Watergate is in the list of the words to arouse a variety of associations, predominantly unpleasant in this particular case, as it stands for American biggest political scandal. It revealed how a politician could stop at nothing in order to increase their power, which finally destroyed their career. Although the immediate political effect of the case happened to be less serious than it could have been, it left a considerable trace in history in a long-term perspective.
In 1972, the contemporary president Richard Nixon was running for re-election on the background of social tensions resulting from the Vietnam War, which determined the need for an especially forceful presidential campaign. He and his advisers apparently decided to discredit his Democratic opponent, hence grow more attractive for voters; that, in turn, meant seeking for damaging materials. In an attempt to do so, participants of Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President broke into Watergate headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.
They “stole copies of top-secret documents and bugged the office’s phones,” which was illegal espionage (Watergate Scandal, 2021, para. 4). The burglars’ connection to the president was not immediately apparent but suspected after detecting copies of re-election committee’s phone number among their personal possessions.
Nixon did not admit his involvement in the burglary in order not to lose votes. The population believed him and re-elected him successfully, but it became clear in a while that he had lied. “A great deal of the credit for uncovering the detail” belongs to Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (Watergate Scandal, 2021, para. 5). In particular, it was revealed that a range of Nixon’s aides, including the contemporary White House council named John Dean, had been aware of his abuse of presidential power.
The cover-up began to unravel relatively soon, considering the scope of the crime. Some of the members of Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect who took part in the burglary began to “crack under the pressure” by early 1973 (Watergate Scandal, 2021, para. 12). The above-mentioned reporters along with some of Senate investigating committee members suspected the presence of some big scheme behind their actions and sought to check the hypothesis. A substantial share of information came through from the former associate director of the FBI who remained anonymous till 2005.
What Nixon had done qualified at the same time as an obstruction of justice, a power abuse, and a violation of Constitution; in addition, he tried to cover up the crime. That was a sufficient reason for the House Judiciary Committee to vote for impeachment (Watergate Scandal, 2021). The president was bound to resign, which had a substantial effect on political life in the USA by aggravating the disappointment associated with the war and fostering cynicism in the population. I find such a response absolutely adequate, as I would feel the same if I revealed that my president had lied to the nation. By contrast, Watergate had positive results in the long run as well, notably, Americans began to think more critically and question their political leaders.
To summarize, Watergate scandal is the only case in American history when a president resigned in the face of impeachment. That story disillusioned completely the population, most of which, including voters, had believed Richard Nixon and re-elected him. However, it would not be relevant to only mention the negative effect of Watergate, since it helped people to grow less naïve about the presidency, hence change American political life forever.
References
Watergate Scandal. (2021). History. Web.