Describe the Key Features of the Watergate Scandal in the USA.

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Kome Emuh

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Describe the Key Features of the Watergate Scandal in the USA

On the 17th of June 1972 five men were arrested for trying to break into and bug the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington. When investigating this break in, the police discovered that the five men were all employed by CREEP.

CREEP was a committee established by the Republican Party to campaign for the re-election of President Nixon. They were prepared to go to any lengths to achieve their objectives, even if it meant breaking the law.

There were two journalists, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who worked for the Washington Post newspaper, who got hold of the story. They decided to do a full investigative report into the story.

They discovered that the break in was not the only illegal activity that CREEP had been involved in. CREEP had $350,000 allocated for dirty tricks against the democrats. Moreover, it was being controlled from the White House.

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The election took place in November and Nixon won the biggest landslide in American history. However, Bernstein and Woodward continued their investigations. By May 1973 they had collected enough information to publish their findings. The Senate set up a special committee to find out what had been going on and many of Nixon’s advisers were forced to resign.

Nixon claimed he was innocent and did not know anything had gone on and if it had he did not have anything to do with it. To prove his innocence Nixon hired a private investigator called Archibald Fox, hoping that ...

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