Watergate: Executive Power on Trial Nixon farewell, August 8, 1974
	August 1 and August 22, 1962. JFK and Eavesdropping on Hanson Baldwin of the New York Times June 13, 1971. New York Times published first installment of the Pentagon Papers. September 1971. White House Plumbers, break-in, office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. July 3, 1971 Jews in Government July 5, 1971 "Jews are born spies." October 27, 1971 Global Enemies List December 10, 1971 Nixon's Advice to William Rehnquist, to Supreme Court February 13, 1972 Pandas with Pat Nixon June 17, 1972 Botched break in at DNC HQ at Watergate complex. Ties to CREEP and WH. Shortly after, Nixon did obstruct justice in the cover-up by instructing aids to have the CIA deter the FBI. Arrange hush money to burglars. Nixon aids refer to it as a "third rate burglary." Journalists Woodward and Bernstein begin putting together loose pieces. June 20, 1972 Nixon and Colson June 23, 1972 The "Smoking Gun" [audio and transcript from History and Politics Out Loud, www.hpol.org] 6:56 on CIA restricting FBI. July 1, 1972 Nixon and Colson on E. Howard Hunt July 22, 1972 Nixon and Haldeman talk about Deep Throat August 1, 1972 Watergate trial delay October 19, 1972. Nixon and Haldeman discuss Mark Felt--Deep Throat 1973. Trial of burglars. Judge John J. Sirica sensed a cover-up. Why did the burglars have large amounts of cash and expensive recording equipment. Claimed money came in an unmarked envelop. Sirica gave max. sentences. James McCord cracked. Nixon approved $400,000 to 1m to 7 families. Entertained clemency. Howard Hunt's wife died in a United Airlines crash. She had $10,000 in her purse. Nixon violated Constitutional oath to uphold the law. By end of April John Erlichman, H.R. Haldeman, John Dean, FBI director, Attorney General Mitchell, and Securities and Exchange Commission head had resigned. By March, 1974, 28 aides would be indicted. Spring-Summer, 1973 Approved February 7, 1973. Senate committee headed by Sam Ervin of NC. Began May 17. TV spectacle. June 1973. John Dean testimony. Testified that Nixon had ordered him to cover-up Watergate. When asked how much money it would take to hush the burglars, he reached for a preposterous sum of $1 million. He said Nixon said he could get the one million dollars. Most believed more evidence was needed. Dean, after all, was a fired employee. July 16, 1973 In a response to a chance question about a White House taping system, Alexander Butterfield admitted one existed.   The Next Stage: Getting the Tapes. Special prosecutor Archibald Cox and Senate Committee. October 12 U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the release of 9 tapes within 7 days. October 19 Nixon announced a compromise. Have John Stennis, Mississippi Senator, verify an edited transcript. October 20 Saturday Night Massacre. [Not long after Agnew resignation]. Elliot Richardson, then William Ruckelhaus resigned rather than fired Cox. Third AG in line, Solicitor Robert Bork fired Cox. Storm of protest. Over 1 million letters and telegrams to Congress. Nixon forced to hire another special prosecutor. Leon Jaworski replaced Cox and continued the pressure. October 31 9 tapes to be released. White House announced two tapes missing--meeting with John Mitchell. Also 18 and 1/2 minute gap. Rosemary Stretch. "Sinister force" caused the gap. Was for 6/20/72 tape. January 15, 1974, a team of experts found five manual stops on the tape. Someone had purposefully erased the tape. October 1973, The Rosemary Stretch. November 17 Nixon: “I am not a crook.” Cumulative effect of increasing disclosures contributed to an undermining of credibility and growth of fear of government. April 11, 1974 House Judiciary Committee subpeonaed 42 tapes. April 30, 1974 Release of edited transcripts. Even these hurt him. Showed a vengeful, deceitful president. Nixon continued to deny his involvement. Blamed the press, then argued that everybody does it. It provided the longest lasting legacy of Watergate. But, his worst actions were in public. Restricting the press. Arguing executive privilege. Summer, 1974 Focus shifted to House Judiciary Committee. [House impeaches, and the Senate convicts.] July 19, 1974 John Doar's brief to the committee. Albert Jenner, Doar's co-counsel, asked the committee to determine "whether that country and that constitution are to be preserved." July 24, United States v. Nixon. Executive privilege did not apply in this instance. Nixon forced to give up tapes. U.S. v. Nixon (July 24, 1974) "Neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. . . . Absent a claim of need to protect military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secrets, the confidentiality of Presidential communications is not significantly diminished by producing material for a criminal trial under the protected conditions of in camera inspection . . ." End of July Led by Peter Rodino of NJ, House Judiciary Committee moved slowly but recommended impeachment on 3 counts. 1-obstruction of justice, 2-violation of constitutional liberties, and 3-refusing to produce evidence for impeachment proceedings. August 5 Smoking gun tape of June 23, 1972. Nixon ordered H.R. Haldeman to have CIA use national security argument to prevent FBI investigation. Sense of betrayal among those who had stuck by Nixon. August 7, 1974 Goldwater and other conservatives visit Nixon. Explained the inevitability of conviction. August 8, 1974 Nixon announced his resignation effective noon the next day. Admitted only to “a few mistakes of judgement.” August 9, President Gerald Ford, "Our long national nightmare is over." September, 1974 Ford pardoned Nixon. Eulogy of Nixon by Bob Dole. News coverage (Youtube) Eulogy of Nixon by Hunter S. Thompson. From Rolling Stone, June 16, 1994, reprinted online at The Atlantic
	Materials for this course were developed by the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. Site design and Flash transcript+audio design by David Coleman. Flash transcript+audio files by David Coleman, Marc Selverstone, Ken Hughes, and the Presidential Recordings Program. Audio courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration and the Presidential Libraries of Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. For more resources on the White House tapes see www.whitehousetapes.org or click here or here.
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