, don't go any further into this case,” period.. . . • Significance of these words --obstruction of justice, President halted an FBI investigation, would later appoint new FBI director L. Patrick Grey who ironically would do more to increase the investigation into Watergate

  11. Watergate: The Cover-up vs. the pursuit of truth • Nixon’s press secretary called Watergate a “Third Rate burglary” • Landslide re-election in Nov of ’72 • As 1972 progressed, story gained momentum in press and cover-up worsened • An increasing pressure to pay off the burglars. Where did the money come from? CRP campaign funds • Into 1973 – investigations, kept alive in press, especially by Woodward and Bernstein of Washington Post • Famous leak -- “Deep Throat”– informant (mostly famous due to the mysterious nature of his identity for decades) – revealed in 2005 to be Associate Director of FBI Mark Felt.

  12. The power of the press and the one who helped keep the story alive

  13. John Dean

  14. Watergate: Turning points • John Dean - March 1973 - “Cancer on the Presidency” conversation (Nixon authorizes more payments for “hush money”) • Soon after Dean realized that he may become a sacrificial lamb for Watergate. He had been a loyal White House counsel, but would tell all to Grand Jury (but where was the evidence to prove him right?) • Televised hearings about Watergate pick up momentum “What did the president know, when did he know it?” –Senator Howard Baker • White House taping system is revealed July 1973 • The presence of tape recording--why he did it and what we know because of it: -block legal investigation (obstruction of justice), abuse of power, authorizing perjury, cover-up, cover-up of the initial cover-up • Nixon Administration’s defense - “National Security”

  15. The Oval Office

  16. The incriminating technology • Phone calls were also recorded

  17. Watergate: Backlash • April 30 1973, Nixon fired Dean and accepted resignations of Erlichman and Haldeman • In October 1973, VP Spiro Agnew - due to a separate issue involving tax fraud and bribery while Governor of Maryland -- was forced to resign rather than face impeachment charges, thus planting the idea of impeachment as a political tool for many in Congress. (What specifically does impeachment mean?) • October 20, 1973: Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fired Archibald Cox and abolished the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus are forced to resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress. • Gerald Ford sworn in as VP -Was Ford chosen as VP as part of a “backroom deal” to pardon Nixon in the future? -This is not likely. In fact Nixon privately commented about his lack of faith in Ford as a future president, therefore he saw Ford as his own “impeachment Insurance”

  18. November 17, 1973: In a public address to the nation, Nixon declared "I'm not a crook" to maintain his innocence in the Watergate case, but this phrase still haunts his presidency even today

  19. Legal battle over tapes – in the end Nixon cooperated under pressure • 18 ½ minute gap in tapes revealed • Tapes are made public – “expletive deleted” becomes a common phrase

  20. The Rose Mary Woods “Stretch”

  21. The Road to Resignation • April 30, 1974: The White House released more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insisted that the tapes themselves must be turned over. • July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president's claims of executive privilege. • July 27, 1974: House Judiciary Committee passed the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice. • Even Nixon loyalists will likely vote to impeach him

  22. The Looming Impeachment • The House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 on July 27, 1974 to recommend the first article of impeachment against the president: obstruction of justice. The second: abuse of power, and third: contempt of Congress articles were passed on July 29, 1974 and July 30, 1974, respectively. (On August 20, 1974, the Committee would formally submit H. Rept. 93-1305 which included the text of the resolution impeaching President Nixon and setting forth articles of impeachment against him

  23. U.S. v. Richard Nixon

  24. Public Reaction Intensifies

  25. Holding Out to the End

  26. Resignation • Nixon addressed the nation on August 8,1974 to announce his resignation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOGJJ7UKFM • “I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad.” • “By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.” • “I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my Judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the Nation.” • Full text - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/links/nixon_speech.html

  27. Nixon’s Farewell Speech Excerpt 8/9/74 “And so I say to you on this occasion we leave, we leave proud of the people who have stood by us and worked for us and served this country. We want you to be proud of what you've done. We want you to continue to serve in Government, if that is your wish. Always give your best; never get discouraged; never be petty. Always remember others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself. “

  28. Short and Long Term Impact • Ford pardoned him Sept 8, 1974 - “our long national nightmare is over” • Legacy – “gate” suffix is added to every scandal • Public will vote for a Washington outsider in ’76 (Jimmy Carter) • Voter apathy, lingering bad taste of political corruption

  29. Frost/Nixon

  30. Frost/Nixon interviews in 1977 -I'm saying that when the President does it, it's not illegal! Closest thing to a Nixon apology? -I let them down. I let down my friends, I let down my country, and worst of all I let down our system of government, and the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but now they think: "Oh it's all too corrupt and the rest." Yeah... I let the American people down. And I'm gonna have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.

  31. Q. Who am I? (Yale Law School graduate of 1973)

  32. A. Hillary Rodham Clinton • In 1974 she was a member of the impeachment inquiry staff in Washington, D.C., advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal. Under the guidance of Chief Counsel John Doar and senior member Bernard Nussbaum, Rodham helped research procedures of impeachment and the historical grounds and standards for impeachment.The committee's work culminated in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974.

  33. Did President Ford “Do the Right thing” in Pardoning Nixon?

  34. Break in at Watergate Hotel-’72 Nixon’s cover-up Role of media - Washington Post Hearings, Tapes Revealed Agnew Resigned Saturday Night Massacre Tapes Released & Congress moves to impeach Nixon resigned Ford (new VP) takes over and pardons Nixon Watergate – Review of Key Events

  35. Showed the President was not above the law and Constitution Balance of power in govt. Distrust of govt. officials and ‘D.C insiders’ Disillusionment of people (Justice?) “Imperial Presidency” Role of Media Watergate Legacy Nixon’s last goodbye

  36. Questions from video—Watergate The Final Report - National Geographic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFID6Qkwh88 • What were the burglars looking for? • Why illegal tactics? • What does CRP hope to learn? • What is Nixon so paranoid about? • What are Nixon’s aides concerned the press will find? • Importance of Deep Throat?

  37. More questions • Who is paying the burglar’s legal bills? • What is Nixon’s level of involvement? (role?) • Why does Nixon dismiss his loyal aides? • What did the president know and when did he know it? • Why did Nixon tape his conversations? • Why did he not destroy his tapes?

  38. Sources • Fred Emery Watergate, 1995 • National Geographic Watergate the Final Report” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFID6Qkwh88 • A & E Watergate special from 1994 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kx0R-rpRmY

  39. Marty Dardis of Endicott NY and his role in Watergate • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802047.html

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