Transcript TheWatergate Scandal Did the system work?

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
Please turn your Cells Phones Off
Senator Ervin says
turn off your cell
phones or face
impeachment from
the class!
Senator Sam Ervin, Jr.
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
The Election of 1972
George McGovern v. Richard Nixon
TV ads: View the Political Ads for Nixon and
McGovern:
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1972 4037
Nixon's landslide: View the Electoral Map
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=
1972
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
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
CREEP, The Nixon Team
Maurice Stans,
Sec. of Commerce
and Finance
Chairman for
Nixon’s campaign
(R) Robert (Bob) Haldeman
and (L) John Erlichman,
White House Chief of Staff
and Domestic Advisor
John Mitchell,
Head of
Committee to
Reelect the
President
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
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
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?
Journalists Investigate
• Two Beat reporters for
the Washington Post
metro section
• Aided by a Whistleblower Woodward
called “Deep throat”
• 1976 published “All
the President’s Men”
Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein, Washington Post
Plumbers Go To Court
The five burglars
All the President’s Men
• Role of Judge John J.
Sirica
• The bribery of the
Plumbers to not talk
• The Trial of the
Watergate Burglars
• Grand Jury
indictments
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
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
Nixon Resigns
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
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 Mark Felt, Former FBI Official
reporters
• Best kept secret in
Washington history
Conclusions
• The Watergate Scandal helps explain
Nixon’s success in the 1972 election
• Nixon’s 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