| “ | Watergate tore us apart. It divided the nation like nothing else had. | „ |
| ~ Walter Cronkite |
Thee Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation just 2 years after the scandal. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continuous attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C. Watergate Office Building.
Background edit
In June 1972, a security guard at the Watergate Hotel saw that a door was not locked. There was some tape over the latch. Someone pulled the tape off. Later, he saw that someone had re-taped the door. He called the police on Five men wiretapping, They got an arrest. They were caught with wiretapping equipment.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were two reporters from the Washington Post. They kept digging into the facts. Then, a secret friend called "Deep Throat" (Deputy director of FBI Mark Felt) gave them information. The reporters soon found links to the White House. The burglars were on the White House payroll.
Americans were shocked to learn that the burglars were on President Nixon's re-election team, the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. The burglars had bugged the Democratic headquarters to steal information. Information was used to help Nixon re-elected. People were given large amounts of money to cover up or hide the facts about the break-in.
Nixon's office told America that none of Nixon's staff as part of the break-in. The following November, Americans re-elected Nixon for a second term as U.S. President. In January 1973, White House aides were convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping. In April 1973, Nixon said that he did not know about the planning of the Watergate break-in or covering it up. At that time, Nixon fired his lawyer John Dean, Other Nixon aides resigned and others quit their jobs.
By May 1973, a Senate committee had an investigation going on, Americans watched the hearings on TV. Soon, Nixon's former lawyer John Dean ratted Nixon out, He testified that Nixon knew about the break-in or cover-up. Dean said that he helped with the cover-up. In July 1973, the Senate committee learned that Nixon had secretly made tape recordings of conversations in his White House offices. The committee thought there could be information about the Watergate events on the tapes. They asked for the tapes. Nixon refused to hand them over. U.S. District Court Judge John Sirica ordered Nixon to give up the tapes. Nixon refused for the second time.
In October 1973, many important people who worked with Nixon suddenly quit their jobs or were fired. It was looking like Nixon was guilty about Watergate. Nixon give up and gave the tapes to the judge, But three main parts were missing. The White House said it was an accident that the parts were missing. On November 17th, 1973, President Nixon told Americans, "I'm not a crook." He wanted Americans to think that he was innocent in the Watergate case. In February 1974, the House of Representatives began looking into the impeachment of Richard Nixon. In April 1974, Nixon was ordered to give up all tapes. When Nixon refused for the third time, the special prosecutor sued President Nixon, The suit went to the Supreme Court. In July 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes. The Supreme Court ruled that a President cannot hold back evidence in a criminal case, In late July 1974, The House Judiciary Committee approved several articles of impeachment. Nixon was charged with obstruction of justice. Doing something to stop the truth from being found out. On August 5th, 1974 Americans finally got to know what was on the "smoking gun" tape. Nixon had authorized the Watergate cover-up at least as early as June 23rd, 1972, six days after the break-in, Congress was ready to impeach him. Nixon resigned on August 9th, 1974. Vice President Gerald Ford took office as U.S. President that day.
On September 8th, 1974, President Ford pardoned Nixon for all federal crimes that Nixon might have committed while serving as President due to Kissinger shoving all of them onto him.