Neill
Luther
History
Watergate
Scandal
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| Watergate complex |
The
Watergate scandal was such a huge deal
to the United states because it changed the way that the government was
trusted, Nixon’s reputation, the governments/ future presidents
reputation, plus the way that American citizens viewed their government all
together. This changed how the
government’s politics today are used and viewed by the people.
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| The five burglars of the Watergate building |
The
Watergate gate Scandal happened in 1972 just before the 1972 electio
n. What happened in the Watergate scandal was where five people broke in to the Watergate complex where the democratic committees headquarters were to gain information for the republican party by tapping in to phone lines and listening to their conversations, so that the republicans could use this information against them in the upcoming elections. It all started off when the burglars were caught red-handed in the building, creating the huge problem that the press got information about. The main problem with that was that the Nixon administration tried to cover up the fact that they had anything to do with the situation, even though that they were the people behind the ordeal.
After the
Watergate scandal had reached the press it had to of been very shocking for the
American citizens. As the American
citizens did not already have very much trust within their own government this
scandal did not help at all. After
Watergate some people thought more negatively about the government shown by
example from this newspaper article “ The respondents were asked whether
Watergate had changed their perceptions of Federal officials. Two out of five
(38 percent) said they were more negative now because of Watergate.” This one article was perfect for my
information on how the scandal changed people s views against the
government. In the article before it
shows that other people did not trust the 
The
scandal really affected citizen’s trust in the government and also did not give
them a better since of privacy from the government. When rumor spread about the scandal some
people were kind of skeptical about the amount of privacy that they had from
the government. Once people heard about
how the burglary had happened people
feared that the government would
be able to listen in on anything that they were saying on the phone. This put somewhat of a fear into a small
amount of Americans.
Even
though Nixon resigned in 1974 because of his fear of being impeached from the
problem with the Watergate scandal, he had not been the mastermind behind the
scandal. Although Nixon did not
administer the burglary he had tried to
cover up the fact that it had happened, which had really created a problem for
Nixon making his reputation completely turn around. From Nixon being the president towards the
end of the Vietnam War to becoming the president that created the Watergate
scandal. Although most people when they
think of Nixon think of him as the president who messed up his chance of
winning the reelection but Nixon did
have other stuff about him that were not so bad. A lot of people were not in favor of Nixon
and trying to find a way for him to get in trouble, and this was the way for him to get in
trouble even though that kind of stuff was going on throughout the U.S. But the Watergate scandal ruined his
reputations because it was such a bad thing to the American citizens.
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| Richard Nixon |
The Watergate scandal could have been
the cause of some new politics changing the way that people viewed politics in
the government and out of the government.
If this scandal had not happened then the president after Nixon had
resigned (Gerald R. Ford) would not have
wanted to sign the information act of 1986, which would have strengthened the
Privacy act of 1974 . Nixon and the
Watergate scandal also created a problem with many of his government officials
creating them to also be questioned about their current positions, changing the
way the current government people had been placed. So Watergate changed way the way that current
politics and the officials under Nixon had challenged.
The Watergate
scandal had a huge effect on the United States by Nixon’s mistake because it
changed peoples view and trust with the
government, and the presidents reputation forever.
Bibliography
