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9.3 - The Watergate Scandal

Added Mar 18, 2019 •

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Watergate the most significant scandal in American political history maybe you heard of it before maybe you have it nevertheless it reshaped American politics and how Americans do their govern the Scandal is so important any pop culture scandal after for example deflategate with the New England Patriots the suffix of gate implies a scandal of great impact and it's all because of Watergate and the impact it still hasn't our society today so what was Watergate scandal in 1972 President Richard Nixon committed several felonies while in office by authorizing the burglary of the office of his Democratic opponents during the 1972 presidential election I brought me those involved to keep them from implicating his role in the crime and my misleading investigators in destroying evidence that would have proved his guilt the Scandal would force Nixon to become the first and only President to resign from any cause the American people too deeply distraught this destruct still exist today where the Warrenton or not and sometimes manifest itself in conspiracy theories and outlandish claims that are never prove it so how did Watergate happen June 17th 1972 give me the Democratic party offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC that are caught by security guard the burglars are arrested and taken into custody the burglars had photographed documents when the electric and had planned to wire tap the phones in the office the Nixon campaign plan to use this information to stay a step ahead of the Democrats and win the election themselves nothing seemed unusual about the crime until the Press discovered that one of the accused burglars James McCord was a leader of a group called the committee to reelect the president this directly implicated that the Nixon campaign was responsible for committing the crime for the purpose of cheating in the election and that perhaps the president himself was involved privately to panic and separate covering up his involvement in the crime Nixon incriminating papers destroyed of the White House office has any ask the CIA to urge the FBI to stop desiccation into the burglaries because a few months later the committee to read the president pay the burgers almost half-a-million dollars in hush want to keep them from talking to the FBI and possibly containing the president and his inner circle of advisers can the crime initially the public. Very little for the Nixon Administration continues to deny any is Nixon ran for reelection in 1972 he continued to brush up with candle is nothing more than a salacious rumor and ridiculous conspiracy that's just plain poppycock we're going to stay on this job that we get the job. wallow in Watergate we're going to do our job the strategy work and Richard Nixon easily defeated George McGovern and was re-elected in one of the biggest landslides in presidential history however as 1973 started the Scandal surrounding Nixon Watergate break-in began to heat up a secret unnamed Source inside the White House begin leaking information to the Washington Post a connected members of the Nixon Administration to the burglary to reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein persistently publish article using it provided by their Source inside the White House and the public began to demand answers from Nixon the Scandal reached a fever pitch when kings record when on trial record was the former coordinator the committee to reelect the president who was arrested in the burglary record notify the court I get by. how to protect the president and provided statements in the court that suggest the members of the Nixon administration were involved in the burglary even at its highest level April 3019 73 is White House counsel John Dee and announces the resignation of his chief of staff HR Haldeman and cheap domestic advisor John ehrlichman Nixon hope that by forcing his position people convince the American people that he help those in Administration who were involved in the crime response and that it might take a presumption of guilt off of him personally Nixon also announced that he was appointing a new attorney general Elliot Richardson and he was authorizing him to appoint a special prosecutor Archibald Cox did the Watergate break-in Nixon hope that this action by make it appear as though he had nothing to hide because he was willing to have the matter investigated from within the White House but Nixon was wrong May 1973 the Senate convenes a special Committee of their own to investigate. hebraic and they call an Administration officials provide testimony under oath on whether the president was personally involved in the crime President Nixon's criminality in the Watergate scandal begins to reveal itself in the Senate subcommittee June 1973 cancel John Dean testifies under oath that President Nixon personally plan to cover up and had authorized the destruction of evidence and the bribing of the accused to keep them quiet July 1973 White House aide Alexander Butterfield revealed to the subcommittee that Nixon has secretly recorded nearly every conversation he had had in the White House and over-the-phone the tapes could prove Nixon's role in the Scandal and provide evidence of his guilt these tapes would become known as the Nixon tapes and would be his undoing October 19th special prosecutor Archibald Cox who's President Nixon demanding he turn over the White House tapes but they could be reviewed for evidence Nixon refused to turn over the tapes and ordered his attorney general Elliot Richardson to fire Cox this movement Nixon look like you had something to hide CMC arthritis appointment of Cox Richardson refused to fire Cox and resign as attorney general rather than follow Nixon's I have to go order the deputy attorney general who took over for Richardson also refused to fire cop and he was fired by Nixon Hispanic flurry of and firings over the Nixon tapes became known as the Saturday night Massacre just days before vice president Spiro Agnew resign after I came to light that he has accepted legal Brides the entire Nixon Administration appear to be corrupted acne was replaced quickly by House minority leader Gerald Ford disturbed by Nixon's behavior and convinced of adequate evidence of presidential wrongdoing the House Began preparing for impeachment hearings the Nixon presidency was quickly coming to a disgrace to end March 19th 74 Federal grand jury indict seven presidential aides on charges of conspiracy obstruction of justice and perjury perjury is the crime of lying under oath spring 1974 Federal investigators demand that President Nixon hand over on versions of his secret White House tapes Nixon refuses claiming that doing so would jeopardize National Security and that is private a protected by executive privilege or a special protection that Nixon thought the President should have said put him Above the Law Nixon it always blue in an imperial presidency for the presidency have a special elevated status in government that made it more powerful than the other branch and given an immunity from the law even after he left office he told reporter David Frost that means that it is not illegal July 24th 1974 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Nixon claimed that the president had no executive privilege to hide potential criminal evidence they decide that Nixon tapes to investigators for the house committee approves three articles of impeachment for President Nixon impeachment is when a sitting president is put on trial in the Senate after being accused of crimes while in office if convicted by the Senate the president is removed from office and could face prison Nixon was charged with obstruction of justice abuse of power and contempt of congress for refusing to hand over his tapes if the House of Representatives voted to impeach Nixon you would have to stand trial in the Senate laminate everything I've got disgraced and Nixon comply with the Supreme Court ruling the president release White House tapes but there were gaps in the audio that has been erased making it appear that Nixon was intentionally trying to destroy evidence however investigators discovered a conversation that provided evidence that Nixon had not only known about the break-in but he personally approve of the plans cover up the crime and play back bi August 8th 1974 with overwhelming evidence of his criminal guilt and hoping to avoid impeachment and an almost certain conviction in the Senate Richard Nixon announce his intention to resign the presidency I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow vice president for will be sworn in as president at that hour in this off I'm doing even as several of his former advisor convicted of crimes related to Watergate break-in in the office of the presidency his newly appointed vice president sworn in as the 38th president of the United States September 8th 1974 of the Watergate scandal President Ford address the nation from the old and granted a full presidential pardon tours any crimes he may have committed against the United States and by the president do France a full free and absolute pardon on to Richard Nixon are all offenses again the United States would never face jail time for any crimes that connected him to the Watergate burglary the American people have never really recovered from Watergate still distrustful of government a crisis of confidence and nausea leadership has led to decades a partisan politics and Richard Nixon's Legacy seems to be divided up on those party want to conservative he was a tight revolutionize Cold War diplomacy and ushered in a new era of conservative to Liberal he was a criminal in the most what man to ever hold the present regardless of opinion Nixon's Legacy is dominated by water and it will be forever

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9.3 - The Watergate Scandal

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