The Watergate Scandal - 550 Words

The Watergate Scandal (Research Paper Sample) Content: President Nixon and His Involvement, in the Watergate Scandal Student’s Name University Affiliation President Nixon and His Involvement, in the Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal is one of America’s most controversial political scandals. The scandal is a chain of proceedings undermine the people’s confidence in the government. The scandal involved not only a break- in, but the following activities, which aimed at covering-up the actual events that took place (Elish, 2004). The media with the aid of congress took the lid off a range of unlawful and inappropriate campaign activities. This included the abuse of executive agencies by the white house in rewarding associates, and punishing adversaries tracked on a white house enemies list. On June 17, 1972, a number of intruders were detained within the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), situated in the Watergate building. It later emerged that it was not an ordi nary burglary since the burglars had links to President Richard Nixon’s re-election crusade. In addition, they had encountered arrest while trying to pilfer secret documents and wiretap phones. While it is not clear whether Nixon was aware of the Watergate operation, he later took measures to cover it up by raising hush money for the burglars. This tampered with investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation trashing evidence, and firing disobliging members of staff. Further, the Watergate scandal resulted in accusation, trial, conviction, and imprisonment of Nixon’s top administration officials. In august 1974, once his role in the Watergate plot came to light, Nixon resigned from office following, which, he received a pardon from his heir Gerald Ford (Feinberg, 1990). The Watergate scandal shocked the nation, which was already lurching from the Vietnam War, assassinations, economic predicaments, and all the social unrest of the past 15 years. Though Impeachme nt would have been a clear indication that nobody was above the law and that all governments must be held accountable, there was a need for the nation to heal following the scandal. Nixon’s pardon while still controversial and shocking sought to end the scandal. The Watergate scandal has faced scrutiny over the years in many ways. The lessons learnt from this scandal continue to shape the nation’s legislation and political affairs. The main lessons that can be gained from the scandal include the importance of regulating campaign financing, the importance of journalism in bringing the whole scandal to light, and how the American legislative system played an essential role in exposing the depth of the scandal. Another lesson is how the court system offered a venue for bringing the perpetrators to justice. Media coverage increased publicity and led to con...