Watergate Essay Research Paper On the night

  • Просмотров 360
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 19
    Кб

Watergate Essay, Research Paper On the night of Saturday, June 17,1972, police arrested five burglars in the act of bugging the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Apartment complex. The five men were discovered crouched behind a desk wearing business suits, carrying a large sum of cash and walkie-talkies. The five men were James W. McCord, Jr., Bernard L. Barker, Frank A. Sturgis, Virgilio R. Gonzales, and Eugenio R. Martinez. The following day, June 18, the men were charged with second-degree burglary. Astonishingly, what appeared to be an average burglary unraveled into one of the greatest political scandals ever. Upon the questioning of one of the defendants, McCord revealed his identity as a former CIA Security consultant. Arousing interest, reporters

further investigated and discovered that he worked for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP,) creating a direct link to the President of the United States. In August 1968, Nixon stated at a Republican convention “America is in trouble today not because her people have failed but because her leaders have failed.” This ironic quote foreshadows the demise and corruption of one of the most controversial presidents, Richard Milhouse Nixon. The scandal known as Watergate was not an isolated event. In fact, criminal actions took place throughout the entire Nixon administration. They began when Nixon was faced with the Vietnam War. Nixon started secretly bombing Cambodia, aiming at North-Vietnamese troops. After this was revealed, most of the public was upset since it was

wrong to bomb a country that was not involved in the war. Upset that the bombings were discovered, Nixon was determined to find out who was leaking information to the press. His desperation led to a series of criminal acts and corruption. The administration bugged the telephones of suspected government officials. These were the first of seventeen wiretaps used to uncover people leaking harmful information. Installing wiretaps without a judge’s permission is illegal because it disregards the right of freedom of speech. In order to prevent other leaks, Nixon told John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser, to create a special undercover organization to stop the leakage of secret information. This group became known as the Plumbers, working out of the White House basement. The

corruption never stopped. Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia instigated many public anti-war demonstrations. These demonstrations became a problem when four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University. Wanting to know more about the anti-war movement, Nixon hired Tom Charles Huston to investigate. He devised a plan which consisted of reading people’s mail, breaking into homes, and listening to people’s telephone calls. Nixon approved the Huston Plan in 1970. In 1971, Nixon continued to pressure White House aides to get information on his enemies. Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy then created the CRP (also known as CREEP to Nixon opponents) in order to practice illegal actions on Democratic opponents. This corruption in the White House continued

into President Nixon’s campaign for re-election. The code name for the program intended to harass the democrats was “Sedan Chair.” Worried about the upcoming election, Nixon created the CRP. Current poles suggested that the public favored the Democratic candidate Senator Edmund Muskie. In an attempt to incapacitate Muskie, several plans were instituted. First, a Republican spy applied for a job with Muskie as his personal chauffeur. The chauffeur reported everything he overheard in the car to Nixon and the CRP. The next step was for members of the CRP to awaken voters in the middle of the night saying they were working for Muskie, asking for their vote. The CRP aimed at other potential democratic candidates, as well, such as Edward Kennedy. In the final CRP scandal, Liddy