Watergate Scandal

27/11/2013

The Watergate case was a political scandal, between The Democratic Party and the Republican one. It all began, in the 17th of June of 1972 when five men were arrested being accused of breaking-in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. They got caught going through files and trying to plant listening devices. . A security guard at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C, discovered a piece of tape on the lock of the door that led to the National Democratic Headquarters. The purpose of those men was to tarnish the reputation of the Democratic candidates being subject to negative campaign ads,

As soon as it became known, president Richard Nixon ordered the entire affair covered up. It was clear that the Nixon Presidency had been part of many manipulation and abuses of power for many years.  Much of money from Nixon supporters was used to cover it up with the objective of hiding the truth.

In the early stages of the Watergate scandal almost of the media reported the break-in as a minor story with little national significance. This was until Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two young reporters who were working for the Washington Post began to dig deeper into the mystery.

As some testimony revealed that there was a taping system that was installed to record conversations in the Oval Office, Camp David, the Cabinet rooms, and Nixon's hideaway office. Nixon affirmed that the tapes were only about private conversations between the president and his advisors. However, The Supreme Court did not agree and ordered the president to release the tapes. Nixon refused at first but he finally agreed it. These tapes were released in the 1970s and contained 18 minutes of silence that have never been explained.