Richard Nixon And The Watergate Scandal

THE WATERGATE SCANDAL
JAMAULA T. SYKES
COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ONLINE

HIST101-1302B-03
PROFESSOR J. CARPENTER
JUNE 2, 2013
THE WATERGATE SCANDAL

Scandal as defined by Bing.com (2013) is “something causing public outrage: a situation or event that causes public outrage or censure”. This was the case with Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal during his term in office. This was an event that happened in United States history that brought down Nixon during his tenure in Presidential office. Watergate was a multifaceted turn of political events and scandals between the years of 1972 and 1974. The word Watergate refers to the hotel located in Washington, D.C. Key players in the Watergate Scandal included names such as
This began a series of events that would shake the public’s confidence in its most visible symbol of American authority and prestige: the presidency” (Task List, 2013). In the midst of turmoil, deceit, scandal, and America’s outrage; bouncing back in a time of chaos was tumultuous.
In the year of 1972; there was a break-in at the Democratic National Convention headquarters. This event became known as Watergate. Richard Nixon’s administration attempted to cover-up its involvement in the scandal. W. Mark Felt, known in this investigation as Deep Throat was a secret source, insider and informant in the happenings of the Watergate Scandal. Felt was a FBI agent who had the sources and internal means to help discover the internal spies, secret surveillance, and tricky cover ups…Hence the name given to Nixon; Tricky Dick. Speculated by Nixon as an informant, Felt was never discovered and went on to hold his secret identity for 30 plus years. The tape recorders that were in question in this scandal were installed and maintained by the U.S. Secret Service. Recordings of President Nixon and cohorts were caught discussing several different issues unknown to the public. “The senate hearings mesmerized the nation and they were covered by television gavel to gavel. By
Nixon ran for a second term in office as President of the United States and won; by a landslide might I add. Soon after elections; on July 16 everything that had been kept quiet changed. Alexander Butterfield, a White House aide, before the Senate committee revealed that there was existence in the White House of a secret taping system. In the end the tapes revealed that Nixon had recorded all of his telephone conversations, including those in which he ordered his subordinates to cover up the fact that they had hired burglars to break into the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. During the Watergate Hearings, the Commission investigating the break-in learned of these tapes and demanded that Nixon turn them over to them. At first he refused, but eventually he gave them the tapes. The Watergate Scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States, on August 9, 1974. Nixon was the only resignation of a U.S. President. The Watergate Scandal in the long run ended in the indictment; trial; conviction; and incarceration of 43 people. Dozens of Nixon 's top administration officials were also