The Watergate Scandal Analysis.

By: Katherine Szetu, John Mark Shorack, Ibis Almada, and Paul Ji.

 

Information about the Watergate Scandal:
-Location:

• Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.

-Summary of the events that happened on June 17, 1972:

• Watergate Burglars broke into the Democratic Party’s National Committee offices on June 17, 1972.  They had been caught by a security guard while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. President  Nixon gave a speech in which he swore that his White House staff was not involved in the break-in. Most voters believed him, and in November the president was reelected in a landslide. However, it was later found out that he had lied, since he arranged to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the burglars.

-Main players in the Watergate scandal, and their roles:

• Bernard L. Barker – a realtor from Miami, Florida. Former Central Intelligence Agency operative. Barker was said to have been involved in the Bay of Pigs incident in 1962.
• Virgilio R. Gonzales – a locksmith from Miami, Florida. Gonzalez was a refugee from Cuba, following Castro’s takeover.
• James W. McCord – a security co-ordinator for the Republican National Committee and the Committee for the Re-election of the President. McCord was also a former FBI and CIA agent. He was dismissed from his RNC and CREEP positions the day after the break-in.
• Eugenio R. Martinez – worked for Barker’s Miami real estate firm. He had CIA connections and was an anti-Castro Cuban exile.
• Frank A. Sturgis – another associate of Barker from Miami, he also had CIA connections and involvement in anti-Castro activities.
• President Nixon: While historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate espionage operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars, trying to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members

-Why the President had recording devices installed in his office:

• It was Richard M. Nixon’s predecessor in the White House, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who first suggested to Nixon that he install a secret taping system. The idea, he told Nixon, would be to create a historical record that would supplement whatever written diary Nixon used.

-Some of the individuals President Nixon taped:

• The smoking gun tape: This was one of the tapes released by Nixon on order of the Supreme Court. It revealed that Nixon had ordered a cover-up of the Watergate break-in just six days after the burglary,which caused Nixon’s congressional support to melt away and triggered.
• Alexander Butterfield’s reveals existence of : video and audio of Alexander Butterfield’s appearance before the Senate Watergate Committee. Butterfield confirmed the existence of an Oval Office taping system in the White House. The hunt for the tapes that ultimately precipitated Nixon’s resignation began from this moment.

-Were these people aware that they were being taped?

• No, only the secret service and some close friends of the president.

-Members of the “Plumbers” :

• Frank Sturgis, Bernard Baker, Eugenio Martinez, Virgilio Gonzalez, James McCord, Gordon Liddy, McCord, and Howard Hunt.

-Why they were called the Plumbers:

• They were called like that because their original mission was to prevent information from leaking.

-The Plumbers job, for whom they worked, and two deed they were stood accused of perpetrating:

• The ‘Plumbers’ were a special investigation unit created by president Nixon. These men broke into the Watergate apartment and office complex on June 17, 1972. They raid the Democratic Party offices in the complex in order to obtain secret documents pertaining to the presidential election.

 

Reflection Questions:

-Why would a President authorize illegal activities?

• If we were to answer this question taking into consideration that the president has the best interest at heart, he may authorize illegal activities in order to fulfill his duties and to protect the nation. Sometimes, certain things have to be done in order to do so, but there might not be a legal way to do it.

-Does a President have the constitutional authority to break the law?

• The President does not have the constitutional authority to break the law.

-Is there ever a time in which the President is justified in breaking the law or in authorizing others to break the law? Provide examples and explain your thinking.

• The only time that I would consider the President justified in breaking the law was if he was trying to accomplish a deed that would ㅇe impossible without authorizing an illegal act. Although not fully justified, his actions at least have a reason for being carried out. An example of such actions would be when President Bush used questionable interrogation tactics to extract information from captured terrorists in order to accomplish a bigger scheme.

-Were the President to ask you to break the law, would you do it? Explain your answer and provide examples.

• It would really have to depend on the situation. If I believe that he does not have the interest of the nation at heart, then I would not break the law for him. However, if the reason behind me breaking the law would be justifiable in my standard, I would gratefully take one for the team. For example, if the President asked me to kill one of his rivals, I would obviously not do it because I know that he is doing it for all the wrong reasons. However, if the President asked me to steal a document from an organization that was posing a threat to the rest of the nation, I would do it.

-Should limits be placed on Presidential power? If so, what should such limitations be?

• I believe he already has enough limits put on his powers. Although he is granted certainly influential powers, there are so many informal limitations that do not allow him to be the most effective as he can be, and also impede him from being able to make the necessary changes that he needs to be able to make.

 

Information about Richard Nixon:
-Who is this person?

• Richard Milhous Nixon, President of the United States of America during the watergate scandal. However, he passed away in 1994.

-What was his role in the Watergate scandal?

• He was President of the USA during the scandal but later resigned due to impeachment threat.

-What happened to this person as a result of the Watergate scandal?

• Richard Nixon, at this time President, resigned.

-Do you think this person would feel the President overstepped his authority? Use the person’s biography, beliefs, actions during Watergate, and quotes to help you to answer this question.

• Nixon, was the President at this time. There are two key factors that would affect his point of view on this question. The fact that he resigned and the fact that he actually followed through with the tapping. Considering he ordered the tapping and breaking into the Watergate hotel, however tried to keep it secret and not be known projects the notion that he did think it was overstepping his boundaries and due to this did not mention it. Likewise, Nixon also resigned before his impeachment trial. This gives the understand that he had no chance of winning and did not want the shame of being impeached. Both these facts express how Nixon did believe he overstepped his Presidential authority.

 

Interview with Richard Nixon:
-Were you involved in perpetrating illegal activities? If so, what motivated you to engage in illegal behavior?

• Yes, I just was intrigued to know what my opponents were doing, what they were planning and what they wanted to do. I was lead by power, thinking I could do as I saw fit, but it did not work that way.

-If you had the chance to go back in time, would you do it all again-get involved in illegal activities?

• No, everything will be different. I will not let my curiosity and pride lead me and make me do such terrible things. “I have let American people down, and I have to cary the burden with me the rest of my life. My political life is over. I will never yet and ever again have the opportunity to serve in any official capacity.” I have lost everything do to this action, It will always be in my conscience.
• quote from: April 15, 1977: Nixon Will Never Serve the Public Again, He Tells Interviewer

-What advice would you give the future Plumbers?

• Do not conspire with the president; he is a human and he also can commit mistakes, do not let him get his way. Many things can go wrong if you risk that much; your job, political status, and pride could all go down. Do your job correctly and do not let information leak, and do not go out searching for information that is leaking, concentrate on your information staying safe.
• If you do get caught, lying and then trying to cover all of it is worthless, time consuming and stressful. Truth will always comes out, whether you like it or not, sooner or later it will happen. Tell the truth, you may be forgiven

-Do you think the President should have the power to break the law, or the power to direct others to break the law?

• Yes, when it comes to moments when you want to do something for your party, your people and the law impedes you from doing so, totally! Laws were made so that people would stay in line, but they it does not have to include the president. As president I should have the power to break the law or have others break the law for me, because it is me in charge, and I know best. If the country is in an extreme situation, there is not time to follow the law, you act as it is needed, no time to review if it is legal or not.

-What do you think the limits should be on the President’s powers?

• I think the president should be able to do anything he or she sees fit, in order to maintain a safe and well running country. Therefore the limits will vary accordingly. Some of the mayor limits should be the ways he negotiates with other countries, not having the authority to say and do as he pleases but have to consult first. He/she should not get involved in people’s personal lives; and the extent to which they can be involved in state issues.