Watergate

At this point, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend three articles of impeachment. They charged Nixon with three things: Firstly, he was charged with obstruction of justice because of his various attempts with his subordinates to cover up the Watergate scandal. Second, he was charged with abuse of power, because he had misused federal agencies, such as using the CIA to tell the FBI not to investigate the Watergate incident because it involved national security, and for other illegal uses of his power. Finally, he was charged with contempt of Congress because he had refused to hand over the tapes and other materials in response to the subpoenas. Early in August, a new piece of evidence was found that gave solid proof that Nixon had at least been involved in the cover up of the Watergate scandal. One of the tapes that Nixon had released in response to the Supreme Court ruling included a conversation between Nixon and Haldeman six days after the Watergate break-in. In it, Nixon ordered Haldeman to tell the CIA to obstruct the investigation being conducted by the FBI. Many members of Congress called this the “smoking gun” because it proved Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up of the White House involvement in the Watergate incident.

At this point, Nixon had reason to believe that there was a good chance that he would be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. During the voting on the articles of impeachment, one might have expected that the Representatives in the House Judiciary Committee would have voted along party lines. However, all of the Democrats and most of the Republicans voted to approve the three articles of impeachment, showing that even most Republicans were already doubting Nixon’s integrity. Afterwards, the tape known as the “smoking gun” was revealed, and nearly all of Nixon’s remaining supporters had deserted him. Later, three Republican congressmen visited Nixon to tell him that they would vote for him to be impeached. With almost no hope left of not being impeached, Nixon decided to resign the presidency. After he resigned, the new president, Gerald Ford, gave Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon.” Ford said that he pardoned Nixon because he did not want there to be years of prosecution against a former president, and because he did not want Nixon to have to suffer any more than he already had. However, this pardon led many to believe that there had been a secret deal, in which Nixon would resign in exchange for a pardon from Ford.

Although there was no solid evidence showing that Nixon had known about the Watergate break-in and the other conspiratory acts ahead of time, Nixon definitely had been involved in the cover up of the White House involvement. He also he also tried to obstruct the investigations into the matter, and refused to cooperate with the subpoenas of the Senate Watergate Committee. The House charged Nixon with three articles of impeachment, showing that Nixon had very little support left. When Nixon resigned, many were glad that the long ordeal was finally over.