How Did Richard Nixon Changed America
The Watergate Scandal changed America and the lives of many, but none as much as Richard Nixon. The Watergate Scandal had many aspects, all of which represented poor ethics of the American government and its elected representatives. During the scandal trust was broken and mystery loomed over the White House. However, once tape recordings were brought forth, justice was found and all fingers pointed to one man, Richard Nixon. A man that had made much progress while in office in his first term of presidency was ousted from his pedestal of praise, and thrown into a pit of infamy. Although this is true, there was more than just the break-in that led to his downfall, and his legacy could have possibly been preserved if he had come clean early. Although
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On this day, Daniel Ellsberg leaked Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and President Nixon was enraged by this, mostly because he thought this was the dawn of a conspiracy that was out to get him in order to make him lose the election. His response was the creation of ‘the plumbers’, “They call us the plumbers because we are there to stop the leaks at the White House.”, says former plumber Bernard Barker (5). It was these men who were called upon to wiretap the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the following year. It was at approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 17, 1972 when five men were caught with lock picks, $2,300 in cash, unused film, tear gas pens, and cameras (7). After further investigation from two young reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, it was found that James McCord, a plumber, was the security chief for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Immediately ties were being made to the White House and from this point forward there were trials and more investigations. It was found that a “$25,000 check had actually gone into the bank account of one of the Watergate burglars [Bernard Barker].” (6). This money had come directly from contributions to the CREEP fund and bridged an undisputed connection between the CREEP and the
On this day, Daniel Ellsberg leaked Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and President Nixon was enraged by this, mostly because he thought this was the dawn of a conspiracy that was out to get him in order to make him lose the election. His response was the creation of ‘the plumbers’, “They call us the plumbers because we are there to stop the leaks at the White House.”, says former plumber Bernard Barker (5). It was these men who were called upon to wiretap the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the following year. It was at approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 17, 1972 when five men were caught with lock picks, $2,300 in cash, unused film, tear gas pens, and cameras (7). After further investigation from two young reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, it was found that James McCord, a plumber, was the security chief for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Immediately ties were being made to the White House and from this point forward there were trials and more investigations. It was found that a “$25,000 check had actually gone into the bank account of one of the Watergate burglars [Bernard Barker].” (6). This money had come directly from contributions to the CREEP fund and bridged an undisputed connection between the CREEP and the