Watergate

THE WATERGATE SCANDEL US History Since 1877 Teiawanna Grant September 20, 2010 The story began with the former defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who was disappointed with the progress of the Vietnam War.  He believed that the public should know about the facts of the Vietnam War.  Daniel Ellsberg, therefore, handed over the Pentagon papers to the Washington Post, who refused to publish the content of the document' Watergate scandal started when five men were arrested for burglary when they tried to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters of Watergate complex on June 17, 1972. These men were the "Plumbers", former members of secret agencies. The story began much earlier when President Nixon tried to discredit the former Defense analyst Daniel Ellesberg who had handed over the pentagon papers to be published with the New York Times. The secret organization who worked against Ellensburg was given another charge during the next year to derail the Democratic ticket. Inquiry by the FBI brought to light the role of Nixon's staff in the break-in. The men who were involved were associated with the Nixon's committee to Re-elect the President. During the congressional investigation, it was revealed that white house had hand in the matter. It was found that listening devices were fixed in the oval office. John Mitchell was the Attorney General and later in 1972 was appointed as the Director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Gordon Liddy, the member of the Special Investigation group (SIG) presented an action plan to Mitchell known as the Operation Gemstone. They decided to fix listening devices at the office of the Democratic Party. Mitchell resigned from CREEP in 1972 as a result of the Watergate Scandal. During the Operation Gemstone, Gordon Liddy wanted to place listening devices of the Democratic campaign offices in order to tap the phone calls of the Chairman, Larry O'Brien. Liddy appointed James McCord and his team to do this. McCord and his team were able to place electronic devices in the telephones of Larry O'Brien. FBI director Patrick Gray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his appointment as the Director of FBI in place of Edgar Hoover. He admitted that he had discussed the investigation matters with John Dean. The nomination of Gray failed and it was clear that John Dean tried to hide the matter from the public. The Watergate scandal was followed by the senate investigations in 1973. In July, it was revealed to the Senate that Nixon had placed advanced electronic systems to bug the conversations of the oval office. When the Senate committee and Special Prosecutor requested Nixon to hand over the tapes, it was objected on the basis of executive privileges. As the case become strong, pressure began to mount on the President. Nixon decided to fire the Special Public Persecutor Archibald Cox. Finally, Nixon fired Cox but found him under mounting pressure to appoint a new public prosecutor. Nixon tried to delay the handing over the tapes with multiple excuses. One excuse was that the key tape had a gap of 18 minutes. When Nixon continued to refuse to hand over the original tapes to the prosecutors, the new public prosecutor had no other way other than to declare Nixon as obstructing the justice in the Watergate scandal. The Supreme Court turned down the arguments of the President and instructed him to immediately hand over the tapes. When Nixon again refused to do so, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President. Nixon realized that there was no other way but to resign. On August 8, 1974 Nixon submitted his resignation from the Presidency. He became the first American President to resign while in office. Gerald Ford, the Vice President became the next President of United States. HR Haldman was the Chief of Staff of the Presidential campaign. When the Watergate scandal became public, Haldaman tried his best to cover it up. President demanded him to submit his resignation. Later he was pardoned by the President but he was convicted for the cover up of the Watergate scandal. John Ehrlichman was the Presidential Assistant for domestic affairs. He approved the plans of the "Plumbers" to discredit the political enemies of Nixon. During the investigation, Ehrilchman tried to cover up the matters, but Nixon forced him to resign. Later he was convicted for cover up, obstruction of justice and perjury. Richard Gordon Kleindienst was at first appointed as the Assistant Attorney general and later promoted to the post of attorney general under Nixon administration. When the burglars were arrested, he was asked by Gordon Liddy to release the burglars. Kleindienst refused to do so. Liddy also told him that the origin of the operation was white house but he failed to report his confession. Even though, Kleindienst resigned his post, he was convicted of perjury by the court. Edward Howard Hunt was working with the CIA. After his retirement, he was appointed as a staff in the white house. He became a member of the Special Investigations Group (SIG), otherwise known as Plumbers. In 1971, the burglary was planned and executed by Hunt and Gordon Liddy. Later Howard Hunt accepted his guilt and he was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were journalists who investigated the Watergate scandal with the help of government source known as "Deep Throat". Deep throat was Mark Felt, the mysterious FBI source who helped Washington Post to uncover the abuses of President Nixon. President Nixon took the right decision to resign following the investigations. The long term effects of these types of break-ins are that people will loose belief in the political parties and their agendas. It also reveals the necessarily to put everyone under the purview of law regardless of his position. When the scandal became public, Nixon dismissed John Dean and accepted the resignations of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.