What exactly was the Watergate scandal?

Question

You know, the one President Ford helped "heal" our country from?

Why was this question THUMBED-down? :(

Answer 1

The first two answers are correct but don't mention the break in was funded by a secret "slush" fund from the Committee to Re-Elect Richard Nixon which was primarily staffed by former members of Nixon's administration.

It's a moot point if Nixon ordered the bugging or not. Personally, I think he did not say to bug the office but was paranoid about what was being said and/or planned for the election. Then he definitely helped try to cover-up the crime connection to him.

J. Gordon Liddy is the most famous burglar of them all, you may recognize his name as he has a political talk show on radio now.

The book and movie 'All the President's Men" are about this incident.

Answer 2

It's far more than could possibly be explained here.

Basically, though, it was a time in which then-President Nixon and those around him had no problems with the idea of breaking all kinds of laws in order to keep the White House, etc.

At one point, an indictment was handed down, naming a number of Nixon's associates, and calling Nixon an "unindicted co-conspirator".

Gerald Ford was sworn in as President after Nixon resigned. He issued a Presidential pardon to Nixon as a way to end Watergate and allow the country to move forward once again.

Writing about Watergate become something of a cottage industry. You might want to try some of the following:

Answer 3

The term Watergate scandal refers to a 1972 break-in of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. by members of the Richard Nixon administration. The burglars' aim was to plant listening devices, while disguised as common criminals to provide cover. They were informally called the "plumbers unit" to "plug leaks," and included former members of the CIA. Though then-President Nixon had endured two years of mounting political embarrassments, the court-ordered release in August, 1974, of a "smoking gun tape" about the burglaries brought with it the prospect of certain impeachment for Nixon; he resigned only four days later on August 9, making him the only U.S. President to have resigned from office.

Answer 4

Nixon was working on getting reelected. He wanted to get dirt on the Democrats and they had a list of prostitutes they used to service important people. This was one of the things the burglars were looking for when they burgled Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. When they were caught during the break in, Nixon pretended that he did not know about it. His lie, "I had no knowledge....and so on," was only part of the cover up he orchestrated in an effort to protect himself politically. He would have fared much better if he had confessed to the whole thing right from the start. Instead he dug himself in deeper and deeper as time went on.

Answer 5

The term Watergate scandal refers to a 1972 break-in of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. by members of the Richard Nixon administration. The burglars' aim was to plant listening devices, while disguised as common criminals to provide cover.

Answer 6

supposedly members of the Republican party hired thieves to break into the headquarters of the democratic party to essentially spy on what they were doing. Who hired them to do it and whether or not Nixon sanctioned the break in is widely debated.

This incident along with other politcal things goign on at the time (the war etc) caused a great mistrust in government that wasnt largely felt before (but we still see today) Ford tried to bring some respectability back to the office and regain the trust of the american people.

Answer 7

If you want the true story, you will have to rent the movie "Forest Gump"...then you'll know

Answer 8

it was when nixon left open this flood gate and cused a draught in california that was made worse be all us republicans.