Watergate

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"The Watergate Complex is a series of modern buildings with balconies that looks like

filed down Shark's Teeth" (Gold, 1). Located on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

it contains many hotel rooms and offices. What happened in the complex on June 17,

1972 early in the morning became a very historical event for our nation that no one will

ever forget.

The "Watergate Scandal and constitutional crisis that began on June 17, 1972 with the

arrest of five burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee (DMC)

headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington D.C. It ended with the

registration of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. (Watergate)

At approximately 2:30 in the morning of June 17, 1972 five men were arrested at the

Watergate Complex. The police seized a walkie talkie, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35

millimeter cameras, lock picks, pensized teargas guns, and bugging devices. (Gold, 75)

These five men and two co-plotters were indicated in September 1972 on charges of

burglary, conspiracy and wire tapping. Four months later they were convicted and

sentenced to prison terms by District Court Judge John J. Sercia was convinced that

relevant details had not been unveiled during the trial and offered leniency in

exchanged for further information. As it became increasingly evident that the

Watergate burglars were tied closely to the Central Intelligence Agency and the

Committee to re-elect the president. (Watergate)

Four of these men, that were arrested on the morning of June 17, 1972, came from

Miami, Florida. They were Bernard L. Barker, Frank A. Sturgis, Virgillio R. Gonzalez, and

Eugenio R. Martinez. The other man was from Rockville, Maryland named James W.

McCord, Jr. The two co-plotters were G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt.

(Watergate)

The senate established and investigative committee headed by Senate Sam Ervin, Jr.,

to look into the growing scandal. As they were investigating, they related that the

famous break-in was far more involved than what everyone had expected. (Watergate)

The White Houses involvement of that morning first became evident when James

McCord wrote a letter to Judge Sirca. In this letter McCord explained that he wanted to

disclose the details of Watergate. He made it apparent that he would not speak to a

Justice department official of an FBI agent. Although his letter did unveil details, it

made server chargers. McCord justified that "Political pressure" (Westerfled 36) had

generated many defendants to plead guilty and remain silent. He also claimed that

there had been whiteness at the trail who had committed perjury in order to protect

the people who headed the brake-in. McCord declared that he, his family, and his friend

may be in danger if he spoke out. (Westerfled 36-37)

The Senate Watergate Committee saw their chance to unravel the mystery of this

scandal. The offered James McCord a chance to speak publicly. In his first meeting with

representatives of this committee he named two more people that he claimed were

involved in the burglary and cover-up. Theses two men were John Dean and Jeb

Margruder. Margruder was the second-in-charge of the CRP and Dean was a White

House aid. After hearing these substantial accusations the Senate Watergate

Committee promptly subpoenaed John Dean and Jeb Margruder. (Westerfled 37-38).

After the next session with James McCord he took the whiteness stand and explained

how Liddy had promised him an executive pardon if he would plead guilty. This began to

question the a White House involvement since only the president could present such a

pardon. (Westerfled, 40)

Jeb Margruder was the next witness to testify. He admitted his own perjury to the

Grand Jury and verified what McCord had said. While on the stand he also revealed

another name to add to the list of those involved, John Mitchell. (Gold, 246-247)

The next witness scheduled to appear was John Dean. In Dean's testimony he exposed

that the Watergate burglary had been only a part of a greater abuse of power. He said

that for four years the White House had used the powers of the presidency to attack

political enemies. They spied on and harassed anyone who did not agree with Nixon's

policies. If a reporter wrote stories criticizing the White House they would be singled

out for tax investigations. The White House also kept an "Enemies List" (Westerfled 43)

of people that the presidents men wanted revenge on. After being fired, dean kept

official documents that supported his statements. (Westerfled 43-44; Gold 309-330)

John Dean said, is his opening statements, that he had discussed the cover-up with

president Nixon in several meetings. At the first meeting, in September 1972, he told

the president how he and other members of the White House had handled the cover-up

so far. Dean claimed that in another important meeting with Nixon, on March 21, 1973,

the president agreed $1 million should be raised to silence the burgalers. However Dean

said that he dealt with the president mostly through H.R. Haldman and John Ehrlichman.

(Gold 266-308; Westerfled 43)

Dean faced the committee for four days of Questioning, after his opening statement.

During these four days the republicans focused on what happened in these meetings

between Dean and the president, which was the only evidence the president. The

question that Senator baker asked and was being wondered throughout the nation was,

what did the president know and when did he know it? (Westerfled, 43)

The Nixon administration tackled Dean's reports of the two meetings. They claimed that

the March 21, 1973 meeting was the first Nixon had heard of the cover-ups. The White

House's version was they the president had rejected the burglars' blackmail. (Hearings

02)

For the first time in this intriguing scandal the president himself had been accused. This

was the greatest blow the Nixon White House had sustained. "polls showed that 70

percent of TV viewers believed Deans version of the event" (Westerfled, 43). But who

was to be believed? It was John Deans Word against Richard Nixon's. (Gold 669-670;

Westerfled, 43)

The committee then made a shocking discovery, only a few weeks after Deans

testimony. As the committee was managing a routine aid, they asked him how the

White House administration came up with their version of what happened in the meeting

s of Dena and Nixon. His response was that the meetings had probably been recorded

on tape. (Westerfled 43)

Alexander Butterflied explained that the White House had been equipped with a

recording system. They were installed in his two offices, the Oval Room "The taping

device was spring load to a voice actuation situation." (Gold 436)

In Alexander Butterfields testimony he said that the recording system was installed to

help preserve all documents. The only people who knew of these recording devices

were the president, Haledman, Kigbe, Butterfield, and the secret service people. (Gold

434-442)

Now the committee had stumbled across exactly what they were looking for, a way to

prove the presidents innocence of guilt. The tapes of the meeting s between Dean and

Nixon were lying some where in the White House. These tapes would show which of

these men were lying and if the president of the united States had been involved in a

criminal conspiracy. Although when the senate asked him for the tapes the President

refused, but why?

On July 17, 1973 the Senate Committee went directly to the president about their

request. Congress wanted the tapes of all the important meetings. President Nixon

refused. The Committee decided to subpoena the tapes that afternoon. (Westerfled

45)

On the same day, July 17, 1973, special Prosecutor Archibald Cox had also subpoenaed

the tapes. He declared that they were significant for the grand jury's criminal

investigation. This was the first time anyone had ever subpoenaed the president of the

United States, and Nixon has two subpoenas in one day. Although the White House

claimed that neither Congress nor the special prosecutor had the right to demand

evidence from the executive branch and refused to obey. (Westerfled 45)

This started a powerful struggle. The Senate Committee wondered if they could find

the president in contempt of congress which would be a serious legal charge. But they

didn't know who would be a serious legal charge. But they didn't know who would arrest

him since the president controlled the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Armed

Forces. The committee had to think quick and come up with another way to get the

tapes. Cox and the grand jury was going to sue for the tapes in federal court. The

committee decided to follow the special prosecutor's lead. (Westerfled 43)

Both lawsuits went to Judge John Sirca, the same judge who presided the trials of the

Watergate burglars. Judge Sirca charged the president to turn over the tapes to the

special prosecutor. When the White House Appealed the decision the case went to the

Federal Court of appeals. (Westerfled 43)

Another scandal in the White House shocked the nation. The Department of Justice

announced that they had been investigating Vice President Spiro T. Anew for taking

large bribes in return for government contracts. He then resigned from office October

10, 1973. (Westerfled 47)

On October 15, 1973 the court of appeals sustained Judge Sirca's ruling and demanded

that the president give the subpoenaed tapes to the Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox.

Nixon ordered Cox not to subpoena any more tapes, although Cox said he would do so.

Cox also told him that if he refused he would find him in contempt of the court.

(Westerfled 45)

Nixon was beyond furious. Cox was a employee of the executive branch and questioning

the authority of the president. Nixon ordered Richardson's deputy attorney general

William D. Ruckelshavs to fire Cox. He also refused and was fired. The third-ranking

Justice Department official, Solicitor General Robert H. Bork, was now acting as

Attorney General. He agreed to fire Cox. This event was called the "Saturday

Massacre." (Westerfled 48)

The nation raged in anger. So Nixon agreed to hand the tapes over to Sirca's court and

appoint a new Special Prosecutor. The new prosecutor was Leon Jaworski. Jaworski

was a very well known lawyer and accepted the offer on the one condition that Nixon

could not fire him. (Westerfled 48-49)

As the presidents lawyers were going over the tapes preparing them for the special

prosecutor they made an alarming discovery. During a conversation between Nixon and

Haldman there was an 18-minute gap. This made the nation lose even more faith in

their president. (Westerfled 49)

On April 11, 1974 Special Prosecutor Jaworski demanded the White House turn over 69

more tapes. Once again the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to supply the

subpoenaed tapes. (Westerfled 51-54)

"On July 27-30, the House Judiciary Committee, whose public hearings had disclosed

evidence of illegal White house activities, recommended that Nixon be impeached on

three charges: obstruction of Justice, abuse of presidential power, and trying to impede

the impeachment process by defying committee subpoenas." (Watergate) Millions of

people watched the committee vote on television. There were twenty-seven votes for

the impeachment and only eleven against it. He was accused of misuse of his authority

and also violating the constitutional rights of citizens by ordering the FBI and Secret

Services to spy on American citizens. The last thing he was charged with was refusing

to obey congress's subpoenas. Nixon had broken his oath to up hold the law.

(Watergate)

With the impeachment vote against him, Nixon would have to stand trial before the

U.S. senate. Two-thirds of the senate would have to vote for impeaching the

president. Nixon would be removed from office. (Westerfled 46)

On August 5, 1974 the White House released an overdue transcript of the tapes. The

recording was from June 23, 1972, only a week after the break-in. This tape told how

Nixon ordered Haldeman to tell the CIA to cease the FBI"s investigation of Watergate.

These tapes made it clear that Nixon was involved in the cover-up from the beginning.

(Westerfled 56)

At nine o'clock August 8, 1974 Nixon made his last speech as president Richard M.

Nixon. He only admitted loosing the support he had from Congress. He said "I have

never been a quitter, to leave office before my term is complete is abhorrent to ever

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. Therefore, In shall resign the

presidency effective at noon tomorrow." (Westerfled 57)

The next morning Nixon addressed a tearful White House staff. He then boarded a

helicopter and began his journey home to San Clemente, California. (Westerfled 57)

At noon the Vice President, Gerald R. Ford, was inaugurated. He became the

thirty-seventh president of the United States. He told the American people in his first

speech "Our long national nightmare is over." (Westerfled 57)

Bibliography

Gold, Gerald ed. Watergate hearings. New York: Bantam books, 1978.

Westerfled, Scott. Watergate. Englewood Cliffs: Silber Burdett, 1991.

"Watergate". Grolier Electronic Publishing. 1992.

The New grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Danbury, CT: Grolier Electronic Publising

Inc., 1993.

Microsoft Encarta. Microsoft Corporation: Funk & Wagnalls Corporation, 1993.