Transcript Nixon and Watergate - Hialeah Senior High School

Richard Nixon
“Publicly, we say one
thing….Actually, we do
another.” -Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
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President of the U.S. from
1969-1974.
Vice President under
Eisenhower from 19531961.
Served in the Congress from
1946-1952.
Only President to resign
from office (after Watergate
Scandal).
Strict Republican and AntiCommunist.
Nixon’s Accomplishments
Nixon’s Accomplishments
Henry Kissinger
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National Security Advisor from
1969-1975, and Secretary of State
from 1973-1977.
Key contributor to the foreign
policy decisions of the Nixon
Administration.
Created the concept of “Shuttle
Diplomacy.” This involved travel
between conflicting nations to
settle disputes. It was best
applied in the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
The Election of 1968
The 1968 presidential election marked a shift to the
right in American politics.
The 1960's began as an era of optimism but the
events of the decade led to public trust in the
government and produced a backlash against
liberal movements and the Democratic party.
The Election of 1968
Nixon campaigned as a champion of the
“Silent Majority"
The “Silent Majority” were Americans who
paid taxes, did not demonstrate, and desired
a restoration of "law and order.”
The Southern Strategy
An important reason for Nixon’s victory was the
support he received in the South
The effort to sway southern voters to the
Republicans was known as the Southern Strategy
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Nixon gained the South’s support by promising several things:
To oppose court-ordered busing of students to integrate schools
To choose a vice-presidential candidate fr. the South
To only appoint conservatives to federal courts
To appoint a Southerner to the Supreme Court
Since the Election of 1968, the South has been
a Republican stronghold in elections
New Federalism
 Nixon’s domestic policies became known as
“New Federalism”
 It called for eliminating JFK & LBJ social programs
and giving more control to state and local
governments
 Nixon planned to return more power and more tax
money to the states.
 Nixon sent a plan for block grants to Congress.
Under this plan; Federal Gov. would give the state
or local gov money for projects & they can spend
it however they want.
Nixon and Foreign Affairs
President Nixon was
hailed for his foreign
affairs savvy
One key reason for this
was his Secretary of
State, Henry Kissinger
Vietnam War
The biggest foreign policy issues Nixon
had to deal with during his presidency
was dealing with the Vietnam War
Ending the Vietnam War
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Nixon’s main policy in Vietnam was the process of
“Vietnamization.”
 It began right after he took office in 1969.
 The process sought to save American lives and
expenses through gradual withdrawal of forces and
support from the Vietnam war.
 It was the first troop withdrawal since President
Johnson escalated troop presence. Withdrew
70,000 in 1972.
 It also attempted to transfer military assumption to
South Vietnam.
 Vietnam advisors insisted that South Vietnam
could successfully defend against the North
Vietnamese.
Détente with Russia, China
One of Nixon’s foreign
affairs goals was friendlier
relations with China and the
Soviet Union
Nixon and Kissinger
developed a foreign affairs
policy known as détente,
which means cooperation
President Nixon tours the Great Wall of China
Nixon began to consider a
reopening of relations, or
“rapprochement,” with the PRC.
Reasons for rapprochement:
Trade with China— huge
market
Main reason: increase SinoSoviet tension
As part of Détente; the
US in 1971 agreed to
allow the People’s
Republic of China to take
seat reserved for China
at the United Nations.
Kissinger had secretly
visited the People’s
Republic of China in July,
1971 to discuss a possible
Presidential visit
Nixon Goes to China 1972
Nixon opened U.S. relations with China and
became the first U.S. president to visit China
Easing Tensions with the Soviet
Union
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Nixon hoped to improve relations with China;
his policy had another goal.
By becoming friendly with China; he hoped to
force the Soviet Union to be less threatening.
Unlike previous administrations, Nixon and
Kissinger hoped to negotiate for the mutual
benefit of both the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. as
opposed to demanding that the U.S.S.R. give
into U.S. demands.
Strategic Arms Limitations
Treaty or SALT I
Nixon also strengthened relations with the Soviet
Union, including holding a historic meeting -- SALT
Summit meeting between U.S. and Soviet Union when
the two countries agreed to limit nuclear arms
Détente with Russia
From 1972 to 1974,
tensions between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union eased
The Pentagon Papers
In 1971, a former Defense
Department worker leaked what
were known as the Pentagon
Papers to the New York Times
The documents
showed how our
leaders had
deceived
Congress, the
The government
media, and the
had not been
public about how
honest with the
American people the war was going
Roots of Watergate
The release of the Pentagon Papers to the
New York Times angered Nixon
He thought others were out to sabotage his
presidency and undermine him, leading to…
What was Watergate?
Watergate was one of
the largest political
scandals in the history
of the United States
What was Watergate?
The Watergate scandal occurred when the
Republicans were caught spying on the
Democrats at the Democratic Headquarters
What was Watergate?
Watergate became a major scandal when
President Nixon lied about his role in the
break-in and tried to cover it up
The Watergate Break-in
When initial polls showed Nixon only slightly
ahead in the Election of 1972, the Plumbers
turned their activities to political espionage.
The White House Plumbers
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, the White
House created a unit to ensure internal security.
Howard Hunt
James McCord
G. Gordon Liddy
Chuck Colson
This unit was called the “Plumbers” because they
were put in charge of stopping information “leaks”.
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June 17, 1972, 5 men were arrested after breaking into the
DNC headquarters in Washington DC. (3 were Cuban exiles;
1 Cuban American & 1 former CIA Agent)
They were eventually linked to CRP – The Committee to Re-
elect the President.
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What were they doing there?
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Placing listening devices (bugs) and gathering information on the
Democrat National Committee’s election strategy
1972 – Presidential Election
The Washington Post
Watergate came to public attention largely through
the work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,
investigative reporters from the Washington Post.
Did Nixon Know?
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January 1973:
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Nixon reacts:
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Watergate burglars on trial
All found guilty
One claimed White House involved
Denied allegation
Appointed Archibald Cox as special
Watergate prosecutor
Senate investigates:
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May-Nov. 1973: Senator Sam Cox led
televised independent Senate investigation
Clear that senior White House officials
involved
Three of Nixon’s advisors resigned
One, John Dean, claimed he discusses
burglary at least 35 times w/ Nixon
Nixon denied any involvement, fired Dean
Battle for the Tapes
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Nixon’s tapes
 Senate Investigation
revealed Nixon recorded
all conversations in oval
office since 1971
 Senate & Cox wanted
tapes
 Nixon refused, citing
“presidential privilege”
Saturday Night Massacre
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The deal broke down when Cox refused
to accept the transcripts in place of the
tapes.
President Nixon wanted to dismiss/fire
Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox from
his office the next night—a Saturday.
He contacted Attorney General
Richardson and ordered him to fire the
special prosecutor.
Richardson refused, and instead
resigned in protest. Nixon then ordered
Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus to
fire Cox; he also refused and resigned in
protest.
Solicitor General Robert Bork eventually
fired Cox, insisting that he believed the
decision unwise but also that somebody
had to obey the president's orders.
Watergate Investigations
In March 1973, defendant James
McCord informed Judge John Sirica
that Watergate was a conspiracy.
Sirica’s investigation transformed
Watergate from a “third-rate
burglary” to a major scandal.
Congressional Hearings
Congress began hearings to investigate the scandal
and found that Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell,
controlled a fund to pay for espionage operations
Congressional Hearings
In June 1973, former White House legal counsel
John Dean delivered testimony that implicated
Nixon from the earliest days of Watergate
The Oval Office Tapes
In an effort to discredit Dean’s testimony, the White
House announced that Nixon had secretly been
tape-recording conversations. These tapes would
become the focus of the investigation.
The Smoking Gun Tapes
When the Supreme Court forced Nixon to
surrender the tapes, he refused invoking
“executive privilege”
The Oval Office Tapes
On October 23, 1973 Nixon agreed to turn over
White House tape recordings requested by the
Watergate special prosecutor to Judge Sirica.
The Smoking Gun Tapes
Many of the conversations on the tapes indicate
Nixon’s knowledge of the Watergate break in
and the following cover-up. One tape had an
18½ -minute gap that people questioned.
“The Rosemary Stretch”
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President Nixon’s Secretary Rose Mary Woods claimed she
accidentally recorded over 5 minutes of one of the tapes by stepping
on the ‘record pedal’ of the machine.
She does not know what happened to the other 13 minutes.
House Judiciary Committee
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The House Judiciary
Committee (July 27,
1974) approved 3 articles
of impeachment for
Nixon:
obstruction of justice
2. abuse of power
3. contempt of Congress
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On August 5, 1974, when the “smoking gun
tape” became public, Nixon was told that he
would not survive the vote in the Senate
Nixon Resigns
On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became
the first American president to resign
 Official
letter of
resignation from
President Nixon
to Secretary of
State Henry
Kissinger.
Aftermath of Watergate
 Gerald Ford became the nation’s 37th president.
 More than 30 government officials went to
prison for their role in Watergate.
 Nixon was not one of them.
 There was a public distrust of the government
that continues to this day.
Controversial Pardon
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On September 8, 1974,
President Ford issued
Proclamation 4311, which
gave Nixon a full and
unconditional pardon for
any crimes he may have
committed against the
United States while
President.