16 Facts About Watergate

1.

Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U S President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation.

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2.

Senate Watergate hearings were broadcast "gavel-to-gavel" nationwide by PBS, and they aroused public interest.

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3.

Watergate is the only U S president to have resigned from office.

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4.

The metonym Watergate came to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration, including bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious; ordering investigations of activist groups and political figures; and using the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service as political weapons.

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5.

All five Watergate burglars were directly or indirectly tied to the 1972 CRP, thus causing Judge Sirica to suspect a conspiracy involving higher-echelon government officials.

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6.

Watergate wondered if this was due to the way Nixon was speaking, as if he were trying to prod attendees' recollections of earlier conversations about fundraising.

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7.

Dean mentioned this observation while testifying to the Senate Committee on Watergate, exposing the thread of what were taped conversations that would unravel the fabric of the conspiracy.

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8.

Watergate asked for the resignation of Attorney General Kleindienst, to ensure no one could claim that his innocent friendship with Haldeman and Ehrlichman could be construed as a conflict.

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9.

Watergate fired White House Counsel John Dean, who went on to testify before the Senate Watergate Committee and said that he believed and suspected the conversations in the Oval Office were being taped.

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10.

Watergate could try to ride out the impeachment and fight against conviction in the Senate all the way, or he could resign.

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11.

Watergate didn't identify the staff members and he made it very clear that he wasn't recommending any one option over another.

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12.

The remaining five members of the Watergate Seven indicted in March went on trial in October 1974.

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13.

Since Nixon and many senior officials involved in Watergate were lawyers, the scandal severely tarnished the public image of the legal profession.

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14.

Watergate scandal resulted in 69 government officials being charged and 48 being found guilty, including:.

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15.

The Watergate scandal left such an impression on the national and international consciousness that many scandals since then have been labeled with the "-gate suffix".

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16.

James F Neal, who prosecuted the Watergate 7, did not believe Nixon had ordered the break-in because of Nixon's surprised reaction when he was told about it.

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