Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal - Essay Example

Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal There are some particular moments or ideas that strike you on an important moment in your life that can change or twist the course of your entire life journey which will be significant to your life. Correspondingly, there have been some fundamental events or happenings in the history of human race that changed the track of the affairs and course of the historical movements. The events or ideas that affect such great changes need not always be the greatest of all. The silliest or the simplest of ideas or events and the most inconspicuous or the subtlest of the events can result in the greatest change in life and history. Thus, a silly confrontation with your life partner for reasons not of note a family life can end up in a divorce or is it not the same silly issues, for example, in the 'pet-term' the immediate cause for a major war or so, that have resulted in the greatest events in history The edifice of the Watergate scandal has been based on corruption, espionage and antidemocratic activities, ostensibly based on ensuring President Nixon, a second term in the Oval Room. However, certain facts like the Vietnam war, the release of Pentagon papers, and growing public resentment for his policies were serious impediments to this objective and had to be dealt with a firm, and if necessary, strong arm methods. This was ensured by use of the CIA and other governmental agents to discredit the President's political opponents, and seek to ensure his victory in the Presidential elections. He was able to achieve re-elections but he was constrained to pay the final price in terms of loss of his office and personal humiliation amidst a political scandal that rocked the entire country and shocked the world into mute speechlessness. At the time of instigating the Watergate scandal, President Nixon was not aware, or did not make himself to visualize that his political career would leave him a bitter and disillusioned man, devoid of moral principles and ethics that are the hallmarks of a strong and committed leader. This entire episode started when, while conducting security checking at the Watergate hotel, a security guard noticed a door prevented from closed by the use of tape. He removed the tape and continued with his check However, he was dismayed to find, that on his return, the door was reaped. He informed the police about the burglary. The police arrested five persons from the office of the Democratic National Congress, who had been illegally repairing wiretapping equipment and taking photographs of documents. Likewise, before the burglary in the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1972, when a group of five burglars, who were members of a group of anti-Castro Cuban refugees called 'Plumbers', broke into the Democratic Party's National Committee offices, the term "Watergate" had no greater implication to the Americans and the entire world, rather than an office and a sumptuous apartment complex in Washington, D. C. As a result of the 'third-rate burglary', "it came to be associated with the greatest political scandal of that century and would change the lives of the many people involved" - principally the then President Richard M. Nixon and as for the present day political system, it imparts great meaning. (U.S. History.com, 2008). In the current American Background, the term Watergate has become a common phrase which denotes and expresses the fall of Richard Nixon, one of the most outstanding political figures of the 20th century America and the world. He had refused to hand over incriminating tapes illegally recording the conversation he had when he served in the White House. He refused to hand over the tapes even during the Supreme Court Proceedings. The Court had no other option but to impeach the President, but he preferred to resign rather than face impeachment. The former President of the USA was the only conspirator in the Watergate scandal who did not go to jail. "The lessons learned by these events are enormous. The story of Watergate is a complex and deep one full of intrigue and back room deals, public politics and personal motivations. It is a deeply American event that touched the world." (Essortment, 2002). There may have been people who, hitherto, understand the implications of the Watergate Scandal or remember the details of the all events. In this paper, an effort is made to address such a general need and to endeavor a preparatory exertion for further studies and researches on the events. To begin with, it is of paramount interest to understand the political background of America in the 1960s and 70s. Notable enough, the nation, in this period, was undergoing a tumultuous and turbulent time and the effects of the greatly contested Vietnam War of the 1960s were present in the following decade too. However, the opinions and thoughts of the people concerning the war, by the 1970s, began to change and the 'Pentagon Papers' of Daniel Ellsberg, a former defense department analyst, published by the New York Times illustrated this. These papers deeply enraged many of the authorities, including President Nixon. The President was unable to stop issue of the papers through legal methods and then resorted on new strategies that would solve the crisis. The Plumbers, a 'secret' unit created and maintained by the White House with the articulated intention of 'fixing leaks' in the administration, were instantly appointed with going after Ellsberg. The purpose of this appointment was that Ellsberg would be discredited as a next step if the group could not stop the publication of the papers. Among the strategies to damage the reputation of the provider of the 'Pentagon Papers' included breaking down the door of his psychiatrist's office to uncover whatever they could. Their tireless work for the specific goal was soon recompensed with a new task in the subsequent election year. It was a task to overturn the Democratic ticket. "On June 17, 1972 a group of men broke into the DNC Headquarters to find what they could and to bug the offices. A sharp-eyed security officer saw the break in, called the police and the burglars were quickly taken into custody. Over the next few days and months, amazing insights into these men came out it turned out that all of the burglars were on the payroll of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (C.R.E.E.P.)." (Essortment, 2002). Among the burglars, one was found to be a previous GOP security staff and another to have credited 25,000$ on Nixon's re-election campaign. Yet another proof that connected the burglars to the White House was provided by the phone number for a former White House employee, Howard Hunt, which was found in the note book of one of the burglars. The related investigations of the burglary revealed the identity of the five men involved in the Burglary and they were Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr. In this way, the secrets of the burglary were unfolded and all who had some connection with the great scandal of Watergate were affected by the disclosure. At this point it is very substantial to note that the preliminary investigations of the burglary were profoundly influenced by the media and most notable names among the reporters concerned with the issue were Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post along with their mysterious stool pigeon, Deep Throat. It has later transpired that the enigmatic Deep Throat, was none other than the FBI's Top #.2 agent at that time. Through his covert meetings with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the enterprising reporters who first reported the Watergate scandal, he was able to pass on crucial information about the autocratic and unethical actions of President Nixon. His actual name was W Mark Felt and he was an accredited FBI agent who had access to the resources that finally led to the uncovering of Nixon tapes and the President's betrayal of a nation. He used his resources to uncover the misdeeds and passed on classified secret information to the reporters under the pseudonym of Deep Throat in order to avoid retribution from the President. Since he repeatedly denied his connections with counter-espionage, he could not be exposed by the Nixon Administration and his true identity was established only after the end of the sordid drama. (Drehle 2005). Though many of the newspapers came up to support the Post's efforts with the investigations, not great a result was evident during the balance of the Presidential election campaign. By this time, Nixon stated that nobody of his administrative team had any links with the Watergate Scandal. On the 15th of September, denunciation on the five arrested and Liddy and Hunt were handed down. In one of the greatest victories in the history of the US, President Nixon, on November 7, 1972, was reelected for another term and the information acquired through the Burglary was crucial in this victory. However, two months after the reelection of Nixon, the indicted people were tried in the US District Court in Washington D.C. and the five appealed guilty and the other two were convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wire tapping. In a similar significant development, the political investigations of the burglary started in February 1973 and the Senate instituted a Committee to investigate into the scandal. "The public hearings of the Committee were sensational, including the evidence of John Dean, Nixon's former White House Counsel. The Committee also uncovered the existence of the secret White House tape recordings, sparking a major political and legal battle between the Congress and the President. In 1974, the House of Representatives authorized the Judiciary Committee to consider impeachment proceedings against Nixon." (Watergate info, 2007). However, before the process of Impeachment, Nixon walked out of the office. The Impeachment decision regarding the case was affected by even stronger situations and the final blow on the call for Nixon's resignation resulted from the Supreme Court's decision to ask for more White House tape concerning the Scandal. "The final blow came with the decision by the Supreme Court to order Nixon to release more White House tapes. One of these became known as the 'smoking gun' tape when it revealed that Nixon had participated in the Watergate cover-up as far back as June 23, 1972. Around the country, there were calls for Nixon to resign." (Watergate info, 2007).Thus, we can find that Nixon did not face an Impeachment because of the Scandal, rather he quit the Presidential post even before. Thus, Nixon delivered a nationally televised resignation speech on the evening of August 8, 1974 and made his final remarks to the White House staff, in the next morning before sending his resignation letter to the Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger. Following the resignation of Nixon, Gerald Ford, "the first Vice-President and the first President to ascend to both positions without being elected," became the 38th President of the United States. (Watergate info, 2007). The most distinguished characteristic of the new President was that he had a great reputation on all sides of politics as a decent man and he is known, among many other qualities, for his controversial pardon of Richard Nixon. Related to the scandal there are other notable indictments of the court which need to be considered in any discussion of the Watergate Scandal. Thus, seven former White House aides were affected by an indictment of a grand jury on March 1, 1974. These were Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, leading aid Charles Colson, Gordon C. Strachan, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson and they were indicted for obstructing the Watergate investigation. "Nixon had been named an un-indicted co-conspirator, and Dean and Magruder, along with lesser figures in the scandal, had already pleaded guilty. Colson later pleaded guilty to charges concerning the Ellsberg case and cover-up charges against him were dropped as were all charges against Strachan. The remaining five went on trial in October 1974, and on January 1, 1975, all but Parkinson was found guilty. In 1976, a court of appeals ordered a new trial for Mardian, and eventually all charges against him were dropped. Ehrlichman went to prison in 1976, Mitchell and Haldeman in 1977." (U.S. History.com, 2008). It is of particular notice that the resignation of Nixon had great relevance in the background of the scandal. However, it is important to note the position of Nixon on the entire issue. Notably, in the address to the nation over the television before the resignation, Richard Nixon accepted the complete responsibility for the Watergate Scandal. More significantly, he denied all the charges of any personal involvement in the entire scandal. In an inspirational speech to the nation, Nixon explained the reasons for his resignation and expressed strongly what he felt as the particular contribution that he made to the prosperity of the nation. He set himself as one who did not wish to quit but to fight for the responsibility that the nation had entrusted upon him. He clearly expressed his points about the scandal and the effect of the scandal on his decision of resignation. As he explained, "Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere - to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion; that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process, and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served. And there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation will require." (Inspirational speakers Motivational speakers, 2007). Therefore, it is important to make clear that the decisions of Nixon were the outcome of a long process, a deep reflection. In the speech broadcast to the American people he vowed to get to the bottom of the matter when he remarked that there would be no reverse at the Whitehouse. "The president announced he had appointed Defense Secretary Elliott L Richardson as the new Attorney General and had charged him with full responsibility for revealing the truth behind the Watergate affair. He said: "America, in its political campaigns, must not again fall into the trap of letting the end, however great that end is, justify the means." (Bbc.co.uk, 2005). The specific concerns of Nixon in taking the decision of resigning from the post were clarified by his resignation speech. "By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong - and some were wrong - they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interests of the nation." (Inspirational speakers Motivational speakers, 2007). The consequences of the Watergate scandal, to clarify the point, are much greater than what many consider. The scandal had great implications to the citizens of the US as it affected their political and moral concepts. Its legal consequences are often discussed. The participation of ex-CIA members in the scandal involved issues regarding the dominance of political surveillance in the government. In addition, the attachment of the White House in the scandal meant that the Office of the President resorted to unpleasant maltreatments of its power. "Subsequent Senate hearings and FBI investigations reached similar conclusions, and nearly 30 people in the Nixon administration were fined or imprisoned. Complex intelligence operations and sophisticated equipment had permitted the "White House plumbers," CREEP, and Nixon to perpetrate and hide many of their crimes. However, the same sophistication of cloak and dagger operations ultimately undid the Nixon administration and broke the mysteries of the Watergate scandal." (Lerner, 2007). It means that Nixon recorded most conversations in his office which ultimately caused his disappointment when the Supreme Court, ensued over the tapes, their possible editing, and their admissibility in Senate Select Committee hearings. Therefore, the effect of the tapes was that he had to resign from the office. "Although he was later pardoned by President Gerald Ford, some of the people involved in the scandal served long prison terms, never breaking their cover story in relation to the scandal. The most important political scandal in U.S. history was perhaps best put in perspective by the late comedian Bob Hope, who said of Watergate, "It gave dirty politics a bad name." (Lerner, 2007). The profound consequences of the scandal were even greater than those suggested above. The many convictions and casualties of the scandal point this factor. The investigation regarding Watergate was media intensive. However, the official political enquiry began only in 1973 when a high level committee was set up to find out the facts behind the Watergate scandal... The evidence of John Dean, a former White House counsel went against President Nixon. The Commission also unearthed the use of covert White House tapes recording conversations between the President and his aides. This set off a controversy which let to a showdown between the Congress and the President. The final blow came in 1974 when parts of the secret tapes was made public. This was incriminating for the President since it exposed his connections with the Watergate scandal as way back since June 1972. "For example, the aftermath of Watergate ushered in changes in campaign finance reform and a more aggressive attitude by the media. By the time the 25th anniversary of Watergate occurred in 1997, a vast library of books and films existed. Watergate's influence was felt in the Clinton Impeachment of 1998-99." (Watergate Info, 2007). Similarly, the investigations of the scandal that made the celebrated President of the US resign from his office and this entire incidents have great impact on the Americans as the resourceful material for the operation of the American Constitution and political values. In conclusion, the Watergate Scandal and its impact on the life and political career of President Nixon as well as the entire country illustrates the importance of certain specific events in the history of the world which able to affect the very course of its actions. The long process of the scandal, when revisited, gives us the complete evidence to the possible implications of a scandal that concerns a whole nation. "Watergate, the mother of all political scandals, was not just a "third-rate burglary," as Richard M. Nixon called it. The burglary led reporters and investigators to a host of heinous crimes committed by President Nixon and his men: break-ins, illegal wiretaps, conspiracy to obstruct justice, attempts to use the Internal Revenue Service to punish political opponents and liberal critics in the press, political dirty tricks and corruption of the FBI and CIA Nixon died as a senior political leader. Watergate accessory G. Gordon Liddy, an erstwhile Government agent donned the mantle of an accomplished radio show compere which only proved that only a handful of crimes go scot free. The return to the mainstream of many people involved with Watergate often gives a wrong impression that the scandal was not as formidable as it was hyped to be, but the main result that the Watergate scandal achieved was in terms of bringing down the government of the largest democracy in the world. The Watergate drama had severely tested the political fabric of the American democratic system which, eventually came out winners. It has proved that the largest democracy in the world was above powerful individuals and even institutions that sought to undermine it, in whichever way they felt they could achieve it. What President Nixon had failed to understand was that the powers he held were vested to him by the democratic institutional system, of which he was an appointed caretaker, and it was entitled to call back these powers, at its will and volition. The voice of the millions of Americans could be silenced but not the resilience and inner strength of its democratic fabric, which has stood the test of time since recorded history. The man who wished to change the course of American history found that the course of his own destiny had been changed beyond redemption. Perhaps the only positive note sounded by the Watergate scandal that brought down a president was that it showed the republic to be stronger than the evils of a single president and his administration." (Only One Gate, 1997). Reference Bbc.co.uk. (2005). 1973: Nixon takes rap for Watergate scandal. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2933000/2933155.stm Essortment. (2002). The Watergate scandal. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://www.essortment.com/watergatescand_reji.htm Inspirational speakers Motivational speakers. (2007, October 10). Richard M. Nixon - Resignation Address to theNation. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://inspirationalspeakers.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/richard-m-nixon-resignation-address-to-the-nation/ Lerner, A. W. (2007). Watergate. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://www.espionageinfo.com/Vo-Z/Watergate.html Only One Gate. (1997). No scandal more dangerous to nation than Watergate. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/content/chronicle/editorial/97/06/20/edit2.html U.S. History.com. (2008). President's Watergate Scandal 1972-1977. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1791.html Watergate Info. (2007). Watergate: the Scandal That Brought down Richard Nixon. Retrieved February 28, 2008, from http://www.watergate.info/ Drehle, Von David. (June, 1, 2005). FBI'sNO.2 was "Deep Throat" Mark Felt Ends 30-Year Mystery of The Post's Watergate Source, Washingpost.com. Retrieved March 02, 2008, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/31/AR2005053100655.html Read More