The Modern United States ~ Lesson 3 Watergate
President Richard Nixon meets with chief advisers in the Oval Office on March 13, 1970
Richard Nixon won the Presidential election for a second term by promising to end the war in Vietnam and to bring Americans back together. Before the election several people working for Nixon's campaign were arrested. McCord and four other men working for the Committee to Re-Elect the President had broken into the Democratic campaign headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington, D.C.
Aerial view of the infamous Watergate Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Many thought these Republican workers were trying to hurt the Democrats during the campaign. The New York Times and the Washington Post began printing newspaper stories in which they referred to this as the "Watergate Affair." The stories accused Nixon of giving large sums of money to the men who broke into the Watergate Building.
In April 1973, Nixon said he had no part in the break-in and knew nothing about it. In May 1973, a Senate Committee began to investigate the President's role in the Watergate Affair.
The Watergate hearings were aired on television for Americans to see. Americans learned the President's closest advisors had been involved in the break-in. They had helped plan kidnappings and robberies. They had written counterfeit letters and bribed people.
Investigators learned that the President had bugged his own office with tape recording machines. He used the FBI to bother newspaper and TV stations that spoke against him. Nixon's advisors had made an "Enemies List" of people to get even with.
During the hearings in October 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. There was evidence he had taken a bribe. Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was appointed Vice President.
In July 1974, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President saying there was enough evidence that he knew about the break-in and cover up. Before the Senate could try the case, Nixon resigned in August 1974.
Ford was sworn in as President of the United States on August 9, 1974. He chose Nelson Rockefeller of New York to serve as Vice President. Ford was glad that the U.S. Constitution had worked. One month after taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon for all his crimes.
Chapstick Tubes with Hidden Microphones
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