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Watergate scandal

The term "Watergate" refers to a series of events, spanning from 1972 to 1974, that gained its name from burglaries of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, D.C.. Though then-President Nixon had endured two years of mounting political embarrassments, the court-ordered release of the "smoking gun tape" about the burglaries in August 1974 brought with it the prospect of certain impeachment for Nixon, and he resigned only four days later on August 9. He is the only U.S. president to have resigned from the office.

The burglary

On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard working at the office building of the Watergate complex of office space, residential buildings, and a hotel, noticed a piece of tape on the door between the basement stairwell and the parking garage. It was holding the door unlocked, so Wills removed it, assuming the cleaning crew had put it there. Later, he returned and discovered that the tape had been replaced. Suspicious, Wills then contacted the D.C. police.

After the police came, five men — Bernard Barker, Virgilio González, Eugenio Martínez, James W. McCord, Jr., and Frank Sturgis — were discovered and arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The men supposedly had broken into the same office three weeks earlier as well, and had returned intending to fix wiretaps that were not working.

The Senate investigation

The connection between the Watergate burglary and the President's re-election campaign fundraising committee dramatically increased the profile of the crime and consequent political stakes. Instead of ending with the trial and conviction of the burglars, the investigations grew broader; a Senate committee chaired by Senator Sam Ervin was set up to examine Watergate and started to subpoena White House staff.

On April 30, 1973, Nixon was forced to ask for the resignation of two of his most influential aides, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, both of whom would soon be indicted and ultimately go to prison. He also fired White House counsel John Dean, who had just testified before the Senate and would go on to become the key witness against Nixon himself.

On the same day, Nixon named a new Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and gave him authority to designate for the growing Watergate inquiry a special counsel who would be independent of the regular Justice Department hierarchy, to preserve his independence. On May 19, Richardson named Archibald Cox to the position. Televised hearings had begun the day before.

The term "Watergate" refers to a series of events, spanning from 1972 to 1974, that got its name from burglaries of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, D.C.. Though then-President Nixon had endured two years of mounting political embarrassments, the court-ordered release of the "smoking gun tape" about the burglaries in August 1974 brought with it the prospect of certain impeachment for Nixon, and he resigned only four days later on August 9. He is the only U.S. president to have resigned from the office.


[edit] The burglary
On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard working at the office building of the Watergate complex of office space, residential buildings, and a hotel, noticed a piece of tape on the door between the basement stairwell and the parking garage. It was holding the door unlocked, so Wills removed it, assuming the cleaning crew had put it there. Later, he returned and discovered that the tape had been replaced. Suspicious, Wills then contacted the D.C. police.

After the police came, five men — Bernard Barker, Virgilio González, Eugenio Martínez, James W. McCord, Jr., and Frank Sturgis — were discovered and arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The men supposedly had broken into the same office three weeks earlier as well, and had returned intending to fix wiretaps that were not working.



[edit] The tapes

President Nixon giving a televised address explaining release of edited transcripts of the tapes on April 29, 1974The hearings held by the Senate Committee, in which White House Counsel John Dean was the star witness and in which many other former key administration officials gave dramatic testimony, were broadcast from May 17 to August 7, causing devastating political damage to Nixon. Each network carried coverage of the hearings every third day, starting with ABC on May 17 and ending with NBC on August 7. It was estimated that 85% of Americans with television sets tuned in to at least one portion of the hearings. [1]

The Watergate scandal left such an impression on the national and international consciousness that many scandals since then have been labeled with the suffix "-gate" — such as Koreagate, Contragate, Whitewatergate, Travelgate, Rathergate, "Zippergate", Filegate in the U.S., Tunagate in Canada, Dianagate/Squidgygate and Thatchergate in the UK, and even Pemexgate and Toallagate in Mexico and Narcogate in Argentina. The judging scandal in the pairs event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in which a controversial double-gold medal was awarded to Russians Yelena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze and Canadians Jamie Salé & David Pelletier was termed "Skategate." In 2003 a scandal involving a group of Poland's key political figures and a Polish media magnate Lew Rywin was frequently referred to in Polish media as "Rywingate." Other impressions included Colegate, Sheikgate and Edgate. In 2005, a scandal concerning the legitimacy of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's reelection as president of the Philippines, due to an alleged conversation Arroyo held with an official from the Commission on Elections, was named the "Gloriagate" scandal.