Activities: Guided Reading/Secondary
The Watergate Scandal
1972–1974
The Watergate Scandal occurred during President Richard M. Nixon’s
administration and ended Nixon’s presidency. On June 17.1972, five men broke into the
Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Their goal
was to bug the telephones in the office. By doing this, they would be able to hear the
Democrats’ campaign plans. All five men were Republicans. Their backgrounds ranged
from Cuban refugees to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) agents. President Nixon’s re-election campaign organization, the
Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) funded the break-in.
Daniel Ellsberg
A year before the Watergate break-in a group known as
“the plumbers” was formed. Nixon had been unable to stop
the publication of secret Pentagon documents that were leaked
to the public in 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg began to forward
classified information on the history of the Vietnam War to
prominent American newspapers. The documents showed
glaring differences between what American government
officials told the public about the war and what those officials
know privately. Incensed, Nixon was determined to put a stop
to “leaks" of this controversial information.
The Plumbers wanted to find information that would damage Ellsberg’s credibility.
They went so far as to break into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist to steal Ellsberg’s
medical records. It was during this time that CREEP gave them the mission of breaking
into the Democratic National Headquarters. While the men were attempting to bug the
office, a security guard discovered the break-in and phoned the local police. The men
were taken into custody. The resulting news story began to attract national attention as the
backgrounds of the men who broke into the Watergate became known. One man was a
former security aide for the Republican campaign. Another was carrying a check for
$25,000. The check was made out as a campaign contribution for CREEP. Although
Nixon won the 1972 Presidential election in a landslide, many Americans began to
question Nixon’s ties to the burglars.
Two of the men researching the story were Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,
reporters for The Washington Post. They uncovered an enormous amount of information
about the case including a secret slush fund the Nixon administration used to silence the
convicted burglars. Several advisors to President Nixon with connections to the break-in
resigned, and White House Chief Counsel John Dean was fired. The case riveted national
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Activities: Guided Reading/Secondary
interest in May 1973 when the United States
Senate began hearings on the break-in.
Archibald Cox was appointed the special
prosecutor for the case.
Dean was the first former White House
staffer to come forward. He revealed his
conversations with President Nixon to discuss
how to cover up the Watergate Scandal. In
addition, the Senate discovered Nixon had a
Archibald Cox is sworn in as Special Prosecutor.
secret audio recording system in the Oval
Office. Since Nixon recovered most of the conversations in the Oval Office, Cox wanted
the tapes of those conversations as evidence. Nixon refused to submit the tapes. He
maintained that the information on the tapes would breach national security.
Under increasing pressure to release the tapes, Nixon ordered Attorney General
Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox, but Richardson refused. Nixon accepted the
resignations of Richardson and Assistant Attorney General William Ruckelshaus on
Saturday, October 20, 1973 because both refused to follow his order to fire Cox. The
incident became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.” Finally, Solicitor General
Robert Bork carried out Nixon’s order. Bork later hired a new special prosecutor, Leon
Jaworski.
Jaworski demanded Nixon relinquish the tapes immediately. Nixon agreed to
provide written transcripts of the tapes. Jaworski maintained that this was unacceptable
because there was no way to ascertain if the transcripts were complete, accurate, or
matched the original recordings. When Nixon did submit the tapes to the committee,
there was an eighteen-minute gap of silence on one of the tapes. The Senate demanded
Nixon provide another copy of the tape. Nixon refused, claimed there was no copy
because his secretary had accidently erased the eighteen-minute section. He did agree to
provide a written transcript of the conversations exchanged in the eighteen-minute gap as
he remembered them. The Senate did not accept this proposal and demanded Nixon
submit the missing eighteen-minute tape. In July 1974, Jaworski charged Nixon with
obstruction of justice because Nixon refused to submit evidence concerning Watergate to
the committee.
Nixon still refused to submit the tapes and invoked executive privilege to defend
his actions. The investigation of Nixon continued in the House of Representatives
Judiciary Committee. By July 1974, the committee began voting on Articles of
impeachment. These were formal charges that President Nixon had obstructed the
administration of justice. (Trying to cover-up the break-in)
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Activities: Guided Reading/Secondary
On July 24, 1974, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to turn
over the tapes. Once Congress began to review the tapes, even some of Nixon’s inner
circle called for his resignation or impeachment. On August 8, 1974, President Richard
Nixon announced in a televised address that he would resign the office of President of the
United States. Vice-President Gerald Ford to the oath of office and became President of
the United States on August 9.1974. Within a month Ford, the man Nixon appointed vicepresident after Vice-President Spiro Agnew had resigned because of bribery charges,
granted Nixon a full Presidential Pardon.
Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Ford in the presidential election of 1976. Ford
was the only man to serve as president who had not been elected either president or vicepresident. Nixon was the only one of the Watergate conspirators who was not sentenced
to prison.
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Activities: Guided Reading/Secondary
Name: ________________________________
Date: ____________________
The Watergate Scandal
1972–1974
Discussion Questions:
1. What was the conflict between Daniel Ellsberg and President Richard M. Nixon?
What did Nixon order his “plumbers” to do to Ellsberg? What was Nixon hoping to
do to Ellsberg’s reputation?
2. What were the backgrounds of some of the men who broke into the Watergate
Hotel?
3. What was Bob Woodward’s and Carl Bernstein’s connection to Watergate?
4. After the burglars went to jail for the break-in, what did many people in the Nixon
administration do?
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Activities: Guided Reading/Secondary
5. What information did former White House Chief Counsel John Dean provide about
Watergate?
6. After first refusing to surrender the tapes, what compromise did President Nixon
propose? What was the result?
7. When Nixon finally submitted the tapes, what was the problem with one of the
tapes? How did Nixon offer to remedy this problem?
8. Nixon invoked executive privilege when he refused to surrender the tapes. What
was the result of this tactic?
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