In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, corruption is defined as: “dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people.” This description could not be truer to the government of the United States of America. Corruption has always been present in the Federal Government of the United States since the creation of the Constitution. Throughout history, corruption has coincided with different branches of government, from bribery of officials to the use of political power for personal gain. These acts of immorality have impacted many aspects of American lives ranging from social and political status to economic prosperity. Although all corruption in the government is dangerous to citizens, no deceit is as influential as corruption in the highest position, the presidential position. In the early 19th century, acts, such as the “corrupt” bargain of John Quincy Adams, would secure elections for presidential candidates. More would follow with the Compromise of 1877 securing Rutherford B. Hayes’ presidency and illegal profiting through oil reserves, Teapot Dome, by Warren G. Harding. While many of these cases were significant to shaping American history, none would compare to the widespread impact of the Watergate Scandal in 1972, which became one of the most significant cases of corruption in all of American history. The extremely corrupt Watergate Scandal greatly impacted the Nixon administration, set a precedent for a stricter overview of finance for presidential campaigns, and changed the way of information management and disclosure from all government officials.
On Sunday, May 28, 1972, a team of men broke into the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C. The goal: to re-wiretap and re-bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The reason: help Richard Nixon win reelection at all costs. Unfortunately for the perpetrators, they had not accounted for the security guard and subsequently revealed one of the most corrupt Executive scandals in American history. This corruption, however, did not start with Watergate, it was built on an intricate network of deception by President Richard Nixon starting from his inauguration. After winning the election of 1968 based on promises to end a widely unpopular Vietnam War, Nixon fooled the public by continuing the war in secret all while acknowledging that it was unlikely the U.S. was to win. This information would be exposed to the public, through the Pentagon Papers in 1971, by Daniel Ellsberg which led to the beginning of corruption by Nixon. Frightened by the repercussions of the Pentagon Papers, Nixon established the secret Special Investigation Unit, a team to prevent the revelation of government information to the public and assist Nixon in eliminating his political opponents. One of the first tasks was to ill-repute Daniel Ellsberg because of his “leak,” and the deception would only develop from then on. Then, a plan was developed to secretly infiltrate the DNC offices at Watergate to gather information that would benefit the second presidential campaign of Richard Nixon. This would end badly for the SIU. In fact, Nixon won re-election, but not before the break-in at the Watergate Complex caught the attention of two journalists: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The Watergate scandal may not have attracted national attention and repercussions if not for the work of Bernstein and Woodward. While national media reported Watergate, it was “dismissed as a ‘third-rate burglary,” according to The Watergate Scandal by Kathleen Tracey. Therefore, the SIU was able to cover up any involvement with higher government officials so Nixon was completely unaffected- the media had passed right over his corruption. However, Bernstein and Woodward sensed the deeper government ties to Watergate and dove deeper into the government’s involvement in Watergate. They would soon publish a story on illegal intelligence gathering by the Republican party on the Democrats and specifically mentioned the ties it had to President Nixon. This would start a chain reaction that would end Nixon’s presidency permanently. First came the revelation from one of the burglars, Jame McCord, stating that he had “lied under oath and the truth was, higher-ups, had ordered the break-in.” (Kathleen Tracy) A “Senate Watergate Committee” was then created to investigate any political corruption done on behalf of Nixon. Things only escalated faster. John Dean of the president’s counsel and a coordinator of the SIU began cooperating with the committee. Nixon, however, stressed his innocence stating, “I am not a crook,”( denying any involvement with Watergate. It would prove futile as a new Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox, was appointed to begin the trial of Dean - a thirty-hour testimony that would concrete the involvement of Nixon in multiple accounts of illegal political activities and cover-ups. In fact, Nixon had his own damning evidence, in recorded tapes of conversations in the Oval Office. Prosecutor Cox immediately demanded these tapes be turned in with the authority of a judge, but Nixon refused stating that he had “Claims of Executive Privilege for Subpoenaed Materials.” (DocsTeach) Events compiled to a climax on October 20th, 1973, named the “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Nixon fired multiple attorney generals in order to dismiss Archibald Cox and prevent his prosecution. This would prove to be the beginning of the end for Nixon as the public completely turned against him and the Supreme Court ordered the tapes to be turned over, which when given, sealed his conviction. Impeachment articles quickly followed, and finally, President Nixon wrote, “I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.” (Archives.gov)
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Although Watergate marked a precedent as the first resignation of a President in United States history, the Watergate Scandal also had a broader impact on Nixon’s Administration. Twenty-five other officials were convicted in association with Watergate including the entirety of SIU and others close to the President. All members of the SIU and even Attorney General Mitchell were convicted of crimes, and some were sentenced to multiple years in prison. Moreover, Nixon himself faced tons of backlash, which would not have been the case if not for his overwhelming negative portrayal in the media. Unlike predecessors, for example, Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Nixon was never the strong figurehead of America like presidents were expected to be. So, the media usually portrayed his actions as good, but his demeanor and style as frail and weak. Nixon also had “overt hostility toward the press” (Ruth P.) which led to much of the media developing a disliking towards him. Watergate was the nail in the coffin in Nixon’s line of despised actions, and the press jumped on his corruption as brutally as they could. As quoted by Ruth P. in Nixon, Watergate, and the Study of the Presidency, “Disliking him(Nixon), they viewed his actions through an unforgiving lens… when revelations began to wound the president, the piranhas moved in.” Nixon’s reputation, status, and accomplishments were torn to shreds by the media through Watergate. And subsequently, his administration and support were also demolished.
Another large consequence due to Watergate was the people’s loss of trust in the United States government. Many thought that the system of checks and balances for the Executive branch had to be restructured, and with public support, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution of 1973, allowing it to regulate the power of a President, granted to him by new bills passed. This was almost a direct counterreaction to Nixon’s specific claims of power during his Presidency. Then, the Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1974 in order to gain back the trust of the public. (Chouinard K) It would establish transparency in the information held by the executive branch, requiring much of it to be released to the public or media. Other acts like the Ethics Rule and Financial Disclosure Forms were also enforced to ensure that the finance of the Executive branch would be limited and ethical, especially removing slush funds such as the funds given to enable the Watergate infiltration. Furthermore, to ensure no future infiltration of political campaigns, the finance of presidential campaigns had to be regulated more harshly. Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act, followed by taxpayer campaign funding transparency, campaign spending limits, donor and campaign expenditure reports, and limits on political contributions by each individual supporter. (Stencel) Finally, the American people were satisfied with the reform.
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