- Published: October 3, 2022
- Updated: October 3, 2022
- University / College: University of Oxford
- Language: English
- Downloads: 38
Richard Milieus Nixon was born in 1913 In Worry Linda, California, the second of five sons of Francis Anthony Nixon and Hannah Milieus Nixon (Nixon). Richard Nixon went to a public school in Whittler, California. After graduating he went to Whittier College, a Quaker institution, where he majored in history (Bowmen). Whittier was also where he met his future wife Thelma “ Pat” Ryan. They got married on June 21, 1940, and had two daughters: Patricia, born in 1946, and Julie, born in 1948 (Lexicon). Nixon had many political roles. In 1946 Nixon became a congressman persuaded by Californians Republicans.
Then In 1950 he became a member of the U. S. Senate from California (Nixon). Nixon with his running partner, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was elected to be the Vice President in 1952. And then they both were reelected for another term in 1956 (Lexicon). After that Onion’s last term of Vice President he ran for President against John F. Kennedy. This election was one of the closest elections in U. S. History. Kennedy won by only 112, 803 votes. After his defeat Nixon returned to California and ran for Governor and lost once again (Bowmen). So now Nixon had a break from political offices.
But now, in 1968 Nixon ran for President once again against Hubert H. Humphrey and was successful. And once his first term was over Nixon ran and won the Presidency again (Lexicon). Now during his second term, however, was consumed by the Watergate Scandal (Nixon). Watergate was a major United States political scandal that started with the burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic Party campaign headquarters (Geneses 6). And then started to create President Nixon and many of his supporters In even more illegal acts, and ended up with the first resignation off U.
S. President. The burglary was on June 17, 1972, by five men who were caught In the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate apartment and office in Washington, D. C. Their arrest uncovered that the White House was a part of espionage against political opponents (Lexicon). One main factor of the cover-up was the tapes. The taping system was a system that automatically recorded all conversations, which meant that the tapes would tell If Nixon was Involved In the burglary and cover-up (Lexicon).
In July 1973 was when White House lade Alexander Butterflies told the committee, on nationwide elevation, that there was a taping system that Nixon ordered installed in the White House. Then Archibald Cox immediately asked for the tapes to be revealed in court (Nixon). But Nixon refused to give them up. He was claiming “ executive privilege”, saying they were vital to the national security (Nixon). Which let him hide certain documents because he didn’t want to loose the presidency (Bowmen). This grew more doubts about Onion’s Integrity.
On July 24, the Supreme Court voted 8-0 In the Committee looked into impeaching Nixon (Bowmen). And on July 29 and 30, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee had three articles of impeachment, charging Nixon with misusing his power in order to violate the constitutional rights of U. S. Citizens, obstructing Justice in the Watergate affair, and defying Judiciary Committee subpoenas (Geneses 27). And the next day Nixon agreed to give in the tapes, but soon after, it was found that some of the tapes had been edited and the key parts of one had been erased (Nixon).
Now this brought even more complications for President Nixon. During this madness there were many people that “ gave up”. The year of 1973 was the year of all sorts of resignations. In April 1973 White House Chief H. R. Hellman, White House Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs John Recruitment, and US Attorney General Richard Slinkiest all resigned. Also in April 1973 Nixon dismissed White House Counsel John Dean (Nixon). This embarrassed and forced all but one of Onion’s closet aides and officials to resign as well (Lexicon). On October 10 Vice President Agene resigned, in an unrelated scandal.
So Nixon nominated Gerald R. Ford, a conservative Michigan Republican congressman, to replace him (Lexicon). On October 20, 1973 Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special investigator Cox over the issue of access to the tapes. But Richardson got angry and refused to fire Cox. In such anger Richardson resigned in protest, so did Deputy Attorney General William Recalculates (Nixon). So in the end, solicitor General Robert Boor fired Cox (Geneses 30). All this mess that was done on October 20, 1973 was named to be the “ Saturday Night Massacre” (Lexicon).
Nixon was caught trying to cover-up his mishaps. Investigators Bob Woodward and Carl Benefit reporters for the “ Washington Post” were the first to notice the cover-up. And questioning U. S. District Court Judge John J. Corsica showed that a cover-up was made to hide the burglars’ activities (Bowmen). Other investigators against the scandal were Sam Ervin and Archibald Cox. Sam Ervin of North Carolina was head of a Senate Committee on Watergate. Archibald Cox was a special prosecutor to uncover Onion’s secret.
Working together Ervin and Cox slowly revealed that Watergate was Just one of many scandals that Nixon was associated with (Nixon). This cover-up not only failed to hide the Watergate scandal but also revealed other crimes done by Nixon. The Watergate burglary wasn’t the only scandal that Nixon was accused of performing. Watergate dead investigators to a burglary ordered by Nixon aids to get information about Daniel Algebra (Bowmen). He was the man that got a hold of the Pentagon Papers, a secret study on US policy during the Vietnam War (Lexicon).
Other questions that came about because of the Watergate scandal was one regarding possible income tax evasion by Nixon, and another was his misuse of government funds to enhance his homes in Key Biscayne, Florida, and San Clement, California (Lexicon). A report by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in early 1974 showed that Nixon owed $432, 787 in back taxes for the years 1969 to 1972 (Nixon). Investigators also found out that the Nixon administration had a lot of money in illegal campaign contributions. They used this money to pay more than $500, 000 to the Watergate burglars (Nixon).
Another thing that Nixon was accused of was he had four years of political espionage and sabotage by his loyalists (Bowmen). With all these crimes done Nixon had nothing else to do but to give up. On August 5 Nixon gave in the tapes. They showed that he supporters in Congress felt betrayed, and were sure that the House would impeach Nixon and convicted in the Senate (Nixon). So on August 8, 1974, Nixon announced that he would resign (Bowmen). He resigned without admitting guilty. They next day he left office, and Vice President Gerald Ford took over the presidency position.
A month later Ford, pardoned him for all crimes he might have done while in office (Nixon). Onion’s plans did not turn out the way he hoped they would. He was trying to hide his involvement in the Watergate Scandal but he failed. The tapes were the main reason he got caught and were the detective’s only hope. Once the tapes were finally given up Onion’s presidency was over. His mission ended up in catastrophe. Watergate now is a general term used to describe this complex web of political scandals between 1972 and 1974 (Lexicon).