The Crimes Of Watergate

“Watergate” is the term used to describe a complex web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974. Why did Watergate occur in the first place? Every poll showed that President Nixon had a huge lead over Senator McGovern, so why did it happen? Watergate was caused by Nixon’s paranoia which lead to a cover-up that destroyed his presidency. Understanding the personality of Richard Nixon makes understanding the crimes of Watergate possible. Most sources agree that Nixon was, in essence, two men. According to John Ehrlichman, “There was another side to him, like the flat, dark side of the moon.” David Frost, did research for the television interview series he did with Nixon and said he saw the same dual personality. He wrote, “One domestic
Fund-raising affairs were held from 1969 to 1970 to “pay off the 1968 campaign debts.” What most Republican leaders didn’t know was that there wasn’t any debt. The Nixon forces had done a lot of secret fund-raising outside of what was normally done. Only four weeks after he took office, Nixon set another secret fund-raising job in motion. He planned on using these funds to put together a conservative alliance from “The Silent Majority.” Developing this alliance depended on the “Southern Strategy.” The states of the South resisted integration, as they had for centuries. Political campaigners with racist views pulled a lot of voters to the polls. The champion of the segregationist South was George Wallace. Nixon and his advisors felt that the five states Wallace had won over in 1968 would have voted for Nixon if Wallace had not been in the race. The solution to this was to eliminate Wallace as a threat in the 1972 campaign. The anti-Wallace effort was just the first in a series of actions that destroyed the strongest Democratic candidates of 1972 and left Nixon with exactly what he wanted, the weakest possible opponent. (The Crimes of Watergate, Cook, Fred
The committee charged Nixon with obstructing justice in the Watergate cover-up, misusing federal agencies to violate the rights of citizens, and defying the authority of Congress by refusing to deliver tapes and other materials that were requested. Before the House of Representatives could vote on whether Nixon should be impeached, investigators found evidence against the president. One of the tapes revealed that just six days after the Watergate burglary Nixon had ordered the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation. Before he could be impeached, Nixon resigned from office. (Appleby, Chapter