Richard Nixon & Watergate

Nixon’s Background

• Republican

• Eisenhower’s Vice President

• Ran for president against (and lost to)

JFK in 1960

• Elected President in 1968*

• Nixon was a real Paranoid guy. He

was always afraid that the media

was out to get him, or that

someone might be out to get him.

– So he had the Oval Office bugged.

– The tape started rolling when it

detected someone talking.

– So all conversations held in the Oval

Office were recorded.*

The Watergate Scandal • Watergate was/is a fancy hotel in

Washington DC

• “Watergate” is a catchall term that refers to

a series of Abuses (and subsequent cover

ups) perpetrated by the Nixon

administration, that came to light with a

failed break-in of the Democratic Party

Headquarters in the Watergate hotel in

1972

• 1972 Nixon was running against Democrat

George McGovern*

• The Watergate was where the

headquarters of the Democratic Party was

stationed.

• John Dean, a High Official in the

Committee to Re-Elect the President

(C.RE.E.P) planned a break-in to the

Democratic Party headquarters*

John Dean

• 2 theories of why he did it

1). to find out information to help win the

Presidential Election

2). to find out what the Democratic party knew

about Dean’s involvement with a prostitution

ring that they had been investigating.

• The Break In was a disaster and the guys got

caught

• Nixon didn’t know about the break-in plans,

but he proceeded to cover them up!

(Paranoia)

– He and Dean offered “Hush Money” to the

burglars

– They laundered the $ through a bank in Mexico

– The FBI investigated and Nixon and his guys tried

to keep them from finding evidence*

• Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein--aka

“Woodward & Bernstein” (reporters

for the Washington Post) relying on

anonymous sources broke the story of a

high level cover-up.

• So Nixon had to defend himself publicly a lot

at this time.

• This is when he gave his famous “I am not a

crook” speech

• In the end, it was the tapes from the Oval

Office that got Nixon busted

– Nixon was ordered by Congress to give up

the tapes.

• He Refused

• He fired a bunch of people and a

bunch more quit

–Known as the “Midnight Massacre”

• His refusal to give up the tapes led to

calls for impeachment.

• Through the tapes it becomes clear that

Nixon is guilty of obstructing justice

and covering up the break in.

• But also being involved in LOTS of this

type of thing

• Paying out secret “Hush Money” to

people for all sorts of secret stuff

• Aug. 8 1974 Nixon ultimately becomes the 1st

& only President to resign

• The shame is that he won the 1972 election

in a landslide!

• He never needed Watergate to win, but he

was paranoid.

• Nixon was succeeded by his vice president

Gerald Ford…

…who pardoned him for any

crimes he might have committed.