FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)Story By Joseph Velisek
Thirty-five years after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, the one word Watergate is still synonymous with the scandal that forced him to that decision, as well as being the yardstick used to measure the seriousness of any new and future political scandal. Is it worse than Watergate?
The persistent fascination is that two years of a White House cover-up over a “third rate” burglary led to the downfall of the leader of the free world—who happened to be a man that many Americans loathed. The investigation also gave the American public—and the world—a glimpse inside the Nixon White House and into the psyche of Richard Nixon, his pettiness, his thin skin and need for secrecy, as well as the inadequacies of the men who surrounded him. At times, the Watergate saga was much like watching a slow motion train wreck.
The true tragedy of Watergate—regardless of your opinion of Richard Nixon—is that the affair was absolutely unnecessary from start to finish. Nixon was a shoe-in for re-election in 1972, so the burglary into the Democratic Party headquarters—as well as the other projects implemented—was a ridiculous tactic both in theory and practice. The burglars bungling the job simply confirmed this.
That Watergate didn’t start and end there but was ineffectually covered up instead and then dragged on for two more years is simply further testimony to the sheer incompetence in thought, strategy and action of the inside circle of the Nixon White House.
If one connects the dots backwards the precipitating event that led to Watergate was the publication of the secret Pentagon Papers by the New York Times. The Papers were sanctioned by Robert McNamara to provide an analysis/critique of the Vietnam War policies, specifically during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. Daniel Ellsberg, originally a pro-war advocate who had turned against the Vietnam War, had access to and made copies of the top secret documents, smuggled them out of the Pentagon and into the hands of NY Times reporter Neil Sheehan.
Although Nixon’s initial reaction was muted, his response quickly escalated once the president and Henry Kissinger began discussing the topic. As only these two men could do they turned the Papers’ publication into a monumental world crisis and a personal affront—yet one more attack by their enemies. Drastic actions needed to be taken. For instance, Kissinger called the FBI and bugged his employees’ phones (Ellsberg had worked for him at one time) and from this seemingly minor scoop began the downfall of an American president.
Below is a Watergate timeline followed by some Nixon historical clips, including the excerpts from his Checkers speech, the Kennedy-Nixon debates, his 1962 California gubernatorial post-election comments, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore,” and his resignation.
* June 13, 1971 - NY Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers.
* July 1, 1971 - White House aides David Young and Egil “Bud” Krogh write a memo suggesting the formation of what would later be known as the “Plumbers” to prevent future leaks to the press.
* August 21, 1971 - Nixon’s Enemies List is started with the plan to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.”
* September 3, 1971 – Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy break into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s (Dr. Lewis Fielding) office in the hopes of stealing Ellsberg’s psychiatric files. They come up empty handed.
* June 17, 1972 - While breaking into Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, seven “plumbers” are arrested at 2:30 a.m.
* June 20, 1972 - On a tip from Deep Throat, Bob Woodward reports in the Washington Post that the burglars are connected to E. Howard Hunt, an ex-CIA employee, who has connections to Charles Colson (Nixon’s Special Counsel). A path exists between the burglary and the White House and so it begins as Woodward and Bernstein follow the trail and money.
* November 7, 1972 - Nixon is re-elected with the largest plurality in American history up to that time.
* February 28, 1973 - Hearings to confirm L. Patrick Gray as the new director of the FBI begin. During these hearings, Gray reveals that he had complied with an order from John Dean to provide daily updates to the White House on the Watergate investigation, and also that Dean had “probably lied” to FBI investigators.
* March 17, 1973 - One of the Watergate burglars, James McCord, writes a letter to Judge John Sirica, claiming that some of his testimony was perjured due to pressure, that the burglary was not a CIA operation, and that a cover-up was in the works.
* April 6, 1973 - White House counsel John Dean begins cooperating with federal Watergate prosecutors.
* April 27, 1973 - L. Patrick Gray resigns after it comes to light that he burned evidence from Watergate burglary E. Howard Hunt’s safe. William Ruckelshaus is appointed as his replacement.
* April 30, 1973 - Senior White house administration officials John Erlichman, H.R. Haldeman and Richard Kleindienst resign; John Dean is fired.
* May 17, 1973 - The Senate Watergate Committee begins its nationally televised hearings.
* May 19, 1973 - Independent Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox is appointed to oversee investigation into possible presidential impropriety.
* June 3, 1973 - John Dean tells Watergate investigators that he has discussed the Watergate cover-up with Nixon at least 35 times.
* July 13, 1973 - Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals the taping system in Nixon’s office.
* July 23, 1973 - Nixon refuses to turn over presidential tapes to the Senate Watergate Committee or the special prosecutor.
* October 10, 1973 - Spiro Agnew resigns as vice president due to corruption while he was the Governor of Maryland.
* October 13, 1973 - Gerald Ford is nominated as vice president.
* October 20, 1973 - “Saturday Night Massacre” - Nixon fires special prosecutor Cox. Ruckelshaus (FBI) and Attorney General Elliot Richardson refuse to comply with the firing and both resign. Robert Bork considers resigning but carries out the order.
* November 1, 1973 - Leon Jaworski is appointed new special prosecutor.
* November 17, 1973 - Nixon delivers the “I am not a crook” speech at a televised press conference at Disneyworld.
* April 30, 1974 - White House releases edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes, but the House Judiciary Committee insists the actual tapes must be turned over.
* June 15, 1974 - Woodward and Bernstein’s book All the President’s Men is published.
* July 24, 1974 - Nixon is ordered by the courts to give up tapes to investigators.
* July 27 to July 30, 1974 - House Judiciary Committee passes articles of Impeachment.
* Early August 1974 - A previously unknown tape from June 23, 1972 is released. The tape recorded a few days after the Watergate break-in documents Nixon and Haldeman formulating a plan to block investigations, specifically requesting the FBI to halt their investigation of the burglary because of CIA involvement. This recording would later become known as the “Smoking Gun.”
* Key Republican senators tell Nixon that enough votes exist to convict him.
* August 8, 1974 - Nixon resigns the Presidency. Gerald Ford becomes president.
* September 8, 1974 - President Ford grants Nixon a pardon.
