Watergate Scandal

Watergate Scandal (USA) In 1972 five employees of a Republican Party organization with strong links to the presidential aides of Richard Nixon were arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic Party's national committee in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. They intended to wiretap the phone conversations of the committee. It was soon discovered that their actions formed part of a campaign to help President Nixon to win the 1972 election. At first the White House denied all knowledge of the incident, but after intensive investigations, initially led by journalists of the Washington Post ( Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward), it became apparent that several of the President's staff had been involved in illegal activities and in an attempt to cover up the whole operation. A number of White House officials and aides were prosecuted and convicted on criminal charges. An independent inquiry appointed in 1973 discovered the practice of secret tape recordings of all White House conversations. Nixon refused to release the relevant tapes, citing ‘executive privilege’ as a reason. On 24 July 1974, Supreme Court ordered the release of these tapes. These revealed the President's close involvement in the original crime and its subsequent cover-up. Just before the Senate was to vote in favour of impeachment, Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974. Although he had not yet been indicted, he was pardoned for any federal offences he might have committed by his successor, President Ford. However, the pardon did not apply to members of his staff, some of whom were later tried and imprisoned. Coming at the end of the disastrous Vietnam War, the crisis of the executive aggravated a deep sense of public insecurity which Ford and Carter were unable to alleviate.