3. Table of Contents:  What is Watergate ? What is Watergate ?  June 17, 1972 June 17, 1972  Creep Creep  The 5 The 5  November of 1972 November of 1972  January 1973 - May 1973 January 1973 - May 1973  Saturday Night Massacre Saturday Night Massacre  “I am not a crook” “I am not a crook”  July 24, 1974 July 24, 1974  July 27, 1974 July 27, 1974  August 8, 1974 August 8, 1974  Brief Quiz Brief Quiz

4. Overview:What is Watergate?  "Watergate" is a general term used to describe a complex web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974. The word specifically refers to the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.  A number of illegal activities were carried out during the 1972 presidential campaign to help Richard Nixon win reelection.  These activities included burglary, wiretapping, violations of campaign financing laws, and the attempted use of government agencies to harm political opponents  Scandal involved the cover-up of the unlawful actions Main Menu

5. The Break-In: Watergate hotel on June 17, 1972  Police arrest 5 men at 2:30 AM who had broken into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters  They were attempting to “bug the telephones of Democratic leaders & obtain political documents outlining the Democrats’ campaign strategy” Main Menu

6. CREEP  One of the burglars was James W. McCord, Jr., who worked with the Committee for the Reelection of the President (CREEP)  The four other “burglars” were employees of CREEP.  The 5 men were dubbed “plumbers” because they were ordered by Nixon to “plug leaks” to the press Main Menu

7.  All five men would be charged with attempted burglary  G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, Jr. were arrested due to their ties with Nixon’s campaign committee Main Menu

8. The Washington Post  The White House denied any involvement  Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward from the Washington Post led the investigation  Evidence was found showing staff members paid for political sabotage and spying against the Democrats

9. November of 1972  Nixon was re-elected President in one of the largest landslides in American history  He won over 60% of the votes and 49 of the 50 states  Clearly, America was either not bothered, or not aware of Nixon’s behavior Main Menu Main Menu

10. The Cover-Up: January 1973 – May 1973  January – former Nixon aides Gordon Liddy and James McCord are convicted of burglary and conspiracy  White House officials tried to use the CIA and FBI to conceal evidence  Nixon’s personal lawyer, Attorney General, White House Chief of Staff, and domestic advisor Ehrlichman all mysteriously resigned or were forced to resign  May – The Senate Watergate Committee begins nationally televising the trial hearings for Watergate Main Menu

11. The Hearings  John W. Dean III, a former Presidential Counsel, testified against Nixon  Dean admitted he helped in the White House cover- up and said Nixon knew about the activities  Dean claimed the White House tried to use the Internal Revenue Service against Nixon’s enemies

12. “The smoking-gun tapes”  Since 1971, Nixon had been recording all conversations that took place in the oval office and the tapes were now in the possession of the President.  In July of 1973, the Senate committee asked Nixon to turn over the tapes and he refuses  He felt he had the right to refuse, since other Presidents had refused to turn over certain documents  The more he resisted, the more his popularity declined Main Menu

13. Saturday Night Massacre October 1973 –  Nixon fires special prosecutor Archibald Cox because Cox and the Senate had subpoenaed the tapes.  Two more people close to the president resign on the same night Cox is fired  Public outrage Main MenuMain Menu

14. Impeachment Begins  October 1973 the House of Rep. began steps to impeach Nixon  November 17, 1973 – Nixon declares famous “I am not a crook”  Nixon turned over the tapes, but three key conversations were missing  December – 18 ½ minutes missing from one of the subpoenaed tapes and the White House says it was “an accident”

15. “I am not a crook”  The President was not forced to turn over all of the tapes for evidence  He still withheld the most damaging of the tapes.  April 1974, special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, replaced the fired Cox, asked for the missing recordings  Instead the President turned over 1,200 pages of supposed conversations on the withheld tapes  Nixon refused to handover the original tapes. Main Menu

16. July 24, 1974  July 24, 1974 –  The Supreme Court rules that the Presidents executive priviledges were overruled and he must turn over the tapes before the end of the year.  One week later, he did. Main Menu

17. Sentencing  Seven former officials of Nixon’s administration and his 1972 reelection campaign were convicted of covering up the Watergate break-in  They were sentenced to 1 to 4 years  About 40 people overall were found guilty

18. July 27, 1974  The House Judiciary Committee votes to pass the first three articles of impeachment  The President was charged with obstruction of justice, abusing presidential powers, and illegally withholding evidence Main Menu

19. The Resignation  August 5, 1974 Nixon released additional tapes  August 9, 1974 Richard Nixon becomes the first president to resign in the U.S.  Gerald Ford becomes the new President Main Menu

20. What do you know about this cartoon? Have you ever heard of the term Watergate? What does the term Watergate mean to you?

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23. In Conclusion…  President Nixon was an excellent president to some, but unfortunately many are left remembering just the lies & deception Main Menu

24. References:  Farnsworth, Malcolm. “Watergate: The Scandal that Brought Down Richard Nixon.” 22 Oct 2004. http://watergate.info/  Mankiewicz, Frank. U.S. vs. Richard M. Nixon. New York: New York Times Book Company, 1975.  McCarty, Mary. The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits. New York: Harcourt Brace Janovich, 1973.  Olson, Keith W. Watergate: The Presidential Scandal that Shook America. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2003.  Phillips, Charles. “A Day to Remember”. American History. October 2004. Vol. 39 Issue 4, p16. http://contentserver.epnet.comhttp://contentserver.epnet.com  Smith, Franklin B. The Assassination of President Nixon. Vermont: Academy Books, 1976. Main Menu