The Watergate Scandal in United States History (10 page)

He misjudged the nation. Nixon’s already weak support evaporated. Wiggins, Nixon’s strongest supporter on Judiciary, said, “The guys who stuck by the President were really led down the garden path, weren’t we?”
¹⁷
He called for Nixon’s resignation. Columnist James Kilpatrick, one of Nixon’s strongest allies in the press, likewise was shocked. “We have been led astray. We have been lied to,” Kilpatrick wrote. “My President is a liar!”
¹⁸

Nixon called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday, August 6. He tried to talk about the economy, but few Cabinet members listened to him. Even if he remained in office, he would be president in name only.

“I No Longer Have . . . a Political Base”

Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater dreaded this moment. For weeks he had avoided it. Now he had little choice. Goldwater paraded toward the White House with Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott and House Minority Leader John Rhodes. The three veteran Republicans went to tell Richard Nixon he had no support in Congress. At most there were fifteen Senate votes, Scott estimated. Goldwater said only four votes were solid. For the good of the Republican party and the nation, Nixon must resign.

Nixon had other callers that day. His former top advisors, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, asked him to pardon them. Nixon refused to do so. His own legal future remained uncertain. He was not about to take a noose from their necks so that somebody might put one around his own.

That night Nixon met with Henry Kissinger. The president asked his advisor to pray with him. Kissinger told him that history would treat him more kindly than current journalists. Nixon replied, “It depends on who writes the history.”
¹⁹

By Thursday morning, August 8, Nixon still had not announced his plans. A huge headline in that afternoon’s
Chicago Daily News
contained the single word: “When?”
²⁰
By mid-afternoon, the world had its answer.

The president went on television at nine o’clock that evening. He delivered a speech that was short, and many believed, “graceless.”
²¹
“It has become evident that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress,” he gave as his reason for stepping down.
²²
He did not mention the actions he had taken which had caused Congress to oppose him.

Even critics had mixed emotions. The
Chicago Tribune
commented, “It is an occasion not for joy, but rather for gratitude, relief, and a renewal of hope.”
²³
Judge Sirica said of Richard Nixon, “I was sorry for him, but I was also relieved to see him go.”
²⁴

“. . . You Destroy Yourself”

A weary Richard Nixon spoke to his staff the following morning. One of his final remarks, in a way, summed up the entire Watergate crisis. “Always remember, others may hate you,” President Richard Nixon said, “but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.”
²⁵

The Nixons and a few staff members boarded a helicopter that would take them to Air Force One. The presidential airplane would fly them to San Clemente, California. Just before entering the helicopter, Nixon raised both hands in a V-for-victory sign.

Just before noon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger received a letter. It read, “I hereby resign the office of President of the United States.” It contained Richard Nixon’s signature. By this time the Nixon party’s airplane was flying over the Midwest.

Minutes after noon, Richard Nixon ceased being president. His sixty-one-year-old vice president took his place. Gerald Ford uttered the words honored by most who came before him but nearly disgraced by his predecessor:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Chapter 10

“OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE”

For more than two years Watergate and its related scandals made the front pages of America’s newspapers and the lead stories of the nightly news. For Americans, it was a fascinating drama and civics lesson.

Watergate changed the face of American politics. Some changes were good. Congress passed campaign reform legislation to prevent future election abuse. Media throughout the country kept a sharper eye on public officials. Yet one of the changes was unfortunate—a mistrust toward politics and politicians that continues to this day.

“Nixon Had Wrecked the Lives . . .”

Henry Kissinger noted, “In destroying himself, Nixon had wrecked the lives of almost all who had come into contact with him.”
¹
Forty-six individuals and thirteen corporations pleaded guilty, were indicted, or were convicted of Watergate-related charges.

The list of people serving prison time looked like a Who’s Who of Nixon’s early administration: H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, John Mitchell, Charles Colson, Jeb Stuart Magruder, Egil Krogh, Fred LaRue, Donald Segretti, Appointments Secretary Dwight Chapin, attorney Herb Kalmbach, Magruder assistant Bart Porter, G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, James McCord, Bernard Barker, Eugenio Martinez, Virgilio Gonzalez, and Frank Sturgis. Maurice Stans paid a $150,000 fine. David Young and Alfred Baldwin, in exchange for their testimony, escaped prison time. Richard Kleindienst received a one-month suspended sentence for not testifying fully to a congressional committee on the ITT matter.

Not everyone who experienced the Watergate affair was involved in the crimes. Some observers enjoyed notable careers afterward. Alexander Haig remained active in Republican politics. Patrick Buchanan, a Nixon speechwriter, became a conservative columnist and television commentator, and twice sought the Republican nomination for president. Bob Dole, the former Republican chairman, served more than thirty years in Congress. He was the Republican nominee for president in 1996.

Dan Rather, in 1974, asked Richard Nixon if he was running for office. Seven years later Rather became chief anchor of the
CBS Evening News.

Few people outside of Washington, D.C., had heard of Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein in June 1972. Two years later they were heroes to thousands of would-be investigative reporters. They helped the
Washington Post
win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism and co-wrote two best-selling books on Watergate.

Watergate brought out the best in some people. Sam Ervin and Peter Rodino were little known outside of Congress. Their roles on congressional committees won them respect throughout the nation. Previously obscure Judge John Sirica was named “Man of the Year” by
Time
in 1973.

Pardon

On Sunday, September 8, 1974, most Americans were relaxing. Those who were watching television or listening to the radio received a jolt. The White House press office announced that President Gerald Ford had pardoned Richard Nixon for all crimes he committed or might have committed in office.

There would be no Watergate trial for Richard Nixon. Ford claimed that if Nixon were to go to trial, it would take up too much of the nation’s time, money, and attention. “I felt I had the obligation to spend 100 percent of my time on the problems of 230 million people rather than 25 percent of my time on the problems of one man,” Ford explained.
²

The American people might not have agreed. Ford ran for president in 1976 and lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Many people believe the Nixon pardon cost Ford enough votes to determine the election.

Richard Nixon retired to his San Clemente home. In 1980, he and Pat moved to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. For the rest of his life he tried to rehabilitate his reputation. He wrote several books, and presidents of both parties sought his advice on foreign affairs.

Nixon died in April 1994. Some people did forgive him. They praised the government leader who opened relations with China, got the United States out of the Vietnam War, created a nuclear weapons treaty with the Soviet Union, and worked for peace in the Middle East.

To many others, Nixon’s name still stood for Watergate. For them, Richard Nixon would always be responsible for what Gerald Ford called “our long national nightmare.”
³

TIMELINE

1969
—
January 20
:
Richard Milhous Nixon is inaugurated president.

1971
—
June 13
:
The New York Times
begins publishing the Pentagon Papers, classified information about the Vietnam War.

1971
—
September 3–4
:
White House “Plumbers” break into office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.

1972
—
March 30
:
CRP Director John Mitchell approves Gemstone plan, including electronic surveillance of Democratic National Headquarters.

1972
—
May 28
: A group directed by G. Gordon Liddy breaks into the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate on its third attempt.

1972
—
June 17
: Police arrest five men breaking into the Watergate.

1972
—
June 23
:
Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss plans to have the CIA stop the FBI investigation of Watergate.

1972
—
August 1
:
Washington Post
reveals a $25,000 check from President Nixon’s campaign appeared in Watergate burglar Bernard Barker’s bank account.

1972
—
September 15
:
A
grand jury indicts the five Watergate burglars, E. Howard Hunt, and Liddy.

1972
—
November 7
:
Richard Nixon wins re-election by a landslide.

1973
—
March 19
:
Watergate burglar James McCord writes Judge John J. Sirica that Watergate defendants were under “political pressure” to keep silent.

1973
—
March 21
:
John Dean tells Nixon that there is “a cancer growing on the presidency,” due to the hush money demands by Watergate defendants.

1973
—
April 30
:
Richard Nixon announces the resignations of H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst.

1973
—
May 17
:
Senate Watergate Committee begins hearings.

1973
—
June 25–29
: Dean testifies before Senate Watergate Committee; Mentions “enemies list.”

1973
—
July 16
:
Alexander Butterfield describes White House taping system.

1973
—
July 23
:
Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenas nine White House tapes; Nixon refuses to turn them over; Over the next several months Nixon will refuse many times to release tapes and other documents.

1973
—
October 10
:
Spiro Agnew resigns as vice president; A few days later Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace him.

1973
—
October 20
:
Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigns and deputy William Ruckelshaus are fired when they refuse to fire Cox; The Cox firing, which shocks the nation, is known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.”

1973
—
October 23
:
Twenty-one Congress members introduce resolutions calling for Nixon’s impeachment.

1974
—
March 1
:
Seven former Nixon aides are indicted for Watergate-related crimes; President Nixon is named an “unindicted co-conspirator.”

1974
—
April 29
: White House releases 1,308-page document that contains edited transcripts of presidential conversations.

1974
—
May 9
:
House Judiciary Committee opens impeachment proceedings.

1974
—
July 24
:
Supreme Court rules 8–0 that Nixon must turn over sixty-four tapes subpoenaed by Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski.

1974
—
July 27
:
House Judiciary Committee approves first article of impeachment (obstruction of justice) by 27–11 vote.

1974
—
August 5
:
Nixon releases transcripts of June 23, 1972, “smoking pistol” conversation; Many former supporters leave him.

1974
—
August 9
: Nixon resigns; Ford takes oath of office as thirty-eighth president.

1974
—
September 8
:
Ford issues Nixon a pardon for crimes he committed or might have committed as president.

CHAPTER NOTES

Chapter 1
. “A Third-Rate Burglary Attempt”

1
. E. Howard Hunt,
Undercover: Memoirs of an American Secret Agent
(New York: Berkley, 1974), p. 1.