The greatest Gate that nixed Nixon
IT WAS the ultimate political scandal that
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brought down American President Richard Nixon – and ever since, hundreds of public sensations from footie to celebs have been dubbed “…gate”. Now G Gordon Liddy, the US undercover agent who masterminded “Watergate”, has died aged 90.
But what exactly was the
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scandal and how did it end up with Nixon resigning in disgrace? Here JAMES MOORE digs up the dirt to reveal everything you need to know…
What was Watergate?
It started with a bungled break-in at the Democratic Party HQ in the Watergate office building in Washington DC on June 17, 1972. Five men were arrested with bugging equipment and an FBI investigation linked them to former CIA agent E Howard Hunt, part of a committee to re-elect Republican president Nixon for a second term. Who were the journalists who helped uncover it?
Investigative reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, from the Washington Post, connected the burglary to Nixon’s administration. They were helped by a mysterious contact nicknamed Deep Throat, who was later identified as FBI associate director Mark Felt. He told them to “follow the money”, which revealed a cash trail that eventually led back to the White House.
How was Liddy involved?
Former FBI agent George Liddy was found to have engineered the operation and was jailed for 20 years. However, he only served four after his sentence was commuted. Later a talk-show host, he showed no remorse saying: “I’d do it again for my president.” Hunt and the burglars pleaded guilty, but exsecret agent James Mccord accused the White House of pressuring him to lie. Nixon’s lawyer John Dean agreed to co-operate with investigators and, as the scandal unravelled, presidential aides HR Haldeman and John Ehrlichman quit.
How was Nixon involved?
At first the President, re-elected in
November 1972, denied any part in the affair, saying there would be “no whitewash at the White House”. But Senate hearings revealed the existence of his own secret Oval Office tapes. Nixon refused to release them, insisting “I’m not a crook”. Eventually forced to give them up, they revealed he’d been part of a cover-up involving hush money for the burglars and ordering the CIA to impede the FBI’S investigations. What happened him next?
With impeachment looming, Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974, becoming the only US President to do so. Nixon was succeeded by vice-president Gerald Ford, who pardoned him, but 48 other officials were found guilty. In a 1977 to interview with British TV star David Frost, Nixon said: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” But he did apologise to the American public. Nixon died, aged 81, in 1994.
Is there a film about Watergate?
The dramatic 1976 Oscar-winning movie All The President’s Men stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein, as they uncover the Watergate plot.
What other there been?
Lots. There was the meat contamination scandal known as Horsegate in 2013, and Nipplegate in 2004, when Janet Jackson exposed her breast at the Super Bowl. The 2019 social media row between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy was dubbed Wag-gate… and there have been many more.
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