Watergate why did they break in

It ultimately took a unanimous Supreme Court ruling following the independent counsel's securing of a subpoena against the president to force their release. They contained what became known as the "smoking gun" recording , in which Haldeman and Nixon, days after the break-in, discuss using the CIA to hamper the FBI's investigative efforts.

Within days of the public learning of the smoking gun tape, Nixon resigned from the presidency. The minutes are believed to include a conversation between Nixon and Haldeman about the Watergate arrests. Rose Mary Woods, Nixon's secretary, claimed that she accidentally erased the portion, but when she was asked to demonstrate how exactly that would have happened, the circumstance was so physically implausible that most discounted that explanation.

Most plausible, according to Drew, is Ehrlichman's allegation that Nixon personally erased the tapes, presumably because they contained discussion of a cover-up. In recent decades, as more and more tapes were made available to the public, journalists, and scholars by the National Archives, non-Watergate revelations about the Nixon presidency emerged. Nixon's anti-Semitism is on full display in the tapes, for example, and they also confirm Nixon and Henry Kissinger's support for the genocide being conducted by Pakistan's military government against Bangladesh in the latter's war for independence.

Most recently, a tape of Nixon discussing panda sex garnered some attention. The fight for the tapes was mainly conducted between the Nixon administration and the independent counsel in the Justice Department appointed to investigate the Watergate break-in. The first such counsel was Archibald Cox , a former solicitor general from the Kennedy administration and a Harvard law professor.

Cox subpoenaed the tapes, and the White House refused to comply, offering instead the "Stennis Compromise" : John Stennis, a conservative Democratic senator from Mississippi, could listen to the tapes and verify they matched transcripts released by the White House.

But Stennis was notoriously hard of hearing , and Cox would not agree to the deal. What happened next was arguably one of the most brazen abuses of presidential power in American history. Nixon ordered his attorney general, Eliot Richardson, to fire Cox.

Richardson refused, resigning instead. The new acting attorney general, William Ruckelshaus, refused as well, and resigned. The office of special prosecutor was abolished, and the investigation was sent back to the Justice Department proper. The reaction to the events was furious.

They continue:. The newspapers carried banner headlines. Within two days, , telegrams had arrived in the capital, the largest concentrated volume in the history of Western Union.

Deans of the most prestigious law schools in the country demanded that Congress commence an impeachment inquiry. By the following Tuesday, forty-four separate Watergate-related bills had been introduced in the House. Twenty-two called for an impeachment investigation. The reaction forced Nixon to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski , who would eventually succeed in his quest for the tapes.

The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon. It's worth remembering that Nixon was never actually impeached or convicted.

Impeachment the equivalent of an indictment in a normal trial would have required a majority vote of the House, and removal from office a supermajority vote of the Senate. Nixon resigned before either could occur. That said, there was no question the votes were there to impeach him, and quite likely to remove him from office as well.

The first article approved by the House committee charged him with "engag[ing] personally and through his close subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation of [the Watergate break in]; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible; and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities.

The second article charged him with a variety of abuses, including attempting to use the IRS to investigate political enemies, using the FBI to do illegal surveillance, overseeing the break-in to Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, and allowing the plumbers to work in the White House in general. The third article concerned his failure to comply with subpoenas from Cox, Jaworski, and the Senate Watergate Committee. The first article was approved on July 27, , very shortly before Nixon resigned, which rendered the impeachment process moot.

More than a dozen White House officials and co-conspirators were charged with crimes relating to the Watergate scandal:. Nixon was never prosecuted for his role in the scandal due to a blanket pardon granted by his former vice president, Gerald Ford, shortly after Ford assumed the presidency.

Naftali for his extensive help and additional details. In addition, journalist Elizabeth Drew wrote in with additions after publication, including noting that the votes were likely there for impeachment and removal, and that Ehrlichman believed the gap in the tapes was caused by Nixon himself erasing them.

We thank her for her extensive assistance. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. At a. When he found a door taped open, he called the DC police.

It was just before 2 a. The log revealed a strange, and somewhat humorous, scene. At p. Post ID walked in to lobby door breaking glass. He was not hurt. Reported it to maintenance. The pair identified McCord as a "salaried security coordinator for President Nixon's reelection committee. Howard Hunt, the former CIA officer who would eventually be convicted for the burglary and serve 33 months in prison. According to the Bureau's critique of its own investigation:.

Nixon: Nothing loses an election; nothing changes it that much. And you look at this damn thing now—it's going to be forgotten [unclear]. In the short term, Nixon and Colson were right. Nixon won his reelection campaign over George McGovern in a landslide. Chapter 2: The cover-up. The date was June 17, and there was talk of a break-in. But it was a full year before the Watergate burglary of As Haldeman and Kissinger discuss the files, Nixon interrupts to say he wants them taken "on a thievery basis.

Viewers across the nation are glued to their television screens on June 17, , watching as a fleet of black-and-white police cars pursues a white Ford Bronco along Interstate in Los Angeles, California. On June 17, , the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrives in New York Harbor after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in individual pieces packed in more than cases.

The copper and iron On June 17, , President Franklin D. Truman and politely asks him not to make inquiries about a defense plant in Pasco, Washington. World War II was in full swing in and Truman was chairing Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. General George Crook was in command of one of three columns of soldiers The Soviet Union orders an entire armored division of its troops into East Berlin to crush a rebellion by East German workers and antigovernment protesters.

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