President Nixon And The Watergate Scandal

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President Nixon not only abused his powers as president of the United States, but he also completely disregarded the Constitution and the oath of office of the President of the United States. President Nixon is most famous for his involvement in the infamous Watergate scandal, which took place on June 17th, 1972 (Timeline). Nixon hired six burglars to break into the Democratic National Committee’s offices, which were located inside the Watergate office, complex in Washington. The burglars’ mission was to plant audio transmitters, but they were arrested after being discovered by an on duty watchman (Bodenner). President Nixon vehemently denied any involvement by White House staff or Nixon administration members. Nixon also implemented…show more content…
Nixon used his position in office to intimidate and coerce his subordinates into submission. A year later, official papers from the Pentagon detailing the US Defense Department’s secretive history of the Vietnam War were leaked (Bodenner). With the influx of damaging leaks, Nixon created a “plumbers” unit (Jacobs). This unit was in charge of gathering dirt on political enemies and preventing new leaks. These men acted as Nixon’s last line of defense against potential stains on his presidency. Ironically, it is due to this very unit that Nixon’s legacy is remembered as one of shameful and malicious behavior. This very “plumbers” unit broke into the office of the psychiatrist who treated the man who leaked the Pentagon papers. Obviously, The Constitution did not hinder Nixon’s blatant disregard for the rights of the American people. Later, Nixon launched numerous smear campaigns against rival Democrats in an attempt to make his opponents look bad. Some of these lowly assaults included claims that his opponents had Communist ties and that they sought to corrupt our government (Bodenner). Eventually, Nixon was subject to an official investigation lead by the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. Democratic Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina chaired the committee, which conducted this investigation (US Supreme Court). By July 27th, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved its first article of impeachment that charged
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