Essay On Frank Wills

Anyone Can change the course of History
Frank Wills was an ordinary guy who unknowingly changed the course of history 17 June 1972 by committing the simple act of notifying the police of a break in which led to what is known today as the Watergate scandal. Ultimately the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of United States President Richard M. Nixon.
Frank Wills born 4 February 1948 in Savannah, Georgia was a mundane individual. His parents were separated as a child and he was raised by his mother. In the eleventh grade Wills dropped out of high school to seek education in Battle Creek, Michigan studying heavy machine operations. Eventually through the Job Corps Wills was able to attain his high school equivalency degree. Wills Later

moved to Detroit seeking work where he found a job with Ford as an assembly line worker, but he had to give up the job on account of work related health issues. Wills later moved to Washington D.C. were he eventually landed a job as a security guard at the Watergate complex.
17 June 1972 while working as a private security guard at the Watergate complex “which was also the headquarters for the Democratic National Committee” Wills noticed a piece of duct tape on a door while making his rounds.

Thinking nothing of it Wills removed the tape from the door and continued his rounds. About an hour later Wills discovered a second piece of tape on the same door Wills immediately made his way to the phone and notified the police of a break in.
Upon arrival Police from the Second Precinct D.C police arrived to discover Five men In the Democratic National Committees office attempting to plant surveillance equipment. The men were arrested on attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications charges. The five men involved with the burglary within the Watergate complex were: Bernard L. Barker, Virgilio Gonzales, Eugenio Martinez, James W. McCord and Frank Sturgis. These men

were
indicted by the grand jury for conspiracy, burglary and violation of federal wiretapping laws. Upon indictment of the five individuals the Watergate scandal was born. The fact each man had relations with the White House raised a red flag in regards to Whitehouse involvement. Reporters from the Washington Post independently pursued the scandal. Additionally the Federal District Judge John Sirica appointed to preside over the trial of the Watergate burglars suspected fowl play in regards to a political coverup. At this point there was little attention over the events involved with what at this point was called the Watergate affair. Thanks to investigative reporting by Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein elements of a high level political coverup were brought to light.
Preceding the events that led to the discovery and arrests of the five individuals involved in the burglary at the Watergate office complex Nixon created a campaign organization known by the acronym “CREEP” (Committee to Re-elect the President), the organization raised money in secret much of it from illegal contributions. Nixon created this organization because, the Vietnam war caused a harsh political climate in which political parties were deeply divided internally.The pentagon papers surfaced 13 June 1971. A massive leak of top secret documents that traced three decades of growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. These documents were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg the former adviser to Henry Kissinger. The pentagon papers had become a best selling book. More Leaks involving government decisions were beginning to surface. Nixon made the decision to retrieve the papers by what ever means necessary. Nixon felt that enough information had been leaked and the information being leaked was not acceptable in regards to national interest. Nixon began to become paranoid which led him to make rash decisions in regards to who to hold accountable and how to handle certain situations. Nixon wanted someone punished specifically Daniel Ellsberg who he feared had opened the floodgates. Nixon was fearful that the idea of leaking information would permeate through the bureaucracy and if he did not get a handle on the situation. Nixon states “we would be leaked to death”. Nixon’s approach was to shed negative light on Daniel Ellsberg in order to discredit him. Nixon being blocked by Herbert Hoover in using the FBI for his bidding in regards to Ellsberg decided to create his own full time unit within the White House. Their first priority was to neutralize Ellsberg. The plan was to attempt to destroy Ellsberg’s Image. In order to destroy Ellsberg’s Image it was suggested that psychiatric medical files be obtained from his psychoanalyst office and once obtained the files would be used to smear Ellsberg. This plan was approved by John Ehrlichman and set into motion.
The men who were expected to carry out organizing such tasks were Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt.

The two men sought help from Bernard Barker and Rolando Martinez both former Bay of Pigs Veterans these men were to be referred to as the plumbers, because there role was to help stop the leaks at the White House. Upon Breaking into the office of the psychoanalyst’s office there was no documentation in regards to Ellsberg within the office. Despite the fiasco regarding the break no one was aware of what had happened. The Ellsberg affair became one of the presidents darkest secrets during this time. It was not Long After a plan was formulated to spy on Nixon’s harshest critic Larry O’Brien. O’Brien Was the head of the democratic party and the chairman for the democratic national committee. It was also known that O’brien was taking substantial payments into his own pocket from Howard Hughes. Nixon was determined to exploit O’Brien’s link to Hughes in order to damage the democrats image. O’Brien’s office for the Democratic National Committee became a key target. His office was located within the Watergate office complex. The plan was to break into and bug O’Brien’s office with electronics so that telephone conversations as well conversations held within O’Brien’s office could be monitored. During the the time of the initial break in Sunday the 28th of May Nixon was in 5000 miles away in Moscow signing documentation agreement that limited nuclear arms production between the United

States and Russia. The group involved with the break in were unable to make entry to O’Brien’s office out of fear of making to much noise and being discovered. Instead it was decided to bug the reception area of O’Brien’s office as well as the secretary switch board. Unfortunately no information of value was given at this time. So it was decided break in once again in order to install more devices in order to acquire information of value. The decision was made to enter the office 17 June 1972 when the opportunity presented it self. The plan was for McCord who gained access to the Watergate building to place tape over the door latch so the rest of the men could make entry. When the men went to enter the building they found the door was locked and the tape removed. The controversial decision was made after the removal of the tape was discovered to place another piece of tape over the latch once again. The second entry attempt was successful. The men entered the office building through the stairwell and made there way to the target area. Not long after entry the Washington D.C police arrived instructing the men to come out with there hands up. The break in was over, for Nixon issues had just begun. A series of events came to light causing the chain reaction that lead to the resignation of Nixon. Had Frank Wills not acted in the manor he did it is likely that none of this would have ever become common knowledge and very much likely history would have taken a different course. And the present as it is known would be different.
The reaction of Wills actions lead directly to the discovery of the five burglars. It is highly unlikely that at this time anyone was aware of the scope of the events taking place or where they would lead. The story of the break in fell into the hands of two low ranking reporters at the Washington Post Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The Story does not generate much attention at this time. The only thing interesting about the story was the fact that the crime took place at the Democratic National Headquarters. Via investigative reporting the two reporters were able to link the break in to the committee to reelect the president. McCord the committees security coordinator. Upon further investigation the reporters came into possession of a check from Howard Hunt and two address books linking Hunt to the Watergate burglars. Following this discovery the Washington Post runs the story linking former White House consultant Howard Hunt to the Watergate Burglary. The article also made the connection between Hunt and Charles Colson one of Nixon’s top aids. The information linking the Watergate burglary to Colson horrified Nixon causing Nixon to become paranoid. Trust began to breakdown between the president and his inner circle.
10 July Alfred Baldwin the lookout for the Watergate burglary decides to come forward to the FBI on account of the fact he had sought guidance from CREEP, but had received none. Baldwin states “he had been disowned by the committee”. From this point Baldwin divulges information to the FBI stating the roles of Hunt and Liddy in regards to the Watergate break in. On account of Baldwins testimony a federal grand jury indicts the five Watergate burglars including Hunt and Liddy. 9 October 1972 Woodward meets with a source known as “Deep throat” to learn that CREEP was not only behind the Watergate break in, but political sabotage against Nixon’s adversaries as well. Woodward makes this newly information known to the public.
8 January 1973 the men involved with the Watergate burglary appear before the court. Judge Sirica suspects the men have deep connections with the Whitehouse. Nixon becoming more paranoid wants the Watergate situation to go away. In response to this feeling Nixon adds John Dean to his inner circle and tasks him with managing the scandal. Meanwhile each of the men were found guilty of the crimes they had committed, however judge Sirica was not satisfied and urged the senate look deeper into the Watergate investigation. By now the scandal had made national attention. people were beginning to wonder if the President played a role in the Watergate break in. Realizing the watergate scandal was getting out of control John dean decides to come forward to the senate investigators offering to tell them all that he knows about the scandal. Nixon aware of Deans actions asks for his resignation as well as Haldeman and Ehrlichman’s resignations on account of their involvement in the coverup. 30 April 1973 Nixon tells the nation on a national broadcast that his staff had been involved in the coverup he states “ there had been an effort to conceal to facts from the public, from you, and from me”. 17 may 1973 the senate hearings began. Archibald Cox was deemed special prosecutor with the job of investigating Nixon’s role within the coverup. 25 June 1973 Dean testified before the senate where he revealed the presidents secrets as well as his dirty tricks. Alexander Butterfield Nixon’s deputy assistant comes to the stand and makes the senate aware of listening devices that had been installed within the Whitehouse Oval office. It was made aware that there were taped recordings of each conversation held within the oval office. Cox issues a subpoena of the tapes. Out of desperation Nixon ordered attorney general Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson resigns along with deputy attorney general William Ruckelhaus. Finally solicitor general Robert Bork obeys the presidents order and fires Cox. This event came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre. People were outraged and distrust began to build on account of Nixon stonewalling the investigation. Thoughts towards impeachment began to grow. Finally Nixon decides to release transcripts of the tapes, but it was found that an eighteen and one half minute section of a tape was missing. The question arose was the section of tape intentionally erased? 6 February 1974 the house of representatives votes to instruct the judiciary committee to consider impeaching Nixon. 24 July the U.S Supreme Court orders Nixon to release the tapes. A section of the tape dated 23 June 1972 reveals Nixon was aware of events that had occurred at the Watergate. This portion of the tape came to be known as the smoking gun because it proved Nixon obstructed justice nearly a week after the break in. On this section of tape Nixon states “It would be very detrimental to have this thing go any further. This involves these Cubans, Hunt and a lot of hanky panky.” Further into this conversation it is noted that Nixon instructed his chief of staff Haldeman to contact CIA director Richard Helms and convince the agency to hamper the FBI probe via a cover story. This act was seen as a clear obstruction of justice. In any regard Helms refused to go along with the presidents plan. 27 July 1974 the House Judiciary Committee votes to pass an article of Impeachment a few days later the congress as well was in favor of passing a bills to impeach the president. 8 August 1974 Nixon dresses the nation with the statement “ I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term opposes every instinct of my body. As president I must put the interests of America first. America needs a full time President, and a full time congress. Therefore, I shall resign presidency effective noon tomorrow”.
There are many more aspects of history that Wills actions helped changed stemming from Nixon’s resignation but most notable were the series of events that led to the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon. Many other people helped play a role that helped lead to the resignation of Nixon as well, but no one else could have played there role had wills not played his. History can be affected in more ways than are understandable. Everyone plays their part in making history including people that are unknown for their contribution to history.