• Home Page
  • Summary: After The Watergate Scandal

Summary: After The Watergate Scandal

Improved Essays
Show More
Olivia Plunkett
Mr. Reader
Impeachment
27 April 2015 After the Watergate scandal, former President Nixon was brought up on impeachment charges due to his involvement in the scandal. Many citizens called for the removal of Nixon from office, and he was brought up on impeachment charges, but resigned before there were any trials. According to the Constitution, a president “shall be removed from office for, and on conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Under these terms, I believe that the accusations against President Nixon were impeachable crimes due to not having the interest of the citizens in full mind.

The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States that resulted from the break-in …show more content…
However, Nixon was aware that he needed to remove the three men from office in a way that would seem natural and not be related to the scandal in any way to protect himself. Nixon by being involved in the scandal he acted through his agents in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens. Nixon knowingly misused the executive power by interfering with agencies of the executive branch during the investigation of his administration. By doing this, he betrayed the trust of the government further than before. Off the tapes he had recorded in secret, eighteen minutes were missing raising further suspicion against Nixon and the others involved in the scandal. To increase Nixon’s wrongdoings, any member of his administration that would possibly incriminate him, he had them removed from office. Though these actions in themselves are not criminal and/or grounds for impeachment, they were considered an abuse of federal power. After the scandal had been exposed to the public and the charges were brought up against the Nixon administration, they went to to trail in front of a grand jury in Washington, D.C., Seven of Nixon’s associates, including those who were already removed from office were indicted. These seven became known as the "Watergate Seven". Between the initial crime, the discovered slush …show more content…
Nixon, by having a slush fund and the lengths he went to cover up the crimes where the aspects of the scandal that warranted the impeachment charges. Nixon’s involvement in the scandal came to light in a media frenzy that resulted in a massive betrayal of trust for the citizens of the United States. Nixon’s actions at Watergate put his desires above those the US citizens and did not have the interest of the country in mind while accepting bribes, committing treason and attempting to silence other members of his administration by removing them from office and bribing them to stay

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Wars Of Watergate Summary
    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Wars Of Watergate Summary

    Speak the words presidential scandal, and what goes through a person’s mind is Watergate. This scandal set a precedent for all other scandals. What started as a promising presidential career for Richard Nixon, quickly turned into the largest and most devastating scandals the United States has ever known. It was June 1972 a five man crew of Cuban descent were apprehended by the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, in the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The report revealed that the crew was in possession of wiretapping equipment and cameras . Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, junior staffers for the Washington Post were on hand to break the story to the American people . This was no ordinary burglary; it garnered…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    What Is Gerald Ford's Involvement In The Watergate Scandal
    • 1980 Words
    • 8 Pages

    What Is Gerald Ford's Involvement In The Watergate Scandal

    President Nixon had a rocky end to his presidency with his suspected involvement in the Watergate Scandal. He was nearly impeached, but resigned before the process was finished. The Watergate Scandal was a break into the Democratic National Committee Office (President Gerald R Ford). It was suspected…

    • 1980 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Controversial Issues In The 1960's
    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Controversial Issues In The 1960's

    Nixon was in the midsts of running for reelection when five men had been caught arrested breaking in the Democratic party's offices at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. The men were found with thousands of dollars in cash and a notebook with a White House phone number in it that led back to Nixon. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein later claimed that Nixon's re-election campaign were the ones who paid one of the men caught $25,000 to expose a Republican campaign of being corrupt and give him a lead in the election but it had yet to be proven so despite this incident Nixon was still reelected and the accusations made against him were attempted to be covered up. But even being so the scandal didn’t go away or get easier for Nixon and his presidency just went downhill from there. At a hearing held by the Senate's special Watergate Committee, a presidential assistant admitted that everything was taped at the Oval Office and the phone calls between the men had been recorded, but Nixon denied this and refused to hand over the tapes. Furious and outraged Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and accepted the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. The tapes were finally released In response to a Supreme Court order , and on one of the tapes the president appears to have agreed to a cover-up just six days after the break-in. The House of Representatives began formal moves to impeach…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Use Of Allusions In President Richard Nixon's 'Oval Office'
    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Use Of Allusions In President Richard Nixon's 'Oval Office'

    n 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned from his second term in the Oval Office. President Nixon was involved in a scandal at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. The Republican president Nixon was believed to have ordered the burglars to go to the Democratic National committee for a crime of wire tapping and stealing documents. President Nixon tries to console, defending his honor, and remind the public all that has been accomplished.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Watergate Complex Analysis
    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Watergate Complex Analysis

    Watergate, an office complex located near the Potomac in Washington never seemed to serve as such an important place as it did on the evening of June 17. 1972. On that evening a burglary took place that not only would shape the rest of current President Nixon’s term in office, but would also shape how the American people see their President, and how the American people sees their government. Nevertheless, the story of the robbery came to Woodward on a Saturday, quite confused by the location of the robbery because two years earlier the building had been a place where thousands on Anit-Nixon Protesters shouted slurs to the Republican party that had been in the Watergate complex (APM 14) Quickly following a few phone calls Woodward realized that…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Watergate Scandal
    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Watergate Scandal

    My last insight is that although the Watergate Scandal mostly rocked this time period, there was several other illegal actions that took place that are talked about as much in history classes. An example of this was a fund that was used specifically by an attorney general to forge letters and steal campaign files.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Richard Nixon's Assassination
    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Richard Nixon's Assassination

    As Theodore White notes "The clumsy break-in at Democratic headquarters in 1972 by Nixon men was technically criminal but of no uglier morality than the spying at Barry Goldwater's headquarters which Howard Hunt of the CIA had supervised for Lyndon Johnson in 1964" (White 325). What made Nixon's activity lead to his resignation was the fact that did not fear any repercussions from engaging in such illegalities. He believed so fiercely in the secrecy of the Presidency that he never feared the repercussions of having machines recording self-incriminating evidence in the White House. After being accused of seeing himself as "above the law" by Dan Rather, Nixon stated the…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Nixon Quitter
    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Richard Nixon Quitter

    Those agents also listened to phone calls and stole papers from the Democratic Party. All of these were severe breaches of the law, but unlike what many think, it was not the actual crimes that caused Nixon the most hurt. As with many crimes, historian Anthony Summers believes that “it was his lying that most damaged him during Watergate” (p 2). After denying it for two years, a tape was found that showed Nixon's involvement despite repeated denials. Not wanting to hurt the country more through the process of impeachment, Nixon resigned from the office on August 8,…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Watergate Scandal Of Richard Nixon Essay
    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Watergate Scandal Of Richard Nixon Essay

    A new president is elected every four years to run our nation, represent the country, and uphold the Constitution of the United States. The President of the United States acts as the most powerful man in the world and therefore, we must place our trust into his hands. When the society discovers that their elected president becomes untrustworthy and secretive , a bond is broken. The Watergate Scandal of Richard Nixon and the most notorious political scandal of US history, imposed fear into the eyes of Americans, and forced them to question what will become of our nation. A bond of trust was broken by Nixon, as he initiated the wiretapping and break-in of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Causes Of The Watergate Scandal
    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Causes Of The Watergate Scandal

    The scandal involving President Nixon and many of his top aids took place over a total of 4 years and became known as the Watergate Affair. It involved many people, break ins, cover ups, corruption at the highest level of the American political system, and a man who would stop at nothing to achieve re-election. Watergate it’s self tested the faith of the American people in the democratic system and in the end led to the President losing the American peoples trust and support.…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Nixon Turning Point In American History
    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Richard Nixon Turning Point In American History

    Richard Nixon’s process of resignation started at a Democratic Party headquarters convention at the Watergate hotel in Washington DC. His desire to ensure his own reelection in 1972, Nixon authorized the establishment of a team of agents who he called the “plumbers” to tap telephones illegally and burglarize the offices of the opposing party opponents. (O’Brien, Steven). When these so called plumbers were caught at the convention and were…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandal
    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandal

    When someone mentions the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon, America’s 37th president, often comes to his or her mind. Early in the morning on June 17th, burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee of the Watergate building in Washington D.C. These burglars were later found to be connected to President Nixon’s reelection campaign. Nixon claimed that he never knew anything about the scandal, but later he was found guilty lying to the public about what had happened. He resigned from office and vice president Gerald Ford took Nixon’s place as the new president. Since this scandal in 1972, many people wonder about everything that happens behind the scenes of the government that the common public does not know about. Citizens often wonder…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Richard M. Nixon And The Watergate Scandal
    • 96 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Richard M. Nixon And The Watergate Scandal

    On September 8 in 1974, President Gerald Ford, who assumed office on the heels of President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, pardons his predecessor for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Congress had accused Nixon of obstruction of justice during the investigation of the Watergate scandal, which began in 1972. White House tape recordings revealed that Nixon knew about and possibly authorized the illegal break-in and wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee offices, located in the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. Rather than face impeachment and removal from office, Nixon chose to resign on August 8, 1974.…

    • 96 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Watergate Scandal Essay
    • 2288 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Watergate Scandal Essay

    Richard Nixon was in one of the most controversial issues that the United States has ever seen. The Watergate Scandal is now well known throughout history today. This issue led to Nixon resigning only 2 years in his 2nd term. Did President Nixon make the right decisions? Can anyone really trust the government after a situation like this? Some Historians believe that this changed the course of history, and that we can never truly trust the government again. While others believe that Nixon didn’t make the right decisions; however, this should not change the way the people look at our government. The government and the people need to keep a strong trust.…

    • 2288 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis Of Alan Brinkley's The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History
    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of Alan Brinkley's The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History

    But I feel some might say that corruption took place in the White House during Nixon’s presidency because he was involved in the Watergate scandal. I believe that President Nixon tried to use his executive power to get away with a crime. Even after he had resigned I still believe it was a bit suspicious that he didn’t get punished for anything he did. I feel President Nixon committed crimes when he engaged in a break in of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate building and tried to cover it up. He had tried to edit and refuse to give in tape recordings in order to cover up his connection. I feel that Nixon could have been charged with obstruction of justice when he refrained from complying with the proper procedures when being questioned and asked for the recordings. I also believe he should have been charged with being an accessory to a…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2023 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings