Due to the break-in on June 17th, 1972, there were many cover-ups with a lot of unknown facts. Especially, when the public found out it was Richard Nixon’s plan to break into the Watergate complex. During this discovery, the public found out he wanted to wiretap phones and take documents for information. Notably, his goal was to see how his reelection campaign was going. After all, there were supporting documents that proved he had helped for his own goals. Not only did this cause mistrust in leaders, but also in the government. Finally, Richard Nixon resigned on August 9th, 1974.
1. Frank Willis Saw Office Tape on the Door Latches
Since the wiretapping wasn’t working during the break-in, office tape was used instead. As a result, the same five criminals returned to the building. For one, they were hoping to replace the microphone. Then using office tape they applied it to the latches on the door locks. Consequently, the security guard, Franks Willis, noticed the tape and then decided to call the police. Significantly, the police arrested the five men who broke in. Under those circumstances, the documents they were trying to steal immediately led the leaders to the president. To clarify, these documents were strictly about Richard Nixon only.
2. All Of The Participants Held Government Positions
Among the five criminals, these men broke into the Watergate complex without realizing their careers would be the center of the investigation. Likewise, during the DNC review, four of the attempted robbers had worked for the CIA or Central Intelligence Agency. During their time in the CIA, their activities included protesting Fidel Castro in Cuba. Yet, only three of the four were of Cuban heritage. Different from the four individuals, the fifth person, James W. McCord jr., worked on the reelection committee. After all, James McCord worked security for this committee. This was the same board that worked for Nixon’s benefit and the leader was former attorney general John Mitchell.
3. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein Didn’t Write the First Story
Together with the Washington Post, they covered a lot of the hot-button issues of the scandal. Regardless, they were not the first authors to cover the story. The first thing to remember is the fact that Alfred E. Lewis, a police reporter, wrote the first edition of a series of investigative papers. In detail, Lewis had special access to news reports compared to other journalists. Then this information was used to create a headline that suggested a corrupt political figure without naming Richard Nixon. Therefore, his story went beyond the break-in by convincing the editors of the Washington Post that there was more hiding behind it.
4. The White House Plumbers
In spite of the scandal, Richard Nixon formed a secret unit called the White House Plumbers. Not only was this to prevent leaks but also to protect the information from within the White House. At the same time, Nixon wanted the members of this group to dig up dirt on Daniel Ellsburg. Seeing that Daniel Ellsburg was the man responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers, the president wanted to get revenge. However, this group committed many other crimes as well. Such as CREEP, Richard Nixon’s own fundraiser that raised money for his campaign as well as stealing other things that helped put him ahead of his competition.
All The President’s Men
By all means, this 1974 book exposed the truth about the Watergate scandal. For one thing, both Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward published this among the many articles as lead journalists on the case. Consequently, this book starts with a mention of the Watergate hotel break-in and from then on explores the behind the scene cover-ups to mask the president’s actions. Then through every lead and piece of evidence, they explained how Richard Nixon got caught in the first place. Finally, the last chapter covers Nixon’s resignation on August 8th, 1974. For this reason, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward tried to focus the theme on investigative journalism and the challenges they had faced to discover the truth.
Given these points, the Watergate scandal went beyond the break-in and demonstrated political greed and mistrust. The summaries of this event do not include the facts mentioned. However, it is still important to learn this information because it shows even the most powerful political leaders can commit illegal acts. In the long run, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s investigative journalism was crucial. Overall, without the evidence, like the tapes or documents, it would have been hard to prosecute Nixon and the robbers would have taken full blame for the break-in. Finally, people had trust issues with the future presidents because of this event.