After the case was investigated further, it was made clear that there was more going on than a simple burglary. Conspirators and suspects began to crack under the pressure of the investigation. One of Nixon’s aides, John Dean, testified against him, and revealed that Nixon had recorded every conversation that had occurred within the oval office. A special appointed prosecutor, Archibald Cox, and the judge demanded the tapes, but Nixon refused, stating that executive privilege allowed him to withhold them. After Cox refused to give up, Nixon dismissed him, revealing to the public his guilt. Nixon finally released the tapes, but purposely left out the incriminating tapes, further tainting his public image.
As the efforts to cover up the White House’s involvement with the Watergate burglary were made clear, people began to call for the president’s impeachment. The Supreme Court finally demanded that Nixon turn over the tapes. As the evidence just kept on stacking up against Nixon, the House of Representatives began to vote on his impeachment for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and violations of the Constitution.
Knowing that he could not refuse a Supreme Court order and that the tapes would mean certain impeachment, Nixon released the incriminatory tapes on August 5th and resigned on August 8th. While he was pardoned for his crimes by the proceeding president, Nixon would forever be remembered in a bad light, and caused many Americans to lose faith in their government and country.
Sources:
http://watergate.info/
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/politics/watergate-scandal-look-back/index.html
https://www.britannica.com/event/Watergate-Scandal
http://www.history.com/topics/watergate
McKinley -- This was a good post because it provided an overview of the importance of the watergate scandal and what a crucial role it played for American history and politics. I thought it was especially captivating that you took on a direct approach of explanation to ensure that we understood why Nixon was impeached and why that was a violation of a president's integrity. Recently, a discussion about why our current President Trump was and has not been impeached is because of the simple fact that Trump himself has not necessarily done anything that has violated the law. We can simply push out a president based off of personal dislike and ineffectiveness, he has to commit a crime of some sort or be involved in a scandal of some sort that makes the American public lack the trust and doubt the leader's ability to truly make the nation "great again". It is important to look at those who have been impeached (Nixon, Clinton) and hope that our future leaders put their nation before themselves.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/how-the-impeachment-process-works-trump-clinton.html
I think this post is a good summary of the Watergate scandal. One of the affects that the Watergate scandal had on American opinion was that it polarized the political parties, but not to the extent of today. When Nixon resigned, half of the Republican party approved of him in the August poll, while only 13% of Democrats did. To read more about some of the reactions of the Watergate scandal, read the attached link below. http://www.aei.org/publication/watergate-revisited-how-has-america-changed/
ReplyDeleteNice post McKinley!! I really like how you talk about all the aspects of the watergate, not just from the reporter side or Nixon's side and you really give a good idea of what was happening to the reader. Also this helped me get a better understanding about how Nixon ended up being exposed for his crimes against the government.
ReplyDelete