The Watergate Scandal

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The Watergate Scandal

Introduction

Watergate was the name of the biggest political scandal in United States history. It included various illegal activities constructed to help President Richard Nixon win reelection in the 1972 presidential elections. Watergate included burglary, wire tapping, violations of campaign financing laws, and sabotage and attempted use of government agencies to harm political opponents. It also involved a cover-up of conduct. There were about 40 people charged with crimes in the scandal and related crimes. Most of them were convicted by juries or pleaded guilty.

Watergate involved more high-level government officials than any previous scandal. It led to the conviction of former Attorney General John Mitchell and two of Nixon's top aides, John Erlichmen and H.R. Haldeman, in 1975. Former Secretary of Commerce Maurice H. Stans, a leader of Nixon's reelection campaign pleaded guilty to Watergate criminal charges and was fined $5000. Watergate also resulted in the resignation of Attorney General Richard Kleindienst in 1973.

The Beginning

Watergate really began in 1969 when the White House staff made up a list of enemies. This so-called "enemies list" was kept of people the president's men wanted retribution on. Nixon had adversaries which included 200 liberal politicians, journalists, and actors. When people made public speeches against Vietnam, agents found out secret information about them that would harm them.

The Nixon campaign routinely engaged in unethical "dirty tricks." These deceptions were led by White House staffers Charles Colson, Special Counsel to the President; Deputy Campaign Director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) Jeb Magruder; Dwight Chapin...

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...b Woodward. All the President's Men. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.

Dean, John Wesley. Blind Ambition: The White House Years. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976.

Encyclopedia Americana, Danbury: Grolier, 1999. Online. Available: http://www.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/watergate.html. December 6, 1998.

Higgins, George V. The Friends of Richard Nixon. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1974.

Liddy, G. Gordon. Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.

Meyer, Lawerence. "Last Two Guilty in Watergate Plot." The Washington Post (1973): A1. Online. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/013173-2.htm. December 3, 1998.

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Microsoft Corporation, 1998.

"Watergate." World Book Encyclopedia, 1985. Vol. 21, p.114-115.

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