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The confession
“Six weeks after the new president Gerald Ford (1913-2006) was sworn in, he pardoned Nixon for any crimes he had committed while in office. Some of Nixon’s aides were not so lucky: They were convicted of very serious offenses and sent to federal prison. Nixon himself never admitted to any criminal wrongdoing, though he did acknowledge using poor judgment. His abuse of presidential power had a negative effect on American political life, creating an atmosphere of cynicism and distrust. While many -
The arrest
Although there was an almost-successful spy mission, the wiretaps did not work correctly. On June 17, the group went back to the Watergate building. A security guard recognized that tapes were around the building’s locks. The guard called the police. The police caught the men who were involved. -
Running for election
When President Richard Nixon was running for reelection, the United States was involved in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) and was “deeply divided internally”. In such a grating political surrounding, an aggressive presidential campaign appeared crucial to the president and most of his key advisers. There were hostile strategies which included what turned out to be illegal espionage. -
The plan
Nixon and his alliance plan the raid. -
The break in
In May 1972 associates of Nixon’s Committee broke into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate headquarters and stole copies of “top-secret documents” and “bugged the office’s phones”. -
The convictions
At the persuasion of Nixon’s aides, five men pleaded guilty and avoided trial while the other two were convicted in January 1973. -
The peoples devistation
”On March 1, a grand jury appointed by a new special prosecutor indicted seven of Nixon’s former aides on various charges related to the Watergate affair. The jury, unsure if they could indict a sitting president, called Nixon an “unindicted co-conspirator.” Why the scandal broke the trust between the government and the people:”