President Richard Nixon: Man with a Scandal

The Watergate complex break-in is the most famous event associated with Nixon, and this is for what he is known.  If you were to ask anybody who lived during Nixon’s presidential term, “What can you remember about President Nixon?” they would most certainly answer “the Watergate scandal.”  The premise of what transpired was that five men broke in to the Watergate Office Complex with the intention of intercepting phone calls and other communications.  These men were later convicted in January 1973. The Committee to Re-elect the President spent money to keep the men quiet, avoiding the chance that Nixon’s connection might be revealed to the public.  Despite the efforts of CREEP, the two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, dutifully reported the story.  The men who were conspirators in this plot were John Dean, who was the White House Counsel to Nixon, John Ehrlichman, who was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, H. R. Haldeman, who served as the White House Chief of Staff, and E. Howard Hunt, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency under Nixon. The former aides to the President, commonly called the “Watergate Seven,” included Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Charles Colson, Gordon C. Strachan, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson were indicted for conspiring to hinder the Watergate investigation on March 1, 1974.  Herbert Porter also pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

The impeachment of Nixon was of course highly related to the Watergate scandal, convictions, and proceedings following it.  Nixon’s decisions were becoming more and more suspicious, and eventually the House of Representatives began formal investigations into his possible impeachment.  Although they were probably going to bring impeachment charges against Nixon, he resigned before they could do anything.  Eventually, the House of Representatives voted 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment against President Nixon – obstruction of justice.  The second and third articles were passed on June 29, 1974, and July 30, 1974.  The second article is abuse of power, and the third article is contempt of Congress.  President Nixon had charges brought against him for both of these categories.  The Supreme Court kept ordering Nixon to “turn over the tapes,” yet he did not comply.  The charges brought against him then, were warranted.

In conclusion, Nixon’s foreign policies were effective to some extent, his domestic programs worked somewhat well, but faced an incredible decline because of his involvement in the Watergate Complex break-ins and subsequent investigations.  Without regarding his involvement in the Watergate scandal, Nixon was a great President, however, he will be remembered for Watergate.