Regan Admin

June 17th, 1972 would be a day America would never forget--it was the start of one of the largest scandals in our government. Richard Nixon was president of the United States and the people trusted him. However this trust would be betrayed, as he got involved in something now known as the Watergate Scandal. This was an interesting time in history because it was a large cover up by the Republican Party. Also, how different people reacted to this event was fascinating because some people were so blind to the truth, that they stuck behind Nixon even once tapes and other credible evidence against him was produced. In this paper I will describe the events of Watergate and the publics opinion and reactions to this lengthy Scandal that corrupted our Nations government.

Richard Nixon was the thirty-seventh President of the United States of America, serving a term from 1969-1974, being elected not once but twice. He is the only President to have resigned from office during his term as President, by doing this however he escaped the likely process of being impeached. However Ford who was his successor, pardoned him and let him keep his dignity.

The Watergate scandal started with the arrest of five burglars who had broken into the headquarters of the Democratic committee. After many lengthy investigations by the FBI and other government organizations it was found that this burglary was only one of the many illegal activities that had been going on under Nixon’s administration. Men that were involved in the burglary at the Watergate hotel and offices were found to be part or former members of Nixon’s staff.

Then one of the men arrested turned out to be the Nixon committee’s security coordinator. Federal and state investigators next learned that a sixth manвЂ"E. Howard HuntвЂ"was involved. He had worked until March 29th as a consultant for Presidential assistant Charles Colson, who handles sensitive political assignments for the White House. Mr. Hunt has disappeared.1

The connection between Nixon and the scandal was undeniable, as the investigations continued to happen more and more information was revealed, and the tie between the burglary and the Republican Party grew. The five men who had been arrested had been found with “bugging” and eavesdropping devices, different types of cameras and around $5,000 dollars all in big bills.

The money has now been traced. It turns out to be part of $114,000 which found its way from the Nixon headquarters to the Miami bank account of Bernard L. Barker, one of the five men arrested at the Watergate.1

Journalists were writing up a storm during this time, finding more and more ways to peg this on the Republican Party and Nixon, making them have no way out besides admitting they were guilty. Despite denying that they had no way of knowing how that money got to Mr. Barker, the people had no other choice then to believe them guilty, stirring up more problems for Nixon’s committee. From reading the articles that were published in the newspapers during this time, it seems as though that the people were captivated by what was happening and disgusted with the outright denial that the Republican Party lawyers and spokesmen were sticking too.

It is now clear that Republican denials of responsibility for the sinister Watergate espionage case issued from the White house down have been a tissue of lies. The Administration and its political apparatus, the Committee to Re-elect the President, began by asserting that they had no connection with the men arrested last June for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex. When multiple connections began to appear, it was then said that no on in “senior status” at the committee was involved. Next, President Nixon and his subordinates began carefully to say that no one presently employed” in the Administration was a participant. 2

The New York Times spent a lot of press time covering this topic from lots of different angles, supplying the people with constant inside knowledge that they received. This scandal was causing uproar all over the country with wondering if Nixon was a good president, he promised them that the Vietnam War would end and he would save the boys that were over there, but non of this seemed to be happeningвЂ"and peoples faith in his decision making fell.

Throughout this whole scandal there were many government agencies involved in the investigation including the FBI, Senate Watergate Committee, House Judiciary Committee. Many people believed that the FBI was corrupt to and run by the Republican influence. However they strived to make sure that people wouldn’t believe them to be that way. Journalist still however published the story as they saw fit, printing ideas and suspicions that because of the republican influence on the FBI, the investigation won’t be held true.

The Democrats are making much political hay, for instance, of the fact that a Republican Justice Department and a Republican political figure, temporarily in control of the F.B.I, are those charged with investigating the Watergate affair, in which Republican officials and the Committee to Re-elect the President are at least suspected of being implicated.3

However despite these allegations and the suspicions that the Democrats may have spread, this ended up not being the situation and the FBI conducted a fair and sure investigation. After consulting all of these articles from the newspapers during this lengthy process, I found that this was a huge factor in our government’s history. It put the doubt back in people and made everyone second-guess political candidates and the corruption in the overall system.

One article that reflects back upon the Watergate Scandal has a journalist commenting on what lessons the people learned from Watergate. Hinted with sarcasm he makes a strong point about the corruption this has caused and how the choices of some have made others believe it is ok to lie, cheat, and steal. He believes that Watergate has had an overall negative effect on society and only made everything with the government and the people worse.

Presidents continue to push the envelope. The press frequently is more lapdog than watchdog; the public is often asleep at the wheel of democracy; Congress seems unwilling or unable to defend its own constitutional authority in the face of a determined president. 4

Some believed that Watergate gave an example of Presidents being greedy and taking as much power as they can, caring about themselves and getting ahead instead of our country and bringing us to new levels.

Most people today seem to agree with the reaction of the people during the Watergate