The Watergate Scandal is an American political espionage case that took place in the Watergate building in Washington, used by the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. The building was robbed on June 17, 1972 by five men who tried to install microphones there for the benefit of the Republican Party. Revealed by two journalists from the Washington Post, the affair triggered a parliamentary inquiry which led to the indictment of very close associates of President Nixon . The latter was forced to resign in 1974. This unprecedented political scandal shook the confidence of Americans in their elected officials and was a first test of the solidity of institutions in the United States.
An America in doubt
Richard Nixon (1913-1994) was elected on November 5, 1968 with one of the smallest majorities in American electoral history, at the height of the protest earthquake of the sixties, in a society deeply divided between the "hawks" (hawks) and the "doves" (loves) who, more numerous, are demanding the withdrawal of the Vietnamese quagmire and the end of a dragging war. A triumphant America thus gave way to an America of doubt, where a new conservatism took hold that would only strengthen over the following decades. Nixon enters the White House promising a “reset in order” of the country, and a reduction in federal spending after the excesses of the Democrats in the name of the “great society”; spokesperson for middle America, he says he listens to a "silent majority" eclipsed until now by the cries of minorities.
Despite a gloomy economic context marked by the 1973 oil crisis and two successive devaluations of the dollar and the accentuation of deep fractures in American society, the protest subsided with the disengagement in Vietnam. The process is slow and much more improvised than Nixon implied - and the war he is waging will ultimately last as long as Johnson's; from 1969, however, the withdrawal began and accelerated after the conclusion of peace negotiations in 1972.
The ceasefire announced in January 1973 did not put a definitive end to the conflict, however, which constituted the first major failure of the United States, whose humiliation will be confirmed during the emergency evacuation of Saigon, which fell into the hands of the North Vietnamese in April 1975. Nixon tried to restore the image of the country internationally through a policy based on pragmatism, which led him in particular to a rapprochement paradoxical with the USSR and with China; Outside and inside, however, the record of one of the most controversial presidents in American history remains starkly mixed.
Nixon, a president out of control
A Californian of modest origins, Nixon has always been driven by an all-consuming ambition and his determination is unfailing. Fervent anti-Communist at the beginning of his career, then vice-president of Eisenhower for eight years, he failed against Kennedy during a first race for the presidency, in 1960. If he lacked the human warmth of such an opponent, he is sometimes harsh and aggressive, and often awkward in front of the media (which he abhors), he is nevertheless a competent politician and a hard-hitting orator, who knows how to take advantage of the troubled situation so that the doors of the White House are open to him. He considerably increases the staff, to the point that some speak of "administrative inflation" under his mandates. It multiplies the presidential aides and agencies beyond the control of Congress, increasingly aware of the dangers of drifting from this "imperial presidency".
Nixon's working methods are particular:he surrounds himself with unscrupulous individuals, frequently isolates himself of his collaborators, maintains a climate of suspicion and encourages checks of all kinds, himself practicing telephone tapping (wiretapping) and having frequent recourse - in the name of "national security" - to the intelligence services. Clandestine activities that will lead to the fall of a president whose mandates are studded with scandals.
As early as June 1971, the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" - despite Nixon's attempted censorship - reveals that public opinion and Congress have been deliberately misled by the government and the Department of Defense, guilty of misinformation in their justification of a massive engagement in Vietnam. This sows confusion and aggravates the bitter regrets of a very large part of Americans vis-à-vis a war perceived as useless. A wound that is still not fully healed today. This first scandal highlights the power and role of the press (which Nixon made his first enemy), those of the New York Times in this case.
The Watergate scandal and the resignation of Nixon
It was then two journalists from the Washington Post (Cari Bernstein and Bob Woodward) who helped bring to light the resounding affair of Watergate, a luxury hotel in central Washington where the Democrats set up headquarters for the 1972 presidential election. Following the discovery of the wiretapping of the building by aides to Nixon, who made the mistake of denying any involvement, an investigation was opened into curious actions of the presidential team.
The case was made public during 1973, and the Americans discovered that the president (whose conduct carries more in addition to attacking the dignity of his functions) perjured himself by proclaiming his innocence for so long. His popularity rating was at its lowest in April 1974, when his indictment via the impeachment procedure had been in progress for several months.
On August 8, 1974, in complete disgrace, Nixon decided to resign and retire from political life. While it already doubted itself, America now doubts its leaders, whose moral authority is deeply questioned. The credibility gap is widening between the president and the population and the successors of Nixon, the republican Gerald Ford (1974-1977) and the democrat Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), will not be able to restore confidence in Washington.
To go further
- The Watergate Scandal:The Case That Took Down Nixon, by Quentin Convard. 50 Minutes, 2015.
- Deep Throat:The True Story of the Watergate Man, by Bob Woodward. Folio, 2007.