Watergate

Watergate Paper

When the name Richard Nixon comes in mind so does the Watergate scandal. “Richard Nixon was re-elected as president in 1972” (Preserving the Legacy, 2007, p. 1). His running opponent was Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. The Watergate scandal involves “five men by the names of James W. McCord, Bernard L. Barker, Eugenio R. Martinez, Virgilio R. Gonzales, and Frank A. Sturgis” (Preserving the Legacy, 2007, p. 2). These men burglarized the Watergate hotel to enter in the Democratic National Committee office. When entered they installed listening devices to gain knowledge about Larry O’Brien. The president assumed Larry was a threat. They also wanted knowledge of DNC campaign tactics for the re-election of Nixon. Furthermore, Nixon did not just want to win, he wanted to win big. Nixon wanted to be the first president with the greatest margin in a presidential election. The content of this paper focuses on the media coverage of the scandal, public opinion about Watergate and Nixon, and Nixon’s resignation.

Media Coverage of Scandal

“After the five men were arrested two young reporters from the Washington Post was assigned to the story—Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward” (The Washington Post, 2011, p. 1). Woodward and Bernstein discovered James McCord was on the payroll of President Nixon’s re-election committee. In the same light, “Bernstein also learned that Nixon deposited $25,000 into a bank account belonging to one of the burglars from the re-election campaign” (The Washington Post, 2011, p. 1). This was the first time the Washington Post linked the burglary to Nixon’s campaign funds. Pursuing the Watergate scandal further, “Woodward had a confidential source who told him what leads to pursue in the story, his name was Mark Felt” (The Washington Post, 2011, p. 1). Mark Felt was a prominent official for the FBI, who had access to the reports on the burglary investigation (The Washington Post, 2011, p. 1). Woodward promised to...