The Watergate Scandal: Did the System Work?

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The Watergate Scandal Did the System Work?

• How the Watergate Scandal upheld the principle no
  man is above the law, and led to a series of
  reforms to restrain executive power, but also
  produced unintended consequences for American
  politics

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Please turn your Cells Phones Off
Senator Ervin says turn off your cell phones or
face impeachment from the class!
Senator Sam Ervin, Jr.
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Themes and Topics

• Role of Government
• Presidential Leadership Methods for Conducting
  Foreign Policy Nixon's "realpolitik" and Detente
  Foreign Policies
• Political Impact of Watergate on American
  Politics
• Congressional Challenges to the "Imperial
  Presidency"
• Cultural Change
• Growing Skepticism toward Authority and Tradition
  in 1970s
• Role of the Media in Challenging Authority

New Topic
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The Election of 1972
George McGovern v. Richard Nixon       TV ads
View the Political Ads for Nixon and McGovern
http//www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1
972 - 4037   Nixon's landslide View the
Electoral Map http//www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showe
lection.php?year1972
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The Watergate Affair

• A presidential resignation, the first and only
  one in US history
• Richard M. Nixon
• August 9, 1974
• What caused it? Three resolutions of impeachment
  passed by the House Judiciary Committee in late
  July 1974
• Obstruction of Justice
• Abuse of Power
• Violations of the Separation of Powers

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Historiography on the Watergate Scandal

• Points of view on the Watergate Scandal
• Liberal interpretation
• Democracy versus Despotism
• Lesson No Man is Above the Law
• Conservative interpretation
• National Security State versus Détente
• Lesson Nixon was destroyed by the Establishment

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CREEP, The Nixon Team
John Mitchell, Head of Committee to Reelect the
President
Maurice Stans, Sec. of Commerce and Finance
Chairman for Nixons campaign
(R) Robert (Bob) Haldeman and (L) John
Erlichman, White House Chief of Staff and
Domestic Advisor
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The Plumbers

• Nixon set up the plumbers to investigate leaks in
  his administration
• Secret Cambodian Bombing, 1969
• Pentagon Papers, 1971
• Watergate Break-in, 1972

G. Gordon Liddy
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Republican Dirty Tricks

• Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP)
• Donald Segretti manages ratfucking campaign
  during Democratic Primaries
• Object to influence candidate Nixon would face
  in November
• Extortion and Shakedowns

Donald Segretti
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Watergate Break-In

• On June 1, 1972, during the National Democratic
  Convention, a team of five burglars placed
  listening devices in the offices of the
  Democratic National Headquarters
• The team was discovered and arrested
• Who were they and why were they placing bugs?

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Journalists Investigate

• Two Beat reporters for the Washington Post metro
  section
• Aided by a Whistle-blower Woodward called Deep
  throat
• 1976 published All the Presidents Men

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Washington Post
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Plumbers Go To Court

• Role of Judge John J. Sirica
• The bribery of the Plumbers to not talk
• The Trial of the Watergate Burglars
• Grand Jury indictments

The five burglars
All the Presidents Men
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Congress Investigates

• Mike Mansfield, Senate Majority Leader pledge to
  investigate
• Senate creates a special Senate Select Committee
  on Campaign Practices
• Hearings begin May 17, 1973, dominated news
  May-July 1973

Led by North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin, the
Senate Watergate Committee linked CREEP to the
White House and revealed Tapes
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The Nixon Tapes

• Alexander Butterfield revealed Nixon Tapes to
  Senate Judiciary Committee
• What did the Tapes reveal?
• Burglary
• Bugging
• Extortion
• Pattern of lying
• Cover-up

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Nixon Resigns
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Critical Thinking Question

• Did the system work to bring a rouge President to
  heal?
• Yes
• The Congress, the Judicial system, and the media
  demonstrated the power of the rule of law to
  check abusive power
• The reforms enacted to restrain power restore
  separation of powers and sunshine to government
  conduct
• No
• The investigation and punishment of wrong-doing
  was limited and ineffectual
• The reforms enacted to restrain power were
  ineffectual
• The long term consequences of what was revealed
  by the Watergate Scandal set the stage for
  lasting cynicism toward Americans leaders

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Final Mystery Who Was Deep Throat?

• Deep throat, the most famous whistle-blower in US
  history
• Source of insider information on Watergate affair
  for two Washington Post reporters
• Best kept secret in Washington history

Mark Felt, Former FBI Official
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Conclusions

• The Watergate Scandal helps explain Nixons
  success in the 1972 election
• Nixons resignation demonstrated the vitality of
  the Congress, the judiciary, and the media as
  checks on unrestrained power
• The long term consequences of the scandal were
  muted by ineffectual reforms, the loss of media
  independence, and a growing cynicism about
  politics and leadership