The Water Gate Scandal

This essay will discuss the Watergate scandal that took place during President Richard Nixon's term of office in the United States. It will briefly discuss the background of the Watergate scandal and how it began. It will also describe the media coverage of the scandal. In addition, it will discuss the public opinion about President Richard Nixon and Watergate. Last, it will describe President Richard Nixon's resignation from office.

The Watergate scandal began June 17th 1972. Some information about the scandal is still a mystery today. The reason the public refers to the incident as the Watergate scandal is because it occurred at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. The Watergate Hotel is a building that accommodated the offices of the members of the Democratic National Committee. Early in the morning on June 17th, five men were arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The men were wearing rubber surgical gloves and carrying burglary gear, electronic eavesdropping equipment, cameras for photographing documents, walkie-talkies, and consecutively numbered $100 bills (Mann & Woodward, 1972). The fact is, five men broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee, but questions remain regarding the reason the men broke in. The investigation eventually became known as the Watergate Caper, a major issue in the 1972 presidential campaign (Mann & Woodward, 1972). Although the Watergate incident occurred during President Nixon's campaign for re-election, it had no negative effects on the outcome of the election. Nixon was re-elected for a second term of office in 1972 with a popular vote of 60.7% and an electoral vote margin of 520 to 17 (Brinkley, 2007).

The origin of Watergate started long before the actual crime was committed. Historians believe that Watergate came to be due to president Richard Nixon's personality along with those of his advisers, in conjunction with the changing roles of the presidency (Mc Dougal Littell, 953). Early in the morning of June 17, 1972 5 men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Headquarters. The 5 men were often referred to as the “plumbers” it was their job to plug up any government leaks to the media, and help the Nixon administration in other, often illegal, ways (Mc Dougal Littell, 954). The burglars had intended on taking pictures that outlined many of the democratic parties strategies and to position wiretaps on the telephones in the office. One of the major reasons that Nixon even covered up the Watergate burglary was due to the fact that the government was not going to take much action they were just going to require that all parties involved resigned. Although Nixon was not about to stand by and let some of the men he was most dependant on resign without trying to help. The cover up included shredding all incriminating document, urging the FBI to stop the investigation on the grounds of “National Security”, the Committee to Reelect the President (CRP) gave out nearly $500,000 to the burglars to keep them silent due to an indictment by ...