1. When you think of a “scandal”, what scandal comes to mind
When you think of a “scandal”, what scandal comes to mind? (other than Watergate)

2. Watergate Scandal

3. Watergate…the story So, What exactly was Watergate?
Literally- Apartment/Hotel Complex in Washington DC
The Original Crime (June 16, 1972)
Burglary DNC HQ
5 men trying to sabotage election of 1972 by
photographing documents
placing bugs
Burglars had money traced to CREEP
The Big Crime (June 17, 1972-August 1974)
Cover-up original crime (the burglary) by Nixon & his men

4. Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg was an employee of the Defense Department who leaked a classified assessment of the Vietnam War in 1971.
The 7,000 page document came to be known as the Pentagon Papers.
They cast doubt on the justification for entry into the war and revealed that senior government officials had serious misgivings about the war.
When the New York Times and Washington Post began to publish the Pentagon Papers, the Nixon Administration sued them.
The Supreme Court ruled that the papers could continue to publish the documents.

5. The White House Plumbers
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, the White House created a unit to ensure internal security.
This unit was called the Plumbers because they stopped “leaks” to the press.
In 1971 they burglarized the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, seeking material to discredit him.
Howard Hunt
G. Gordon Liddy
James McCord
Chuck Colson

6. On June 17, 1972, five men carrying wiretapping equipment were arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters located in the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C.

7. Watergate Burglars

8. Questioned by the press, the White House dismissed the incident as “a third-rate burglary attempt.” Pressed further, President Nixon himself denied any White House involvement.

9. The Watergate incident was not an isolated incident
The Watergate incident was not an isolated incident. It was part of a pattern of illegality and misuse of power by a paranoid and ruthless White House.

10. Nixon could have dissociated himself from the break-in by dismissing his guilty aides, but it was election time. Fearful of bad press, he arranged hush money for the burglars and instructed the CIA to stop the FBI investigation.

11. Ordering the CIA to stop the FBI from investigating the Watergate incident was an obstruction of justice, a criminal offense.

12. In January 1973, the Watergate burglars were found guilty
In January 1973, the Watergate burglars were found guilty. One of them began to talk about his White House connections.

13. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, 2 Reporters from the Washington Post uncovered the Committee’s to Re-elects illegal “slush fund’ and its links to key White House aides.

14. Attorney General John Mitchell, controlled secret “slush fund.”
In May, a Senate committee began holding nationally televised hearings, at which it was discovered that the Watergate break-in was linked to the White House.
Attorney General John Mitchell,
controlled secret “slush fund.”

15. The slush fund received its money illegally from the campaign contributions of the Republican party to finance “mischief” against anyone that posed a threat to the Nixon administration.

16. Nixon tries to shift the blame:
Nixon forced his chief of staff and chief advisor to resign.
He also fired the White House attorney, John Dean.
Nixon hired Archibald Cox as the special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate scandal

17. Spiro Agnew – Nixon’s VP resigns
Failed to pay his taxes
Took bribes
Replaced by Gerald Ford

18. The guilty White House officials implicated President Nixon
The guilty White House officials implicated President Nixon. During the testimony, it was discovered that Nixon had installed a secret taping system in the Oval office.

19. http://www. magazine. org/ASSETS/11AAAD4DFD224BCCBDEB0C4AD7B43A83/33a

20. Claiming “Executive Privilege”– The President right to keep information secret to protect national security. Nixon refused to surrender the White House tapes. Supreme Court eventually orders him to turn over the tapes

22. Lawyers were shocked to find concrete evidence that the president had ordered the cover-up of the Watergate break-in.

23. Nixon’s approval rating drops 22%
Saturday Night Massacre – Reference to the resignations and firings of government officials
Saturday evening, October 20, 1973:
1. Nixon orders Attorney General to fire Archibald Cox
2. Elliot Richardson refuses and resigns
3. Next highest Justice Dept. official also resigns rather
than fire Cox
4. Nixon names Solicitor General Robert Bork acting
Attorney General and he fires Archibald Cox
Nixon’s approval rating drops 22%

25. By then, the House of Representatives had began to consider articles of impeachment, to remove the president from office.

26. The Impeachment Process:
#1: Official establish grounds for impeachment
#2: The House announces articles of impeachment
#3: Senate holds a trial for the accused (2/3 vote needed for conviction)
#4: Official is removed from office (can not hold office again)

27. Certain that he would be convicted by the Senate, On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign from office.

28. Gerald Ford swears in as President of the United States.

29. The one lesson of Watergate – that, in America, the rule of law prevailed. No one is above the law, not even the president.

30. A month later, Ford grants Nixon a “full, free, and absolute “pardon” for all offenses he had committed or might have committed during his presidency.”

31. President Ford took that action, he said, to spare the country the agony of Nixon’s criminal prosecution. He felt the country needed to move on.

32. 4 Reasons Ford’s popularity decreased:
1. Giving Nixon a Pardon
2. Offered a pardon to Draft Dodgers
3. The Growing Trade Deficit/ Poor Economy
4. Corruption in the CIA / FBI

33. Congress passes:
Freedom of Information Act -protecting privacy and access to federal records.
Fair Campaign Practices Act limiting and regulating contributions in presidential campaigns.

34. Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act: prohibiting domestic wiretapping without a warrant.

35. Watergate/Twitter assignment:
Using the timeline and your knowledge of the Watergate Scandal, create a timeline of tweets from the following people:
1. President Nixon
2. The Burglars
3. Woodward/ Bernstein
4. President Ford
5. Mark Felt
6. Congress (House or Senate)
* Your timeline should include at least 8 tweets (at least 1 from the names above)