Watergate Scandal

Watergate Scandal

Watergate refers to the political scandal that took place in United States in June 17, 1972. It all began when 5 men were arrested after breaking into the DNC headquarters which is located at the Watergate complex. The FBI investigations found a connection between the cash was being held by the burglars and the slush fund that had been utilized in the president Nixon re-election campaign. In July 1973, the Senate Watergate Committee obtained evidence against the linked Nixon’s staff to the scandal, which included testimony by the former the former staff members. Through investigations, it was discovered that Nixon had recorded many conversations as he had a tape-recording system in his office (Schudson 77). The court issued orders requiring president Nixon to release the recorded tapes to the government investigators. According to the information obtained from the tapes, there was an attempt by Nixon to cover up the activities that occurred after the burglars broke in, and tried to use the federal officials to deter investigations.

Suspicion and Indictments

There was suspicion on the illegal activities that were being carried out by members of Nixon administration which included bugging political opponents’ offices. Also, Nixon together with his close aides acted suspicions by ordering investigations of political figures and activist groups using the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as political weapons (Schudson 77). There was an indictment of 69 people, where 48 were found guilty of the offenses. Surprisingly, many of those found guilty were top Nixon officials. On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned the presidency after running of his planned impeachment by the House of Representatives and also following the senate conviction. On this notion, Nixon’s resignation was aimed at preventing the house from impeaching him, where he was pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford in 1974.

Works Cited

Schudson Michael. “Notes on Scandal and the Watergate Legacy.” Journal of American

Behavioural Scientist. 2004: 47(9): 76-89