The 37th president of the United States, Richard Nixon, was involved criminally in a case during his presidency. He took many steps to try to cover the crime, steps that were crucial to his presidency, in which he was involved in a “Saturday Night Massacre” and allowed others to take the blame for his actions. Nixon may not have planned the scandal, nor was he even a part of the burglary, but he did many things to make it seem like he had no idea that any of the scandal had occurred. Nixon was eventually caught, and the scandal itself and Nixon’s end of presidency impacted him and the government immensely.
On June 17, 1972 several men were arrested for the break in of the Watergate Office in Washington, D.C. The scandal was eventually …show more content…
However, Nixon did not want word about the crime to get out, so he almost immediately created a plan to cover it up. He didn’t want the people who were involved with the break in to say anything about the scandal, and he wanted to hold off leaking information about it until the election in November, so he offered one million dollars in hush-money, even if he didn’t have it (Genovese). One of Nixon’s White House tapes had proof that he was offering money to keep the burglars quiet: “‘We could get that. If you need the money, I mean, uh, you could get the money … you could get a million dollars. And you could get it in cash. I, I know where it could be gotten…. I mean it 's not easy, but it could be done’” (Genovese). In a speech that Nixon had given, he stated that he was appalled to learn that people of his White House staff were a part of the break-in (Nixon). Nixon was certain he was going to keep it …show more content…
However, instead of the press just asking questions that won’t go too far on the personal level, they began asking personal questions. Instead of the investigations focusing more primarily on the criminal aspect of it, the investigators became more personal. They were trying to out the personal lives and habits of the government officials (Genovese). Income tax of political people, such as the president, are now expected, but not required, from the press (Friedman). The scandal also further divided the political parties, and helped to show a disagreement that made compromise and arrangement very difficult (Genovese). Congress created many acts because of the Watergate Scandal. Each of these acts were created to effectively lessen the powers that the president was given (Genovese). They were created so Congress could regain some of the power that they had lost. They increased their staff and fact-finding abilities in hopes of becoming more free of the executive (Benedict). The scandal also brought upon series of presidency bashing and presidency-curbing legislation that was trying to control the sovereign presidency that had came out of the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal
On June 17, 1972 several men were arrested for the break in of the Watergate Office in Washington, D.C. The scandal was eventually …show more content…
However, Nixon did not want word about the crime to get out, so he almost immediately created a plan to cover it up. He didn’t want the people who were involved with the break in to say anything about the scandal, and he wanted to hold off leaking information about it until the election in November, so he offered one million dollars in hush-money, even if he didn’t have it (Genovese). One of Nixon’s White House tapes had proof that he was offering money to keep the burglars quiet: “‘We could get that. If you need the money, I mean, uh, you could get the money … you could get a million dollars. And you could get it in cash. I, I know where it could be gotten…. I mean it 's not easy, but it could be done’” (Genovese). In a speech that Nixon had given, he stated that he was appalled to learn that people of his White House staff were a part of the break-in (Nixon). Nixon was certain he was going to keep it …show more content…
However, instead of the press just asking questions that won’t go too far on the personal level, they began asking personal questions. Instead of the investigations focusing more primarily on the criminal aspect of it, the investigators became more personal. They were trying to out the personal lives and habits of the government officials (Genovese). Income tax of political people, such as the president, are now expected, but not required, from the press (Friedman). The scandal also further divided the political parties, and helped to show a disagreement that made compromise and arrangement very difficult (Genovese). Congress created many acts because of the Watergate Scandal. Each of these acts were created to effectively lessen the powers that the president was given (Genovese). They were created so Congress could regain some of the power that they had lost. They increased their staff and fact-finding abilities in hopes of becoming more free of the executive (Benedict). The scandal also brought upon series of presidency bashing and presidency-curbing legislation that was trying to control the sovereign presidency that had came out of the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal