NIXON WINS BY A THIN MARGIN, 1968, The New York Times
Nixon Address, 1968, University of North Carolina
BUILD-UP
Nixon's Election
After serving as the Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nixon set his eyes on the presidency. Having lost in 1960, Nixon re-established his campaign in 1968, ultimately winning the election.
Nixon's The One, 1968, Richard Nixon Foundation
"My fellow Americans, I believe that historians will recall that 1968 marked the beginning of the American generation in world history. Just to be alive in America, just to be alive at this time is an experience unparalleled in history."
~ President Richard Nixon in his Inaugural Address
Following his election, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover falsely notified Nixon that his campaign plane had been bugged, causing Nixon to be suspicious about a forthcoming attack on his presidency.
Pentagon Papers
A year into Nixon's presidency, a defense analyst at the Pentagon, Daniel Ellsberg, covertly photocopied portions of a classified report of U.S. activities in Vietnam. The report revealed that the U.S. government had deceived the public about its policies during the Vietnam War. Because of his grievances with the government's deception, Ellsberg leaked the documents in March 1971 to The Times which would publish them later in June. These documents would come to be known as the "Pentagon Papers."
Pentagon Papers, 1971, The Washington Post
"For the military coup d'etat against Ngo Dinh Diem, the U.S. must accept its full share of responsibility...we variously authorized, sanctioned and encouraged the coup efforts of the Vietnamese generals and offered full support for a successor government...We maintained clandestine contact with them throughout the planning and execution of the coup...Thus, as the nine-year rule of Diem came to a bloody end, our complicity in his overthrow heightened our responsibilities and our commitment in an essentially leaderless Vietnam."
~ Excerpt from the Pentagon Paper's document: Evolution of the War. Counterinsurgency: The Overthrow of [South Vietnam President] Ngo Dinh Diem, May-Nov. 1963.
Richard Nixon on the Phone, 1972, Richard Nixon Foundation
The Secret Tapes
In early 1971, two years after his inauguration, Nixon installed a secret taping system throughout the entirety of the Executive Offices, recording all conversations. Nixon hoped that this system would provide a reliable record of his presidency and prevent misinformation.
"BLOW THE SAFE"
Breaking Into Brookings, 1971, University of Virginia
Transcript
President Nixon: Damn it, I asked for that, because I need it. [Unclear]
Henry Kissinger: Yeah, but Bob and I have been trying to put the damn thing together for three years.
Bob Haldeman: We have a basic history of it—constructed on our own—but there is a file on it.
President Nixon: Where?
Bob Haldeman: [Tom Charles] Huston swears to God there's a file on it at Brookings.
Henry Kissinger: I wouldn't be suprised.
President Nixon: All right, all right, you [unclear]—
Bob Haldeman: In the hands of the same kind of—
President Nixon: Bob.
Bob Haldeman: [unclear] the same people.
President Nixon: Bob, now, you remember Huston's plan? Implement it.
Henry Kissinger: But couldn't we go over? Now, Brookings has no right to have classified documents.
President Nixon: [Unclear.] I mean, I want it implemented on a thievery basis. Goddamn it, get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it.
"This was enough to make Nixon paranoid. He flew to the conclusion that they were going to leak his secrets next... Nixon would repeat this illegal order [“Get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it.”] several times over the next few weeks, and take a fateful step to make it happen by creating the Special Investigations Unit, also known as ‘The Plumbers,’... Nixon’s creation of the unit to commit a criminal act was both a felony and an impeachable offense. To fight an imaginary criminal conspiracy, he started a real criminal conspiracy."
~ Ken Hughes, Miller Center Scholar
Richard Nixon, 1972, The New York Times
The CRP
As the 1972 election approached, Nixon wanted to ensure his re-election, creating the Committee for the Re-election of the President, also known as the CRP. The CRP intended to serve as a mechanism to fundraise for President Nixon's campaign and gather information on the Democratic party.
Party Espionage
On January 27, 1972, Attorney General John Mitchell and members of the CRP including John Dean and Gordon Liddy gathered in a meeting where Liddy presented a plan to conduct espionage on the Democratic Party. The CRP hatched a plan to break into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex, implement wiretaps, and conduct electronic surveillance. After several unsuccessful attempts, on May 28th, the CRP was able to place listening devices on the telephones of Democratic officials. A month later on June 17th, five individuals were caught by the Washington Police during a break-in, including James W. McCord, the security chief of the CRP.
G. Gordon Liddy, 1977, The New York Times
The Watergate Complex, 2006, American Lawyer Media
On why Gordon Liddy conducted espionage in such a manner:
"[Liddy] is someone who proves his manliness through his aggression... He was a really damaged individual... It's not good enough for him to get a piece of information. He has to break in some place, and break in safes, and break down doors... His father really berated him when he was growing up... He's trying to prove [his manliness] to everybody around him."
~ Phil Mellinger, Former Federal Agent, Watergate Historian
By: Aydean Bejtovic, Andrew Bogue, Kathir Kalyanaraman, Shreyas Shrestha
Senior Group Website
Student Composed: 1199 Words
Process Paper: 496 Words
Media: 2:50