The Watergate Scandal

In 1972, Nixon was going to run for president again. To some of Nixon's key advisers, Nixon's presidential campaign seemed essential. They took on some aggressive tactics, including one major illegal tactic/scandal which is now known as the Watergate Scandal.

The Watergate complex is where the democratic party's conferences/ discussions were held. On June 17, 5 men were caught infiltrating the democratic party's headquarters by taping the door open to travel back and forth and using their listening/recording devices to listen to the discussions. One of the men was a former member of the CIA. In August, Nixon stated that he did his own investigation and none of the white house staff were involved in but the head of investigation in the gov noted that there was no investigation. Most of the voters believed him, for no one wanted to believe otherwise and he was elected again with a landslide victory. 

During the investigation, Nixon was paying the burglars hush money to keep quiet. Later, Nixon instructed the CIA to delay the FBI's investigation, proof of his abuse of power. Five of the burglars pleaded guilty to avoid the trial (like Nixon wanted) while two were convicted. At this time, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, trial judge John J. Sirica, the Washington post, and members of the Senate investigation committee suspected that it was more than just a mere burglary. Quite a few of Nixon's aids, most significantly John Dean, believed that it was better to testify when he saw that Nixon was losing his credibility. He testified that Nixon had taped every conversation that took place in the Oval Office. This caused prosecutors to search for those tapes. Nixon fought to hide the tapes and his lawyers argued that "the president’s executive privilege allowed him to keep the tapes to himself" but the fact that the president has this "executive privilege" made some mad because it seemed that Nixon is above the law which he shouldn't be.

After the Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon agreed to surrender some tapes but not all of them. After gaining the tapes, the secrets started to unravel and the Supreme court ordered Nixon to turn in the rest of the tapes. While the president was hesitating while the House of Representatives voted to impeach. Right after Nixon released the tapes, he resigned. Nixon had never admitted to what he did but he did acknowledge that he had poor judgment. 

The Watergate Scandal was a national embarrassment and the American citizens were shocked. Other countries were also in shock but also because of the fact that the president "had no power." It was also good because it proved that the president was not above the law and that democracy and morals still stand.