Why were the events at Watergate such a scandal? Flashcards
What situation was President Nixon in at the time of the burglary?
He wanted to be re-elected as President.
What is CREEP?
It stands for the Committee to Re-elect the President and they were used to campaign for Nixon to become president again.
What was the Watergate building?
This was the main building of the Democratic Party who were Nixon’s rival party.
What happened on 17th June 1972?
Five burglars were caught in the Watergate building who all had government connections.
What was the Washington Post?
The newspaper which published its suspicions about the government’s involvement in the burglary.
How did Nixon initially react to this burglary?
He immediately denied any involvement but secretly told the FBI to drop the case.
What evidence was there that Nixon was guilty?
He denied his involvement from the start.
When asked for his secret tapes, he initially refused. When he did hand them over they had clearly been edited as there were large gaps in the recordings.
What effect did this scandal have on Nixon?
Nixon was forced to resign but was not prosecuted fir his part in the scandal.
He was remembered for this scandal rather than some of the good things he did as president.
How did the people of the USA react to the scandal?
They were horrified and felt betrayed by their government. They were no longer willing to trust their politicians.
What effect did the Watergate scandal have on US politics?
The people lost faith in the US government and voted for an honest president rather than the best candidate.
Other countries in the world also lost faith in the US government.
What did the Congressional Budget Act do?
It controlled the president’s use of government money.
