richard nixon & watergate - lancaster high school · •“watergate” is a catchall term that...
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Richard Nixon & Watergate
Nixon’s Background
• Republican
• Eisenhower’s Vice President
• Ran for president against (and lost to)
JFK in 1960
• Elected President in 1968*
• Nixon was a real Paranoid guy. He
was always afraid that the media
was out to get him, or that
someone might be out to get him.
– So he had the Oval Office bugged.
– The tape started rolling when it
detected someone talking.
– So all conversations held in the Oval
Office were recorded.*
The Watergate Scandal • Watergate was/is a fancy hotel in
Washington DC
• “Watergate” is a catchall term that refers to
a series of Abuses (and subsequent cover
ups) perpetrated by the Nixon
administration, that came to light with a
failed break-in of the Democratic Party
Headquarters in the Watergate hotel in
1972
• 1972 Nixon was running against Democrat
George McGovern*
• The Watergate was where the
headquarters of the Democratic Party was
stationed.
• John Dean, a High Official in the
Committee to Re-Elect the President
(C.RE.E.P) planned a break-in to the
Democratic Party headquarters*
John Dean
• 2 theories of why he did it
1). to find out information to help win the
Presidential Election
2). to find out what the Democratic party knew
about Dean’s involvement with a prostitution
ring that they had been investigating.
• The Break In was a disaster and the guys got
caught
• Nixon didn’t know about the break-in plans,
but he proceeded to cover them up!
(Paranoia)
– He and Dean offered “Hush Money” to the
burglars
– They laundered the $ through a bank in Mexico
– The FBI investigated and Nixon and his guys tried
to keep them from finding evidence*
• Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein--aka
“Woodward & Bernstein” (reporters
for the Washington Post) relying on
anonymous sources broke the story of a
high level cover-up.
• So Nixon had to defend himself publicly a lot
at this time.
• This is when he gave his famous “I am not a
crook” speech
• In the end, it was the tapes from the Oval
Office that got Nixon busted
– Nixon was ordered by Congress to give up
the tapes.
• He Refused
• He fired a bunch of people and a
bunch more quit
–Known as the “Midnight Massacre”
• His refusal to give up the tapes led to
calls for impeachment.
• Through the tapes it becomes clear that
Nixon is guilty of obstructing justice
and covering up the break in.
• But also being involved in LOTS of this
type of thing
• Paying out secret “Hush Money” to
people for all sorts of secret stuff
• Aug. 8 1974 Nixon ultimately becomes the 1st
& only President to resign
• The shame is that he won the 1972 election
in a landslide!
• He never needed Watergate to win, but he
was paranoid.
• Nixon was succeeded by his vice president
Gerald Ford…
…who pardoned him for any
crimes he might have committed.
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