Watergate Scandal Research Paper

A high-profile robbery occurred in a government building by burglars wearing surgical gloves and carrying thousands of dollars. Top-secret documents were stolen, office phones were bugged for information. A president was impeached and then resigned days later after being connected to the crime. In the late 1970s, the Watergate Scandal had a huge impact on Americans and the government. Since then Americans have become more concerned and involved with the presidential elections. Each revelation gave Americans another reason not to trust elected officials and to believe all the awful things said about the government. Many Americans recall being shocked and hoping that the reports were not true, someone who worked at the DNC committee …show more content…
Colson, John Ehrlichman, H. R. Haldeman, Jeb Stuart Magruder, and John N. Mitchell were all either convicted or pleaded guilty (“WATERGATE, THEN AND NOW; Who Was Who in the Cover-Up and Uncovering of Watergate”). When news broke that Nixon’s staff were involved many Americans began to wonder how President Richard Nixon’s staff could have been so corrupt. Everyone was surprised when the truth was revealed even though there was rumors about the White House being connected to the robbery. Americans believed Nixon when he assured them that the White House staff had no connection at all, this led to his re-election in the biggest landslide ever. He won all of the states except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia which won Nixon about five hundred twenty electoral college votes. This landslide victory led many to believe that Nixon was on the way to a very dynamic second term (“The President”). Another event that played a part in Americans being surprised was when the reporters reported that the White House could have been involved the White House portrayed the reporters as the obsession of a liberal newspaper who were bitter towards the President. CBS even aired a documentary about the ties of the scandal to the White House, but Charles W. Colson who was Special counsel to Nixon at the time threatened CBS’s President and the second series was cut off (“Watergate Scandal United States History”). There was a discrepancy between what happened between Nixon and the White House

Show More