On the evening of June 17, 1972, after a staff member of the US Democratic Party headquarters left the Watergate Building, he accidentally looked back to see that Nixon, who was re-elected for his achievements in ending the Vietnam War, collapsed because of this incident.
In his own office, he was surprised to find that several beams of light were shaking in the office where the lights had been turned off. No, my colleagues have already left, and who has entered the office again, without turning on the lights, but flashing lights everywhere. He immediately returned to the Watergate Building and told the security guards about the doubt. Security personnel immediately searched the room concerned and caught five suspiciously-looking men wearing medical surgical gloves, including one named James McCord who claimed to be a former CIA employee. In fact, he was the head of the security work of President Nixon's re-election campaign committee, and was ordered to install eavesdropping equipment at the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Building. The next day, The Washington Post featured the incident prominently on the front page. After hearing the news, President Nixon, who was on vacation on Key Biscayne, Florida, couldn't help but shudder: If the Democrats seize the Watergate incident and pursue it, he will not only have no hope of re-election, but will soon lose his reputation and may step down immediately. Where was he in the mood for a vacation, he returned to Washington the next day. White House, Office of the President. It was late at night, and Nixon was still scrambling to discuss the response with several of his closest aides. After a long discussion, everyone fell silent. Some were smoking cigars violently, while others were holding coffee cups but did not bring them to their lips for a long time, and their eyes were focused on Nixon. Nixon thought again and again, and finally said: "Isn't there three Cubans, McCord has also participated in the 'Bay of Pigs Incident' before, then interpret the Watergate incident as a wiretapping activity carried out by the Cubans for their own national interests. Huo Derman, go see the director of the CIA and ask him to come forward. For national security reasons, don't let the FBI intervene. Tell those who have been arrested to stay silent. It's okay to spend a little more money. , the people in the White House will stop talking nonsense at the grand jury, Dean is in charge." The aides split up, and Nixon himself went shirtless. The public said: "No one in the White House team and this administration is involved in this ridiculous incident." He also pretended to be in the water gate apartment(3 photos) and said, "The sad thing is not that it happened. That sort of thing, because some overzealous people in the campaign always do the wrong thing. If you try to cover up that sort of thing, it's just heart-wrenching." A series of events, especially the president's performance, temporarily deceived the public. In the general election, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by a rare landslide and won re-election. Just as Nixon and his aides were celebrating and getting carried away, one anonymous letter after another was sent to the court, secretly telling the Watergate affair and its secrets. The Democratic-dominated Congress has decided to set up a special investigative committee to conduct a thorough investigation of the presidential campaign. Sure enough, on March 23, 1973, McCord exposed White House counsel Dean in court. Nixon decided to give up the car to protect the coach[1] and let Dean be the scapegoat. Dean is not a character to be slaughtered, and he is not willing to be captured. When he learned that his crime could be sentenced to 40 years in prison, he took the initiative to confess and expose to the prosecutor for three hours, hoping to atone for his crimes in exchange for a pardon.
In order to
salvage the situation, Nixon issued a statement again, saying that he did not know about the Watergate incident in advance, and that he did not obstruct the investigation afterwards.
Every president has done this since Nixon's opponent, George McGovern . Once again, he is trying to use the American people's trust in him to get away with it. Unfortunately, a bigger time bomb went off. The Watergate Committee has a new situation: Nixon, beginning in early 1971, ordered the installation of a wiretapping system in the White House offices in order to record conversations and phone calls with his subordinates. The committee asked Nixon to hand over the relevant tapes and documents. Nixon refused to hand it over, citing executive privilege, and took the matter to the Court of Appeals. Unexpectedly, after three weeks of deliberation, most judges believe that the president is also bound by the law and must hand over the tapes and documents. Nixon was furious and ordered the removal of Cox, the Special Counsel investigating the Watergate scandal. This stabbed the hornet's nest, and the television networks in the United States immediately interrupted their normal programs and reported the explosive news to the American public. The public's reaction was like a volcano starting to erupt, protest telegrams flooded like snowflakes, and public opinion compared Nixon to Hitler. Even religious circles and publications that had previously supported Nixon angrily blamed Nixon. Vigorous college students organized large-scale demonstrations. The entire United States is like a pot, and the public is angry. Driven by popular opinion, the House of Representatives decided to impeach the president. Nixon was determined to stubbornly resist to the end. While destroying the unfavorable content on his tapes, he continued to emphasize executive privilege, saying that "will follow the precedent followed and defended by successive presidents from Washington to Johnson, and will never do anything to weaken the presidency of the United States." . The phone records he handed over were riddled with holes, and much of the important content was replaced by words such as inaudible and of no intelligence value. Nixon's actions further angered the public, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon must hand over the tapes in question.
the truth
The newly appointed special counsel found new evidence in tapes that the White House was forced to hand over, one that clearly recorded that six days after Watergate, Nixon instructed his aides to get the CIA to obstruct the FBI investigation. The Watergate scandal is hard evidence that Nixon covered up the truth. The entire White House was stunned, they had been believing in the President's innocence and had gone beyond their authority to protect the President, while the President had covered up the truth from the start and deceived his advisers, the public, Congress and even his own family for two years After a long time, everyone felt betrayed, and even a group of Republican senators and representatives suggested that he resign. Nixon finally reached the point of betrayal.
The result of the incident
On the evening of August 8, 1974, Nixon had to make a televised speech to the nation, announcing his resignation from the presidency, becoming the first and the only president in American history to step down midway due to a scandal.
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