An Age of Limits President Nixon reaches out to Communist nations, but leaves office disgraced by the Watergate scandal. His successors face a sluggish.

An Age of Limits

President Nixon reaches out to Communist nations, but leaves office disgraced by the Watergate scandal. His successors face a sluggish economy, environmental concerns, and a revolution in Iran.

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President Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal forces him to resign from office.

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Learning Objectives: Section 2 Watergate: Nixon's Downfall

• 1. Analyze how Nixon and his advisors sought to increase the power of the presidency.2. Summarize the details of the Watergate burglary.3. Describe how the Watergate scandal was uncovered.4. Explain why the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach Nixon and analyze the impact of Watergate on American politics.

President Nixon and His White House

An Imperial Presidency• Depression, WW II, Cold War make executive

most powerful branch• Nixon expands presidential powers, ignores

Congress

Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall2SECTION

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The President’s Men• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,

desire secrecy- H. R. Haldeman, White House chief of staff- John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser- John Mitchell, Nixon’s former attorney general - John Dean, White House counsel

By the time Nixon became president, the executive branch had become powerful. He confided in a

small group of very loyal advisers.

These advisers included H.R. Haldeman, chief of staff; John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser; &

John Mitchell, the attorney general.

H.R. H.R. HaldemanHaldeman

John Ehrlichman

John Mitchell

The Drive Toward Reelection

A Bungled Burglary• Committee to Reelect the President break into

Democratic headquarters• Watergate scandal is administration’s attempt to

cover up break-in- destroy documents, try to stop investigation, buy burglars’ silence

• Washington Post reporters link administration to break-in

• White House denies allegations; little public interest in charges

• Nixon reelected by landslide over liberal Democrat George McGovern

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1. How were the “plumbers” connected to President Nixon?

The plumbers’ leader was an official of the Committee to Reelect the President;

John Mitchell, CRP's director, had resigned as attorney general to run Nixon's campaign.

GUIDED READING

The men were caught photographing files & placing wiretaps on phones.

The press soon discovered that the group’s leader, James McCord, was a

former CIA agent.

Chap Stick microphones used

by E. Howard Hunt and

G. Gordon Liddy

during the burglary.

After Nixon’s reelection, the cover-up began to unravel. In Jan. ’73, the Watergate burglars, except

McCord, changed their pleas from innocent to guilty. (He was found guilty by a jury)

The trial’s presiding judge, Judge John Sirica, believed that the

burglars did not act alone.

The Cover-Up Unravels

The Senate Investigates Watergate• Judge John Sirica presides burglars’ trial,

thinks did not act alone• Burglar leader James McCord says lied

under oath, advisers involved• Nixon dismisses White House counsel John

Dean; others resign• Senator Samuel J. Ervin heads investigative

committee

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Continued . . .

2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out maximum sentences?

Judge John Sirica;

to encourage the defendants who received sentences to identify others who were also involved

GUIDED READING

McCord was also an official of a group known as the Committee to Reelect the

President (CRP).

John Mitchell, who had been attorney general, was the CRP’s

director.

Nixon & his staff tried to hide the link to

the White House.

Workers shredded evidence. Nixon & his staff asked the CIA to urge the FBI to stop its investigations into

the burglary.

President Nixon and His White House

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The President’s Men• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,

desire secrecy

- John Mitchell, Nixon’s former attorney general

- John Dean, White House counsel

3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to Nixon?

Mitchell had been Nixon's attorney general;

Dean had been White House counsel.

GUIDED READING

Soon the public interest in the Watergate burglary increased. In April ’73, Three top

Nixon aides resigned.

The President then went on television & denied any cover-up.

President Nixon and His White House

Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall2SECTION

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The President’s Men• Nixon has small, loyal group of advisers; like him,

desire secrecy

- H. R. Haldeman, White House chief of staff

- John Ehrlichman, chief domestic adviser

4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected to Nixon?

Haldeman was Nixon's chief of staff;

Erlichman was Nixon's chief domestic adviser.

GUIDED READING

In May 1973, the Senate began its own investigation of Watergate. The Senate

hearings were televised live.

In the hearings, one of Nixon’s aides said that Nixon knew about the

cover-up.

The Cover-Up Unravels

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Startling Testimony• Dean declares Nixon involved in cover-up• Alexander Butterfield says Nixon tapes

presidential conversations

Continued . . .

Then it was reveled that White House meetings had been tape-recorded.

The Senate committee demanded the tapes. Nixon refused to release them.

An example of a Sony 800B recorder, as used in Nixon's office

A Uher 5000, similar to the one used by Nixon's secretary to erase part of one of the tapes.

5. What did the following men tell the Senate about Nixon?

a. Dean - Nixon was deeply involved in the Cover-up.

b. Butterfield - Nixon had taped nearly all of his presidential conversations.

GUIDED READING

Nixon announced that he was appointing Elliot Richardson as the new attorney

general.

He authorized Richardson to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate

Watergate.

Court battles over the tapes lasted a year.

Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor, took the president to court in Oct. 1973 to get the tapes. Nixon refused & ordered Richardson to fire

Cox.

In what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre, Richardson refused the order &

resigned.

The deputy attorney general also refused & resigned. Solicitor General Robert Bork finally fired Cox. But his replacement, Leon Jaworski

was determined to get the tapes.

Robert Bork

continued The Cover-Up Unravels

The Saturday Night Massacre• Special prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenas

tapes; Nixon refuses• Nixon orders Cox fired, attorney general Elliot

Richardson refuses • Saturday Night Massacre: Richardson resigns;

deputy refuses, fired• Cox’s replacement, Leon Jaworski, also calls

for tapes• Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns, revealed

he accepted bribes• Nixon nominates, Congress confirms Gerald R.

Ford as vice-president

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6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the “massacre”?

Attorney General Richardson resigned;

the deputy attorney general was fired;

special prosecutor Cox was fired.

GUIDED READING

In March 1974, a grand jury charged 7 Nixon aides with obstruction of justice & perjury.

Nixon released more than 1,250 pages of taped conversations.

But he didn’t release the conversations on some key dates.

In July ’74, the Supreme Court

ordered the White House to release the tapes.

President Nixon giving a televised address explaining release of edited transcripts of the tapes on April 29, 1974

Nixon Releases the Tapes• March 1974, grand jury indicts 7 presidential aides

- charges: conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury• Nixon tells TV audience he is releasing edited

transcripts• July, Supreme Court rules unanimously Nixon must

surrender tapes

The Fall of a President

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Continued . . .

7. Why weren’t investigators satisfied with the transcripts?

because only unedited tapes could provide evidence involving possible criminal activity

GUIDED READING

Three days later, a House committee voted to impeach President Nixon.

If the full House of Representatives approved, Nixon would go to trial in the

Senate. If found guilty there, he would be removed from office.

When the tapes were finally released, they proved that Nixon had known of the cover-up.

On August 8, 1974, before the impeachment could happen, Nixon

resigned.

The President Resigns• House Judiciary Committee approves 3 articles

of impeachment - formal accusation of wrongdoing while in office- charges: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, contempt of Congress

• Nixon releases tapes; show he knew of administration role, cover up

• Before full House votes on impeachment, Nixon resigns

continued The Fall of a President

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8. What did the tapes reveal?

that within a week, Nixon had known of his administration's role in the burglary and had participated in the cover-up

GUIDED READING

Watergate produced distrust about the presidency.

A poll taken in 1974 showed that 43% of Americans had lost faith in the presidency. In the

years after Vietnam & Watergate, Americans developed a deep distrust of government.

continued The Fall of a President

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The Effects of Watergate• 25 members of administration convicted, serve

prison terms