Nixon and Watergate

Ch. 31, Section 2, pgs. 901-908

Presidential Election of 1972 Nixon was worried that he would not get re-

elected, so he and his aides started doing very illegal actions.

He asked his aides for an “enemies list” of people going against his administration.

The FBI and IRS were even asked to secretly investigate some of these people.

Watergate Scandal In 1972, a group of men called the “plumbers”

were asked by the Nixon administration to gain information about the Democrats’ plan in the election.

Members of the Nixon campaign ordered the “plumbers” to break into the headquarters of the Democratic National Convention to install telephone listening devices, or “bugs”.

The headquarters was located at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein Both of these men were two newspaper

reporters for the Washington Post. They began an investigation into the

Watergate scandal and published a series of articles that linked the burglary to the Nixon campaign.

Senate Watergate Hearings Early in 1973, the U.S. Senate voted to hold

hearings on the Watergate Scandal. They began asking for the secret tapes of

conversations held in the White House. Nixon refused, making him look even more guilty. When the tapes were finally turned over, there

were several conversations that had been erased.

Impeachment Definition: the constitutional provision to

remove a president from office. The U.S. Senate adopted three articles of

impeachment on Nixon:

1) Obstruction of justice

2) Abuse of power

3) Contempt of Congress

Nixon resigns Before he is formally removed from office,

Nixon decides to resign on the evening of August 8, 1974.

He went on national television to announce his decision.

Nixon’s Vice-President, Gerald Ford, is immediately sworn into office.

Nixon’s speech and resignation letter

Gerald Ford pardons Nixon As President, one of

Gerald Ford’s first acts was to pardon Nixon – which made the American public dislike him right away.

Pardon – all crimes you have been accused of are erased.