Back to video library

Watergate

Recommendation

Want a study guide too?

Check out our guides

Republican President Richard Nixon was up for re-election, so he decided to tip the odds in his favor by paying people to break into and wiretap the Democratic Party headquarters. That worked for a while...until the nation found out about it. Nixon resigned before he was impeached, which has less to do with delicious fruit and everything to do with being kicked out of office. Oops.

Language English Language
Modern America: 1950-Present 1970s
Themes Politics

Transcript

00:27

Your face wouldn't show up on every news program or in every newspaper.

00:31

Well... just be grateful that your name isn't Richard Nixon.

00:35

Nixon, a Republican, was running for re-election and needed to build a strong campaign.

00:39

Unfortunately, he decided the best way to do so was to lie and steal.

00:44

Despite the images the name "Watergate"

00:46

might evoke, Nixon had nothing to do with destroying any large dams.

00:50

"Watergate" was the name of the hotel where the Democratic headquarters were based.

00:54

So the press decided to name the scandal after that hotel.

00:58

One night, some men broke into an office inside the hotel...

01:01

...and started going through files and attempting to plant listening devices.

01:05

They were caught red-handed.

01:06

Some immediately suspected that Nixon was involved, but there was no concrete proof just yet...

01:13

One of the men, James McCord, claimed that he and his accomplices were paid to keep quiet

01:18

during the ensuing trial so that Republicans could save face.

01:22

Eventually, someone leaked the fact that Nixon had tapes in his possession consisting of

01:26

recorded conversations between himself and key political figures.

01:31

Nixon immediately fired the prosecutor in

01:33

charge of the case, in hopes that he wouldn't have to hand over the tapes.

01:36

Although... it didn't keep six of his Republican aides

01:39

from being convicted of hindering the investigation.

01:41

The courts wore Nixon down over time, and eventually he caved.

01:45

He handed over the tapes... even if some of them appeared to be missing or altered.

01:49

Nixon did his best to argue his way out of

01:51

most of the stuff that remained on the tapes...

01:57

...but the part in which he was caught talking about distributing hush money to keep the

02:00

burglars quiet... was pretty incriminating.

02:03

As it turned out, he was the one who probably should have kept his lip zipped.

02:08

He couldn't escape the damage that had been done...

02:10

...and ultimately he resigned from the office of the presidency.

02:14

Corruption and politics often go hand in hand...

02:16

...but Nixon has set the bar pretty high.

02:19

If he is "not a crook"...

02:23

...then that makes these guys saints.

Please Wait...