The+Watergate+Scandal

Matt Freed Will Carter Honors American Century 5-19-11

__Overview__ [[image:Watergate_Hotel_2.jpg width="308" height="231" align="right" caption="The Watergate Hotel, Washington D.C."]]
 Before 1972, the Watergate Hotel was a luxurious apartment complex in Washington D.C. On June seventeenth, however, Watergate was and has been associated with one of the greatest presidential scandals of all time. Even during the time of the “third-rate burglary,” people had no idea how much of an impact Watergate made on American society, and American history. On June 17, 1972, five burglars, Bernard Baker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr. were all convicted of trying to repair wiretapping equipment, stealing documentation, and photos from the Democratic National Committee which were to be used in the reelection of president Richard Nixon. At the time of their incarceration, no one knew how far these men’s connections went with the United States government. After much research and evidence, these men, along with president Nixon and many of his officials, were convicted of a crime that would later turn out to be one of the most infamous scandals in American history.

President Richard Nixon[[image:Nixon.jpg width="282" height="253" align="right" caption="Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States"]]
The Watergate Scandal surrounded around the president of the United States, who at this time was Richard Nixon. Nixon told high-ranking officials to hire skilled professionals to get information about the Democratic Party that can be used to further his gain in his reelection. Nixon was fixated on getting information, when he probably did not need to because he was favored anyway. Richard Nixon had a fatal flaw of recording everything which in the long run stab himself in the back. The Watergate Scandal led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Robert "Bob" Woodward
 Robert “Bob” Woodward, an investigative reporter for the Washington Post, wrote a series of articles on the Watergate Scandal. Before Woodward was a reporter, he served as a naval reporter for five years. Woodward was assigned to cover the story on an attempted robbery the night before the five men were arrested in the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex. Woodward with the help of Carl Bernstein (see below) investigated the connection between the burglary and the President of the Untied States at this time, which was Richard Nixon. 

** Carl Bernstein **
===  Carl Bernstein, also an investigative reporter for the Washington Post, helps investigate and write a series of articles on the Watergate Scandal. Prior to his job on the Washington Post, he wrote for a newspaper called the Washington Star, and then dropped out of the University of Maryland. Bernstein teamed up with Woodward; to write what they think happened on in the Watergate building. Bernstein was the first to suspect that the president of the United States was involved in the Watergate Scandal, who at this time was Richard Nixon. ===



W. Mark Felt - "Deep Throat"
Deep Throat, known as W. Mark Felt and a former FBI director, played a key role in the Watergate Scandal. Felt was an anonymous source that only confirmed information for Robert Woodward. Felt guarded his “Deep Throat” identity for over thirty years and finally came out in 2005, and died three years later.

John Mitchell[[image:John_Mitchell align="right" caption="John Mitchell, Former Head of CREEP"]]
John Mitchell was an attorney that served as the head of the Committee to Re-elect the President during the Nixon administration, also played a role in the Watergate Scandal. Mitchell knew about the five burglars getting paid to fulfill their jobs. A letter was written that claimed that pled guilty and it implicated high-ranking government officials, including Mitchell.      

**Frank Wills[[image:Frank_Wills,_Security_Guard.jpg width="207" height="153" align="right" caption="Frank Wills, Security Guard at the Watergate Hotel"]]**
**Frank Wills was the most important person in the Watergate Scandal. Wills was the person to figure out that there had been a breach in the Watergate building. Frank was doing routine checks when he noticed a piece of tape on the door; thinking nothing of it he took it off to later find it was back on. Wills contacted the police, and little did he know, he was the reason to the Watergate Scandal all being started ** <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">

__** Time Frame **__
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the beginning of the 1970s, the nation was still in turmoil as the Vietnam War was coming to an end and the political, social, and economic affects began to set in upon the country. Richard Nixon was just appointed the new president of the United States, and he went to work immediately on trying to help the nation recover from the turmoil they were involved in Vietnam. Since Nixon promised before he was elected to end the war in Vietnam, he started right away with Henry Kissinger, the current National Security Adviser, to devise plans to fulfill this promise. Kissinger ravelled to Paris to try and arrange peace negotiations in Paris with North Vietnamese revolutionary Le Duc Tho. These negotiations supported Nixon’s ideas of Vietnamization, which was a U.S. strategy that would turn more of the fighting in Vietnam to the South Vietnamese government. Nixon’s hoped that through this plan, the South Vietnamese government would have enough time to create a stable anti-Communist government. If this plan could not come to fruition, Nixon wanted to delay the collapse of the South Vietnamese government until after the U.S. troops had evacuated Vietnam. This would avoid an embarrassing U.S. defeat from Vietnam. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with trying to end the Vietnam War, events such as the Kent State Shooting and the My Lai Massacre that had finally come to light, society had a rough time recovering from the affects of this time period. On May 2, 1970, anti-Vietnam War demonstrators set fire to the campus Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) facility at Kent State University in Ohio. Troops were sent to the campus to try and eliminate the resisting students and demonstrators. The troops demanded that the students disperse from the area. When the students refused and started throwing rocks at the troops, the troops opened fire upon the crowd, killing four students and injuring nine others. This event impacted American citizens very deeply. The image of young students being shot and killed on college campuses for supporting an idea was a horrifying for Americans across the country. The My Lai Massacre was another American horror that was kept hidden by high-ranking military officials. When U.S. troops under the command of Lt. Will Calley entered the village of My Lai on a search-and destroy mission. The soldiers then killed 450 women and children in the village since no Vietcong soldiers were found.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even in one of the country’s darkest hours, on June 17, 1972, the nation again was plunged into turmoil once again by the Watergate Scandal. The involvement of the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, made the event one of the greatest scandals in American history.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were many places of importance in the Watergate Scandal, but it was the Watergate Building where the burglary took place. The Washington Post building was also a important place because Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein did all their brainstorming, contacting, and writing in that facility while working for the Washington Post. And while on the Watergate case, Woodward called his information source “deep throat” to help give him a better perspective about the incident and how far the connections went with the burglars. Both Woodward and deep throat met secretly in a parking garage in Washington D.C. to discuss the entire scandal, and how close Woodward and Bernstein were to cracking the case. This makes that certain parking garage a very important location for the scandal as deep throat was one of the only reliable sources for the Washington Post, which they relied on to confirm their information.

__** The Watergate Scandal, June 17, 1972 **__

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While making his rounds at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. Security guard Frank Wills discovered a door, between the basement stairwell and the parking garage, that had contained a piece of tape that prevented the door from locking properly. At first glance, Wills thought that a delivery was being dropped off in that room later that day. Wills casually removed the piece of tape, and continued his rounds at the facility. Returning to that same door a few minutes later, Wills had found another piece of tape that had been placed on the same door to replace the strip that had been removed earlier. His curiosity now aroused, he immediately called the police. At about 2:30 in morning, the police had arrived at Watergate, busted in the unlocked room, and had arrested five burglars, wearing buisness suits and latex gloves, in the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The five burglars had been preparing to wiretap the room with equipment, steal documents, and take pictures for documentation. The next day, the five burglars had been revealed. Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr. were all of the burglars that were arrested for the crime. Local newsreporter, Bob Woodward, attended the burglar’s arraignment to record a story on the break-in. Listening closely to the arraignment, Woodward overheard James McCord mention the CIA when stating his occupation. Additionally, Woodward heard another burglar mention that his occupation was an “anti-communist.” Captivated by the information at hand, Woodward went to the Washington Post to try and investigate the case further. Through long, tiring investigations, Woodward and his associate who had also joined the case, Carl Bernstein, had discovered that McCord was responsible for the security of CRP, the Committee to Re-Elect the President who currently was Richard Nixon. Another connection with the U.S. federal government was detected when the phone number of E. Howard Hunt, a former White House employee, was found in Bernard Barker’s journal. It had later been distinguished that both Hunt and G. Gordan Liddy, who was a member of the “Plumbers” association which was a covert White House special investigations unit, had been stationed nearby and were in communication with all five of the burglars during the break-in. The Plumbers unit was significant because it was established to prevent information leaks from the White House and were also involved in particular events perpetrated against anti-war protesters and Democrats. Coeincidentally, a cover-up had been undertaken by people whom were associated with president Nixon and his re-election campaign. Collaborators such as Jeb Magruder shredded documents of evidence and lied to investigators. Almost simultaneously, FBI director, Patrick Gray, had shredded received documents from John Enrlichman, who was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, and from White House council John Dean III. Since learning that John Mitchell, who was running CREEP, might be involved, Nixon demanded an to head off a possible FBI investigation. The FBI tried to get the CIA to go along with cover-up plan. John Mitchell then resigned from CREEP and cited, “personal reasons.” Woodward and Bernstein teamed up together and through many sources, such as “deep throat”, they were able to publish and help convict President Nixon of the burglary of the Watergate Hotel.

**__ Why? __**

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Watergate Scandal happened because Richard Nixon was over cautious. Nixon over thought his competition, when the fact is that he most likely would have won due to popular appeal of the common citizens. Richard Nixon wanted to get an edge on his opponents by getting into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex, but backfired, and lead to the resignation of Richard Nixon.

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">**__ The Significance of Watergate __**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is significant for a numerous amount of reasons. First, how this case started with two low-payed reporters of the Washington Post with little to no information to start is an amazing feat. To accomplish sabotaging the president’s plans to get re-elected illegally with nothing except a few leads on the story is an incredible display of determination and will. Second, the Watergate Scandal still proves to be one of America’s biggest corrupted schemes in American history. As Woodward and Bernstein’s story kept on gradually going up the ladder of significant people associated with the federal government, from the CIA to the FBI, this displays an astonishing amount of important individuals whom were convicted of being aiding the president illegally and thus removed from the White House. Lastly, this scandal helped enormously in deteriorating the image of the president of the United States. Before Nixon, the president was one of the most trusted, loyal people among the American public. Due to this case, however, the presidency has since been seen more as a man with giant power, and a giant responsibility. Not a role model for millions of citizens they are governing. This case has since brought a suspicious vibe to the American people as they learned that they cannot truly trust the information they are being told from then on. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">**__ Citations __** <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> **__<span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;">Roberts, Robert. "Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America." //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Historian // 66.4 (2004): 843+. //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale World History In Context //. Web. 19 May 2011. __**

**__<span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;">Genovese, Michael A. "The Lessons of Watergate: thirty years on." //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Presidential Studies Quarterly // 34.2 (2004): 455+. //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale U.S. History In Context //. Web. 19 May 2011. __**

__<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">"Woodward and Bernstein." //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Encyclopedia of World Biography //. Detroit: Gale, 1998.//<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale U.S. History In Context //. Web. 20 May 2011. __

__<span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">"W. Mark Felt." //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Encyclopedia of World Biography //. Vol. 30. Detroit: Gale, 2010. //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale U.S. History In Context //. Web. 20 May 2011. __

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Ayers, Edward, et al. ////American Anthem - Modern American History////. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Print. __

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> United States History. "Presidents, 1972-1977." ////Watergate Scandal////. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1791.html>. __

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> "Watergate Scandal." ////Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia////. N.p., 19 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal>. __