Nixon-watergate SCANDAL
Front Page of Newspaper after Nixon Resigns.
Prior to Watergate scandal, everyone in America believed that politicians truly had the people's best interest in mind. There was never any questions as to why politicians do what they do, or how they do it. Basically, everyone trusted the government and the people of this generation didn't try to question them.
Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building (a very prestigious hotel by The White House) in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery because the robbers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents.
The wiretaps failed to work properly, so on June 17 the group broke in again to the Watergate building to install a new microphone. A few days after the break-in, Nixon arranged to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the burglars.
In August, Nixon gave a speech in which he swore that his White House staff was not involved in the break-in. Most voters believed him, and in November the president was re-elected by a landslide. The CIA impeded the FBI’s investigation of the crime. This was a more serious crime than just a break-in. It was an abuse of presidential power and a deliberate obstruction of justice. In July, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes. While the president dragged his feet, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up and several violations of the Constitution. Nixon didn't resign from being president until August 9,1974. Six weeks after the new president General Ford was sworn in, he pardoned Nixon for any crimes he had committed while in office. Some of Nixon’s aides were not so lucky: They were convicted of very serious offenses and sent to federal prison. Nixon himself never admitted to any criminal wrongdoing, though he did acknowledge using poor judgment.
How has Nixon-Watergate Scandal made an impact on my life today and societies life today?
The Nixon-Watergate Scandal has impacted my life and societies life today. Once the media got ahold of this story they told all of America. They made the American people raise a lot of questions. The media knew they needed to get the stories and put them out to the American people right away because the election was coming up and they knew if people saw this it could affect there decision making. The impact of the scandal was in 1974, when Nixon resigned from the presidency. This is when all the people that didn't believe it was true were proved wrong and all the believers were proved correct. This scandal has impacted me, my generation, and some of the previous generation a little bit. Both of these generations have started to question authority more and question the government more and not jut accept what they say as the truth. This started more during the Vietnam War, but changed even more during Nixon and the Watergate Scandal. After this, it really showed how corrupt our government is and the things they will do to cover up their mistakes. Without the media, we may have never known much about what had happened and the people of America could have been misguided and they could still be getting misguided by the government. The media gives us information that can be seen quickly and with better quality than most other sources.
Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building (a very prestigious hotel by The White House) in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery because the robbers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents.
The wiretaps failed to work properly, so on June 17 the group broke in again to the Watergate building to install a new microphone. A few days after the break-in, Nixon arranged to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the burglars.
In August, Nixon gave a speech in which he swore that his White House staff was not involved in the break-in. Most voters believed him, and in November the president was re-elected by a landslide. The CIA impeded the FBI’s investigation of the crime. This was a more serious crime than just a break-in. It was an abuse of presidential power and a deliberate obstruction of justice. In July, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes. While the president dragged his feet, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up and several violations of the Constitution. Nixon didn't resign from being president until August 9,1974. Six weeks after the new president General Ford was sworn in, he pardoned Nixon for any crimes he had committed while in office. Some of Nixon’s aides were not so lucky: They were convicted of very serious offenses and sent to federal prison. Nixon himself never admitted to any criminal wrongdoing, though he did acknowledge using poor judgment.
How has Nixon-Watergate Scandal made an impact on my life today and societies life today?
The Nixon-Watergate Scandal has impacted my life and societies life today. Once the media got ahold of this story they told all of America. They made the American people raise a lot of questions. The media knew they needed to get the stories and put them out to the American people right away because the election was coming up and they knew if people saw this it could affect there decision making. The impact of the scandal was in 1974, when Nixon resigned from the presidency. This is when all the people that didn't believe it was true were proved wrong and all the believers were proved correct. This scandal has impacted me, my generation, and some of the previous generation a little bit. Both of these generations have started to question authority more and question the government more and not jut accept what they say as the truth. This started more during the Vietnam War, but changed even more during Nixon and the Watergate Scandal. After this, it really showed how corrupt our government is and the things they will do to cover up their mistakes. Without the media, we may have never known much about what had happened and the people of America could have been misguided and they could still be getting misguided by the government. The media gives us information that can be seen quickly and with better quality than most other sources.