Unterrichtsmaterialien in digitaler und in gedruckter Form. Auszug aus: Worksheet for applied geography: The Watergate scandal

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1 Unterrichtsmaterialien in digitaler und in gedruckter Form Auszug aus: Worksheet for applied geography: The Watergate scandal Das komplette Material finden Sie hier: Download bei School-Scout.de

2 Titel: Worksheet for applied geography The Watergate scandal Bestellnummer: Kurzvorstellung: Inhaltsübersicht: The material informs about the Watergate scandal one of the most spectacular political scandals of the 20 th century and a test of American democracy. These teaching aids present the scandal in five items and simplify its complex structure in order to create access to the topic. It includes tasks to the text and appending solutions. 1.The break-in 3. The suspicion -election 4. The audiotapes Tasks, solutions and sources Internet: info@school-scout.de

3 SCHOOL-SCOUT Applied geography The Watergate scandal Seite 2 von 7 Item 1: The breaking-in In 1968, the Republican Democrat Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States. Between 1953 and 1961, he had been Vice President under President Eisenhower hard times for America. A senseless war in Vietnam divided the Nation and national racial riots caused additional unrest. Nix great mistrust in the political system and in his major opponents, the Democrats. In order to be re-elected in the presidential election of 1972, Nixon founded the CRP (Committee to Re-elect the President). The Watergate complex The CRP ostensibly organiz -election with the help of illegal intrigues. The CRP was responsible for the famous break-in that eventually led to the Watergate scandal: on July 17, 1972, five people were arrested for entering the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex. The burglars had tried to install bugging devices in several bureaus and had attempted to take pictures of secret documents. Shortly afterwards, it became obvious that the burglars had various connections to the White House. President Nixon, as well as CRP director John Mitchell, proclaimed that the CRP had not been involved in the break-in. At this early stage, no one suspected that Nixon himself and some members of his administration ordered the break-in. Until today it is uncertain what motivated Nixon to take such an extraordinarily high risk. Item -election The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein received secret information from whistleblower Deep Throat (a.k.a. Mark Felt, an FBI agent) about the CRP. Deep Throat stated that the CRP invested a part of llegal actions against political opponents. Additionally, the whistleblower informed Woodward and Bernstein about a complex system of spying, burglary, provocation and spreading of false information installed by the Nixon administration. Ni Woodward and Bernstein were unable to deliver any proof for these actions. Nevertheless, they published their suspicions in the Washington Post. As a response, Nixon and his confidants blamed the Washington Post for supporting the Democrats to fight a vile and defamatory election campaign. Despite all suspicions against his integrity, Nixon was re-elected on November 7, 1972.

4 SCHOOL-SCOUT Applied geography The Watergate scandal Seite 3 von 7 Item 3: The suspicion George McGovern, the Nixon administration tried to ruin the Washington Post financially. In the trial against the five burglars, a judge criticized that neither witnesses nor the authorities seemed to be trustworthy. He suspected that the White House had made some efforts to prevent research about the break-in. Eventually, all five men pleaded guilty and received hush money by the CRP in exchange for remaining silent. In February 1973, the Senate created the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, in order to conduct further investigations on the Watergate Scandal. Additionally, the electronics expert McCord who had been involved in the Watergate break-in decided to cooperate with the court. On April 17, 1973, Nixon announced that he intended to continue investigating. On April 30, the President demanded the resignations of his closest confidants (Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlicher and John Dean). In doing so, he hoped to keep himself out of the affair. Item 4: the audiotapes The 5 burglars in court On May 17, the Watergate Committee began its investigations. One of the witnesses, John Dean, declared that Nixon had known about the CRP activities even before his re-election. Furthermore, Dean revealed that the President had ordered to cover up the Watergate affair. Later on it became obvious that Nixon had tried to bribe Dean into keeping quiet. assistant Alexander Butterfield, it was exposed that Nixon had ordered to wiretap the White House. After these news, the Watergate scandal seemed even more like a spy thriller. The investigators expected to find on the audiotapes. Item Initially, Nixon refused delivery of the audiotapes, stressing his right to privacy. In October, the Supreme Court decided that Presidential Immunity could not be guaranteed anymore in this special case. In the following so-called Saturday-Night-Massacre on October 20th, Nixon fired investigators and inferiors who refused to support his cover-up attempts. After this Saturday, the President decided to hand over the tapes. However, parts of the tapes approval ratings hit a record low. In order to anticipate an almost certain conviction in the Senate, Nixon resigned on August 9th, 1974.

5 Unterrichtsmaterialien in digitaler und in gedruckter Form Auszug aus: Worksheet for applied geography: The Watergate scandal Das komplette Material finden Sie hier: Download bei School-Scout.de