Americans are told from childhood that they live in the freest and most democratic country in the world. But every now and then there are incidents that demonstrate the true state of affairs: the fact that those in power do not at all consider themselves obliged to obey the laws common to all. The word "Watergate" in America has become a symbol of immorality, corruption and crime in government.
The Watergate scandal is associated with the name of Richard Nixon - the 37th American president (1969-1974). Playing politics became his profession in 1945, when the 33-year-old Republican, known for his anti-communist beliefs, took the seat in Congress.
After 5 years, he became a senator (the youngest in American history). Great prospects were predicted for him, in 1952 President Eisenhower nominated the young politician to the post of vice president. But soon Nixon had a chance to step aside for a while. One New York newspaper accused him of using campaign funds for personal gain.
At the same time, very comical accusations were also put forward: journalists assured that the senator used part of the funds to buy a Cocker Spaniel named Checker for his children. In response, Nixon appeared on national television. He denied everything, declared that he would never allow himself to commit an immoral and illegal act that endangers his political career. He did not buy the dog, they simply gave it to the children (the classic immediately comes to mind: bribes with greyhound puppies). The senator ended his speech with the words: “I am not going to resign. I don’t give up so easily.” A very similar phrase Nixon will utter during the Watergate scandal.
Nixon tried to become the master of the White House back in 1960, but then J. F. Kennedy became president. There was no need to talk about an equal fight: Kennedy's popularity was very large, he won by a wide margin. 11 months after Kennedy was elected, Nixon ran for governor of California - and lost.
After such a double fiasco, he was even going to leave politics, but the thirst for power turned out to be stronger. 1963 - assassination of Kennedy. His place was taken by L. Johnson. But when the situation in America became critical (the protracted Vietnam war sparked massive protests across the country), Johnson announced that he would not run for a second term. Nixon took advantage of the situation and, ahead of his rival by only half a percent of the vote, became the owner of the White House in 1968.
Perhaps he was far from the worst president of the United States, although he is still far from the great American presidents. His administration was able to resolve the problem of America's withdrawal from the Vietnam war and normalize relations with China. 1972 - Nixon made a trip to Moscow, which became the first official visit to the Soviet Union by an American president in the history of Soviet-American relations. As a result, important agreements were signed in the field of bilateral relations and in the field of arms reduction.
But everything that Nixon did for America was devalued in just a few days, when in 1974 it became known what methods the US government was using to achieve its goals. What could have so shaken the imagination of the Americans? What caused the Watergate scandal?
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Causes of the Watergate scandal
The confrontation between Republicans and Democrats in America is taken for granted. Representatives of these parties alternately occupy the presidency, which each time turns out to be the greatest joy for the winners: the main levers of power are in their hands. The pre-election struggle is usually very intense. They also use compromising material on those who take part in the "big race" and a variety of propaganda actions.
But even during his term in office, the president has to be very careful: even the smallest blunder can be fatal, because a rival party is always ready to go on the offensive. It's no secret that the winners are doing everything possible to strengthen their position and protect themselves from the intrigues of political opponents. The Watergate scandal showed that Nixon surpassed all his predecessors in this respect.
When 56-year-old Nixon became the master of the White House, one of the most important tasks for him was to organize his own secret service, which would exercise control over potential political opponents, not limited by the framework of the law. The President began by listening to the telephone conversations of his opponents.
1970, July - he went further: he approved a plan of the secret services to conduct unauthorized searches and view the correspondence of the Democratic congressmen. Nixon was never shy about using the old divide and conquer method. He used mafia fighters to disperse anti-war demonstrations. The militants are not policemen: no one will accuse the government of violating human rights and the laws of a democratic society.
Nixon more than compensated for the lack of wisdom with a wide arsenal of means, which are somehow not accepted in a decent society. He did not shy away from bribery, blackmail. Before the next round of elections, the president decided to enlist the support of officials. And in order to ensure their loyalty, he demanded information about the payment of taxes by the most unreliable.
When his team tried to object (the tax department does not issue such certificates), Nixon made them understand that he was only concerned about the result. "Hell! Sneak there at night! " - he said. A somewhat cynical statement for a representative of government and the rule of law in the United States … However, if you look at the facts impartially, then in big politics, violations of the rules happen quite often. An honest politician is the exception rather than the rule. Nixon was no exception.
1971 (only a year before re-election) - The New York Times published classified CIA materials on the Vietnam War. And although Nixon's name was not mentioned there, he considered the publication a threat to him. After that, a division of "plumbers" appeared. The created secret service was not only engaged in espionage.
In the course of the investigation, it was found out that its employees were calculating options for eliminating people objectionable to the president, as well as operations to disrupt Democratic rallies. Of course, during the election campaign, Nixon, who was determined to get re-election for a second term, used the services of "plumbers" much more often than before. This excessive activity led first to the failure of one of the operations, and then to a scandal.
1972, June 17, Saturday evening - Five men entered the Watergate Hotel, where the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee was located, carrying the plumbers' suitcases. They were all wearing rubber gloves. It seemed that everything was calculated: both the route and the scheme of actions. But one of the guards just at this time decided to make a round of the building and came across unexpected visitors.
He acted in accordance with the instructions: he called the police. The evidence was clear: the door to the Democratic headquarters had been broken open. At first everything looked like an ordinary robbery, but during the search the criminals were found to have the most sophisticated recording equipment. An investigation has begun.
Investigation
Initially, the White House tried to hush up the scandal. But almost every day new facts were revealed: "bugs" in the headquarters of the Democrats, a constant recording of all conversations that were conducted in the offices of the White House … Congress demanded that all the notes be presented. The President provided only a part of them. But half measures and compromises did not suit anyone.
The only thing the president could do was to erase about 18 minutes of recordings. These films have not been restored to this day. But the surviving materials were enough to demonstrate Nixon's complete disregard for the society that elected him president of the country.
Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield said the conversations were recorded "just for history." As an argument, he mentioned that the recordings of presidential conversations were made during the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. But even if one accepts this argument, they cannot justify wiretapping political opponents. Moreover, unauthorized wiretapping was prohibited in 1967.
As the investigation progressed, public outrage grew. By the end of February 1973, it was proven that Nixon had committed a number of serious tax violations. There was no doubt about the fact that a huge amount of state money was used for personal purposes.
Aftermath of the Watergate scandal
This time, the president failed, as at the beginning of his career, to convince the journalists of his complete innocence: it was no longer about a puppy, but about two luxurious mansions in the states of Florida and California. The plumbers were arrested and charged with conspiracy. And since June 1974, Nixon himself became not so much the owner of the White House as his prisoner.
He stubbornly denied his guilt. And just as stubbornly refused to resign: "I do not intend under any circumstances to resign from the post to which the American people elected me." The American people were very far from supporting their president. The Senate and House of Representatives were determined to remove the president from power.
The House Legislative Commission concluded that Richard Nixon behaved inappropriately for the president, undermined the foundations of America’s constitutional order, and must be removed from office and brought to justice. The scandal affected not only Nixon and his closest aides. The tape recordings and testimonies of witnesses helped to establish that many prominent politicians took bribes, used their official position for personal gain, and did not skimp on threats. The greatest shock to the Americans was caused not even by the fact that the "unworthy" ones were able to break through to the higher echelons, but by the scale and scope of corruption. What was considered an annoying exception not so long ago turned out to be the rule.
1974, August 9 - Nixon resigned and moved to his home state. But he never admitted his guilt. And his references to the Watergate scandal sound rather strange: “I now clearly realize that I made a mistake and acted hesitantly and recklessly in those years … I know that many honest people consider my actions during Watergate illegal. Now I understand that it was my mistakes and delusions that contributed to the formation of such assessments."
Where did President Nixon go wrong? And what decisive action did he not take? To provide the general public with all the compromising evidence he has collected on top officials? Show the US the true face of its government? Nixon could hardly have set himself such a grand and suicidal task. After all, the existence of America's democratic system is based on a number of myths. And the destruction of these myths would lead to the collapse of the system itself. So, most likely, Nixon's statement is simply an attempt to justify himself.
V. Sklyarenko