I don’t know why I am thinking of Watergate this morning, other than Nixon’s low road spawned a sprawling culture of criminality in government. His abuse of presidential power had a long-lasting effect on our political life, creating cynicism and distrust, one that remains to present day.
In a nutshell: The Watergate scandal began in June, 1972. Several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. They had been caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. President Nixon took aggressive steps to cover up the crimes, but resigned in August, 1974, when Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed his role in the conspiracy.
Writes journalist and historian Garrett M Graff, Watergate: A New History:
“One of the things that is so hard to recreate and understand now looking back, is there was no sense that the president could lie to the American people.”
“Richard Nixon woke up every morning angry.”
“He is someone at every at every stage of his political career who chooses the low road.”
Graff insists that ultimately Watergate is a tale of checks and balances. “At the end of the day Watergate is a weirdly hopeful story because it shows what what it takes to protect American democracy. It takes a while and is not necessarily an easy process to get there but the system in Watergate worked.”
Hmmm. Will it work in 2022-23?
The Watergate scandal resulted in 69 government officials being charged and 48 being found guilty.
Four Big Fish: Sounds like a law firm, not a set of criminals.
John N. Mitchell Attorney General of the United States: Convicted of perjury. Served 19 months of a one- to four-year sentence
H.R. Haldeman, White House Chief of Staff: Convicted of conspiracy to the burglary, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.
John Ehrlichman, White House Domestic Affairs Advisor: Convicted of conspiracy to the burglary, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.
G. Gordon Liddy, Special Investigations Group: Convicted of masterminding the burglary, original sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Served 4+1⁄2 years in federal prison.
Who remembers? What were you thinking?
I’d love to hear back.
