Muckraking Politics US History

Question of the day ) Do you trust politicians? 2) Why do we not trust politicians?

November 22, 1963

Lyndon B. Johnson

Unpopular War

Write this down Richard Nixon won in 1968 because he promised “peace in Vietnam” “Vietnamization” – training those in South Vietnam to fight themselves

Write this down Operation Menu – secret bombing campaign in Cambodia between 1969-1970 Anywhere from 25,000 – 150,000 killed Nixon hoped the secret bombing could end the war quietly – keep the public happy

Write this down 270 million cluster bombs dropped on Laos “a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 years” 78 million bombs still unexploded in Laos today

Election of 1972 Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern

Write this down 1972 – Nixon is terrified he will not win his re-election campaign

Write this down June 17, 1972 – Headquarters of Democratic National Committee was broken into by burglars Watergate Hotel Attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents The burglars were connected to President Nixon’s Committee to Re- Elect the President (CREEP)

Write this down Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein Secret Informant in the government Deepthroat Reporters from the Washington Post followed the money trail of the robbers “All the Presidents Men”

Write this down What do they reveal? Nixon sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the burglars Used the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation of him Used the IRS to investigate enemies of him

Nixon’s response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M&ab_channel=Max Power

Write this down John Dean, White House Counsel Admitted Nixon was covering up the Watergate Scandal Told the court, “Nixon had every conversation in the Oval Office recorded”

Write this down Nixon’s Response Nixon refused to hand over the tapes “Executive Privilege” Saturday Night Massacre – Nixon fired the attorney’s who were investigating him in the government Justice Department forced him to hand them over He sent copies with 20 minutes edited and erased……

Write this down July, 1974 – Supreme Court ordered all tapes to be turned over August 8th – President Nixon resigned as President 40 officials in the White House will step down

Write this down Why is this important? Nixon’s scandal has forever changed the idea of a politician in our history Heroes of Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy are gone Now we view our politicians as corrupt and scandalous

DBQ 2.2 Due Friday, September 16th by 3:55 PM Turnitin.com Driving Question: How did Watergate change America? Use two pieces of evidence from the ONE document Use the authors last name as your citation (Finney)