On July 17, 1972, in the morning hours, police found five men in black business suits. The
police were investigating a burglary at the Democratic Party’s national headquarters.
The apartment building where the five men were captured is called the Watergate
Hotel in Washington D.C. When the five men were first caught it was a third degree
burglary that would turn into the biggest political scandal in United States history. The
buglary investigation found its way to the White House.
In an effort to re-elect President Richard Nixion, aides close to the president came
up with a plan to spy on his enimies-the Democratic party. The break-in was to set up
eaves dropping devices in the Democratic Party’s National Headquarters. The White
House tried to cover-up the truth behind Watergate.
Within two years the truth emerged, causing Nixon to be the first president in
United States history to resign as president.
As the Watergate trial begins, Nixon fears his top aids might testify-H.R.
Haldeman and John Ehrilichman. The Watergate, which was a third degree burglary, was
traced back to the President of the United States - Richard Nixon. The men who broke
into the Watergate were sentenced to between thirty-five and forty years. For their
involvement in the Watergate cover-up, Attorney General John Mitchell, former White
House Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman and former domestic advisor John Ehrilichman,
were sentenced to two and a half to eight years, while former Assistant Attorney General
Robert Mardian, received a lesser sentence.
And what about Nixon? The evidence is not enough to take Nixon to trial,
however, there is talk that this president could be impeached. The investigation of
Nixon’s involvement is still going on. Tapes recovered from Nixon do not tell of his
involvement, yet there is an area of blank tape which may have been purposely erased and
could be the evidence needed to uncover Nixon’s guilt.
In an effort to prove his innocence, President Nixon held a press conference on
November 17, 1974. "I welcome this kind of examination,” he said, “because people have
got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned
everything I’ve got." The President adamantly denied all charges and told editors from
forty-three states that he will not resign.
As they traced things closer and closer to the White House and our thirty-seventh
president. As it turned out, the Nixon administration was the mastermind behind it all.
Nixon was believed to be involved and many more Americans started to believe the
accusation.
The word impeachment was on everyone’s minds and on August 8, 1974,
President Nixon announced that he will resign as noon August 9, 1974, on the 9th, at
11:35a, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger received Nixon’s letter of resignation. As
Nixon resigned, he said, "1I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is
completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But...I must put the interest of
America first."
Taking over as President of the United States was Vice President Gerald Ford.
This will be the first time in American history that person was never elected vice president and president. Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the oath of office to
the incoming president. The times ahead are sure to be as intriguing and trying as the
previous months of the Watergate trial.
The Watergate scandal had bred so much mistrust in politicians. Even 26 years
later the effects can still be felt in the electorate. As president Clinton makes his way
through charges of financial misdeeds, voters today are more suspicious. After, the
Watergate scandal the press started to keep their eye on the presidents in the future.
Before Nixon the press did not watch the president too closely. Now the president is
watched every time he takes a foot out of the White House.
The Watergate Hotel
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