Watergate

Background

• 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 and apartment complex in Washington D.C.
• Burglary: Burglars broke into the Democratic Party's National Committee offices on June 17, 1972.
• Frank Wills, a security guard, found the burglars.

Politics

• The story of Watergate has an intriguing historical and political background, arising out of political events, such as Vietnam and the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1970.
• 1972: Burglars were arrested.
• 1973: Nixon begins second term as President
• 1974: Resignation

Nixon Background

• Nixon Background
• 1947: Elected to the House of Representatives
• 1952: Nixon had been chosen as Dwight Eisenhower's vice-presidential running mate, but not before he was embroiled in a scandal that led to the infamous "Checkers Speech."
• 1960: Lost to JFK for president
• 1962: Lost as governor in California
• 1968: Elected president

Investigation

• Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, along with the mysterious informant, Deep Throat, revealed in 2005 as William Mark Felt of FBI.
• February 1973: Senate established a committee to investigate. Public hearings of the committee were sensational, including the evidence of John Dean, Nixon's former White House counsel.
• The existence of secret White House tape recordings, sparking a major political and legal battle between the Congress and the president.

Investigations

• 1974: The House of Representatives authorized the Judiciary Committee to consider impeachment proceedings against Nixon.
• The House Judiciary Committee voted to accept three of four proposed articles of impeachment, with some Republicans voting with Democrats to recommend impeachment of the president.
• U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release more White House tapes, which revealed that Nixon had participated in the Watergate cover-up.