Watergate Scandal Essay
Many people argue that the Watergate Scandal had an overall damaging and negative influence on American politics. They say that the scandal instilled in the citizens a feeling of distrust and doubt regarding politicians. On the other hand, I believe that even though the Watergate Scandal was an event of corruption in politics, its positive consequences outweighed the negative. The Watergate Scandal showed President Richard Nixon’s corruption in his attempt to cover up the break in of the office of the Democratic National Committee. Not only did he cover the crime up, he also raised money to keep the burglars quiet and abused his power to obstruct the FBI’s investigation, allowing illicit activities to take place. This event, at first glance,
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This system of checks and balances works to prevent one of the branches of government from gaining too much power and dominating the government. This system of checks and balances tested executive privilege during the investigation of the Watergate Scandal. In the early stages of the investigation of the Watergate Scandal, John Dean, the general counsel to the president, testified to the Senate Watergate Committee in June and July and revealed that President Nixon had recorded all meetings held in his White House office. Cognizant of the fact that these tapes would contain evidence that was crucial to the investigation, the Senate committee and the Justice Department investigators requested and subpoenaed the White House for the tapes along with other documents. Using the principle of “executive privilege”, President Nixon refused to release the tapes. Judge Sirica and an appeals court rejected Nixon’s use of “executive privilege” and he eventually turned over some of the tapes. Surprisingly, four days after the tapes had been released, investigators found an 18 minute gap in the tape made during a meeting between Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman, three days after the break in. By this time, many red flags were being raised and Nixon’s actions seem to further the idea that he was truly involved in this affair. However, due to the lack of concrete and absolute evidence, a partisan
This system of checks and balances works to prevent one of the branches of government from gaining too much power and dominating the government. This system of checks and balances tested executive privilege during the investigation of the Watergate Scandal. In the early stages of the investigation of the Watergate Scandal, John Dean, the general counsel to the president, testified to the Senate Watergate Committee in June and July and revealed that President Nixon had recorded all meetings held in his White House office. Cognizant of the fact that these tapes would contain evidence that was crucial to the investigation, the Senate committee and the Justice Department investigators requested and subpoenaed the White House for the tapes along with other documents. Using the principle of “executive privilege”, President Nixon refused to release the tapes. Judge Sirica and an appeals court rejected Nixon’s use of “executive privilege” and he eventually turned over some of the tapes. Surprisingly, four days after the tapes had been released, investigators found an 18 minute gap in the tape made during a meeting between Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman, three days after the break in. By this time, many red flags were being raised and Nixon’s actions seem to further the idea that he was truly involved in this affair. However, due to the lack of concrete and absolute evidence, a partisan