What was the watergate scandal and what was its effect on American Essay

What was the watergate scandal and what was its effect on American politics - Essay Example The idea of pursuing re-election through draconian means seemed attractive to him and his consultants. However, their approach to re-election campaign turned out to be an illegal act. As revealed in May 1972 evidence following the NDC’s office break-in, it emerged that the members of the re-election committee of President Nixon were the culprits of the Watergate burglary. Many intruders, who were linked to the reelection campaign of Nixon, were caught trying to wiretap phones and filch confidential documents (Vaughn 579). Owing to the failure of the wiretaps, the burglars would soon return to the Watergate office on June 17, 1972 to rectify the fault. Unfortunately, a security guard detected when they tapped the locks to Watergate building using a microphone. The guard informed the police of the incident and it was fortunate that the police wasted no time and caught the burglars red-handed (Vaughn 579). Despite the fact that the link between the burglars and President Nixon initially remained oblivious, the link would later be established when detectives identified white house contact of the president’s re-election committee in the baggage of the intruders. President Nixon gave a public speech on August 1972 distancing himself and his office from the burglary. Consequently, he won the trust of most voters, which handed him a landslide victory in November election (Vaughn 579). Nixon later planned financial reward for the burglars to cover up for the crime. However, the plan failed when some of his confidants yielded to the cover-up pressure revealing that the president orchestrated the burglary. Some of his aides were incarcerated in 1973. Nixon was pressured to produce the Oval Office’s taped conversation, which he allegedly possessed. When he finally handed over some of the tapes, the cover up began to blow apart in early 1974. In July 1974, the House of Representatives