Richard Nixon and Watergate
Raina White
Richard Nixon
- May or may not have known about the Watergate operation but he wanted to cover it up.
- He destroyed evidence and fired uncooperative staff members.
- Nixon was the first president to resign; but it was either resign or be impeach by the Senate.
- Made the American people question the presidency after the Watergate scandal.
- Gerald Ford finished out Richard Nixon's second term and pardoned Nixon from crimes he may or may not have committed.
Summary
To ensure Nixon's reelection seven burglars broke into the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. They were caught by a guard while they tried to wiretap phones and stealing documents. The guard called the cops who then caught the seven men - later on they all were found guilty but only two were convicted in January 1973. Nixon made a speech in August 1972 ensuring the American people that he and his staff had no clue about the break-in until afterwards. And later own the presidential election. Around the same time, others - like the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - started to suspect that there was something greater happening behind the scenes. Eventually people started coming forward to testify against the president, one of which was the White House counsel John Dean. When they found out that the president was withholding evidence they started going after him. Nixon eventually handed over the tapes - even though there were parts of the tapes that were erased. The senate was going to impeach Nixon but instead he resigned. He was replaced by Gerald Ford, who pardoned all the crimes that Nixon may or may not have committed.