Watergate

Essay by Kevin3High School, 12th gradeA+, May 1996

download word file, 13 pages 4.4

WATERGATE:

Was The Nixon White House Involved?

What was Watergate? "Watergate" is a term used to describe a complex web of political scandals occurring between 1972 and 1974. On January 20, 1969, Richard M. Nixon had become the thirty-seventh president of the United States. As Nixon entered the White House, he was "full of bitterness and anger about past defeats, and about years of perceived slights from others in the political establishment." Nixon, a Republican, once stated that, "Washington is a city run primarily by Democrats and liberals, dominated by like-minded newspapers and other media." Nixon's obligation to control his political destiny and to forestall the damaging of his agenda by incumbents urged him toward the development of what was, in effect, a "secret government" (Gettlin and Colodny 6). The word, "Watergate", refers to the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. In addition to the hotel, the Watergate complex houses many business offices.

It was here that the offices of the Democratic National Committee were burglarized on June 17, 1972. Five individuals were arrested at the Watergate complex after the burglary. Charges were also pressed on G. George Liddy and E. Howard Hunt ; the "Watergate Seven" were sentenced by Judge John Sirica. Although Nixon was worried about the break-in, he advised the White House press secretary, Ron Ziegler, to dismiss the incident as "a third-rate burglary" (Cannon 107). In the years ensuing the invasion at the Watergate building, questions and controversy have surfaced consequent to whether or not the White House, under the control of President Nixon, was either directly or discursively involved in the planning and/or performing of any illegal deeds. As the Watergate scandal unfolded, the Nixon administration was quick to mitigate the responsibility for the occurrences, however, in actuality, numerous facts and particulars ascertain White...