Tell me what Watergate was like. Indulge me.

[DrWeird]

You see, I'm just a kid. I don't know much more about it than what I learned in public school, DC Follies episodes, and old Johnny Carson bits.

So I don't know much.

I remember it was the topic of much discussion in this forum about nine months ago. People who could remember it said that the story was developing for about a year. There were hints of shadows of rumors of corruption, and a constant drip...

drip...

drip....

drip...

of information. And after awhile people started coming forward. The media started asking questions. And before anybody knew it the whole thing had snowballed into the biggest scandal in US history which resulted in a corrupt president sticking his tail between his legs and running away.


Could you tell me that story again? It's one of my favorites.

[deminflorida]

1. Ask this guy, he can tell you all about it....

[Democrats unite]

5. OMG! you have just ruined my eyesight for life!

[NashVegas]

12. EEEEEEWWWWW!

That's offensive.

[ozymandius]

16. I'm blind. Thanks. I'm blind.

[Lizz612]

2. Me too!

It my favorite, too! Happened years before I was born! Tell it again tell it again!

[Faygo Kid]

3. Can spell "Indulge," here. Maybe best to check this another time.

Glad you are asking, but methinks you might want to check back on another evening.

[DrWeird]

8. Fixed.

Man, everybody pronounces "En..."

Anywho, reading everything that's going on I felt the topic was somehow...appropriate.

[Jacobin]

13. Ah yes, back in the days when the press considered itself

"the watchdog of government"....quaint phrase, doncha think? It was actually what the press thought their job was!!! Not to be propaganda machines for RWers but to investigate (YES, actually do investigate!!) government wrongdoing!!! Can you imagine that??

Sorry, can't go on. Reminds me too much of a time when things could actually be righted and corrupt governments could be brought down.

[Faygo Kid]

21. I am with you. You are 100% right.

The media is a joke; ratings, Sean Hannity, Janet Jackson. Some of us remember history, though. Damn, I am getting pissed. Not a good idea, to get me pissed. ABB.

[Atman]

4. You got it, sonny.

Nixon even managed to get reelected while it was beginning to ooze out. But it is most amazing in the context of that long-ago time. An era you've never known...in a land where there were only three television stations.

Nowadays, we take it for granted that a twenty-four news station or CSPAN will be covering hearings, but back then, EVERYTHING was pre-empted for hearings. Every restaurant you went into, every mom and pop shoe store, everywhere you went, fuzzy black and white teevees playing endless Watergate hearings. I was just a teenager myself, but I remember it vividly. It was surreal.

But nothing as surreal as today's situation...high crimes in the WH and a media who doesn't seemt to WANT to cover it. *sigh*.

[blondeatlast]

9. Today, they would ignore Watergate, too.

I really believe this, as shocking as it seems. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"--remember they showed the war dead and wounded, too?

It was a time when the people really, truly, had power; I know, it does sound like a fairy tale.

[HootieMcBoob]

33. I remember it too

I wasn't quite a teenager, more like 12 but I remember seeing the hearings on TV. They were on when I would come home from school. I watched them everyday. I also remember the '72 election. That was when I first became politically active, so to speak. I was an 11 year McGovern supporter. Of course the Dems had control of the house and the senate back then. Different times indeed.

[blondeatlast]

6. Read "All the President's Men" (the movie leaves out a lot).

It reads like a great political thriller and it has all the meat.

I was only about 13-14 when it happened, but damn, I knew it would shake things up. Mom & Pop were dyed in the wool Dems and so I watched the hearings with them.

[hlthe2b]

14. Yeah, I was early teens too. My Dad was a "quiet" Repub and my Mom

probably a closet DEM (she agreed with my Dad officially).

I remember the interminable hearings because my Mom was hooked. She was tickled by old Sam Ervin and had a crush (I'm pretty sure)on Senator Howard Baker....

But, I agree: Read ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN first, then think about some of the documentaries that are available from the period to see the real players. There were some wild ones, too. My favorite was the wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, Martha, whose mouth got her (and all the Nixon cronies) in some major trouble... Here's a bit of "Martha":

The Mitchells were a popular Washington couple who were always entertaining or being entertained. Martha was the picture of Southern femininity in ruffled dresses, bows, big hair, and hats. John Mitchell seemed to adore his wife and was amused by her big mouth and love of gossip. When he was chosen by Richard Nixon to run his 1968 presidential campaign, Mitchell warned Nixon that Martha was vociferous and had a tendency to over-dramatize, but Nixon told him not to worry about it. After the election, John Mitchell became Nixon’s attorney general, and Martha became a national figure, entertaining the public with her quick wit and flamboyant sense of style.


Things began to fall apart for Martha when the Watergate scandal exploded in October, 1972. The Washington Post reported that her husband, John, had authorized $250,000 to pay for bail and to hush up the Watergate burglars. Martha was apoplectic, believing the White house was using her husband as a scapegoat to protect Richard Nixon. Martha called Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two young reporters at the Post, to make her case that John was nothing but a puppet being manipulated by Nixon. Then she began to call other reporters, sometimes in the middle of the night. John Mitchell knew of his wife’s shenanigans, and at first defended her, accusing the press of exploiting a naïve Southern girl. Soon Nixon was on his case, however, and John reportedly went so far as to lock Martha in a closet to keep her from phoning the press.


White House tapes reveal that Nixon, while angry at Martha, didn’t feel there was much he could do to control her. The White House did, however, leak information on Martha’s alleged drinking problem. A great strain had been put on the Mitchell marriage, and by 1973, John Mitchell had had it with his unstable wife. He walked out of their Washington apartment, refusing to speak to Martha except through his lawyer. The breakup was exceedingly bitter; when Mitchell was sentenced for his Watergate crimes in February 1975, he said, “It could have been worse. They could have sentenced me to spend the rest of my life with Martha Mitchell.”


She ended up quite the tragic figure in all of this, though, dying alone of cancer some years later...
http://sc.essortment.com/watergatescande_rays.htm

[blondeatlast]

19. She was a hoot who told the truth! That's the kinda Southern

lady I knew of; my grandma was, and my mom is, feisty like that!

She was an awesome woman. Period, regardless of party affiliation.

[aquart]

26. We watched the hearings gavel to gavel.

That was when "at this point in time" came redundantly into the language. John Dean said it. "Twist slowly, slowly in the wind" was another you might have heard two or three hundred times. My impression is Ehrlichman was reported to have said it.

But Nixon might have skated if he hadn't had himself taped. Lordy, when Butterfield dropped that bomb. Huge "HUH?" all over the nation.

Then the battle to reveal the contents of those tapes.....

You know what I remember most about Watergate? How slowly it went. How frustrated I felt. How hard it was to get the truth.

This is unraveling MUCH faster.

[KG]

7. 2 reporters for a major paper were given the go ahead to pursue the leads.

no such thing is even remotely happening to the chimp.

thank goodness for the net, or nobody would be hearing anything but puff pieces about the moron.

[blondeatlast]

10. The press had a spine back then; no one would dare call them biased then.

[aquart]

27. Oh, please.

Getting coverage of Watergate was painfully slow. At the end, the NYT and WP were duking it out, but in the beginning?

The press stood mute as Nixon's CREEPs (Committee to RE-Elect the President)sabotaged and subverted an election. Afterwards, when they confessed, we knew what they'd done....were the press asleep? Or did they just think it was cute?

But we did indeed wind up believing in the press as our heroes, and as the guardians and true protectors of our rights and freedoms. More fools we.

[HereSince1628]

32. Yes, Nixon DID GET RE-ELECTED it took a long time

for things to get hot.

I was in the Army stationed at a Military Intelligence station in northern Virginia...things didn't really go in the shit-can until the Saturday night massacre...the night Nixon fired a series of cabinet level aids who refused to fire the special prosecuter...

If we follow the Nixon model GW's atrocity of lying the nation into an un-necessary would result in his resignation a least a year from now.

Watergate was a long drawn-out affair. It was NOT exciting, it was long periods of seemingly aimlessness punctuated by painful revelations.

In the end it was things like the incongruous excuse that missing minutes of tape were caused by a secretary spread eagled between her telephone and the erase control pedal on her dictaphone to finally break everyone's ability to fool themselves.

[Hamlette]

36. that's my memory too..."why isn't anyone paying attention to this!"

I was in law school at the time, we sounded just like this board. We couldn't believe, week after week the WP was printing stories but no one picked them up. (At first I remember thinking "don't both parties spy on each other? Planting bugs in Dem headquarters isn't the issue." I thought it was taking away from the real issue: the war.)

Then the WP started its attack. I had great respect for Bradley and Graham, and of course, Woodward and Bernstein. The only one I still respect is Graham but then, maybe its 'cause she died before she could sell out like Bradley did. (In all honestly I haven't heard much from Bernstein since it happened. He could still be a good guy for all I know.)

If you don't have time to read the book, see the movie. It's a classic. I watch it every few years.

My dad was a repug. I'll never forget the morning we read about the tape that proved Nixon knew. We read the paper in an airport in England as he was putting me on a plane to fly home after spending the summer with them in Scotland. He read the article and was very quiet. I said: "Now don't you think its time for him to resign." All he said was: "yes." (The Reagan really put him over the edge, turned him into a Dem. But that's another story, had to do with Reagan being such a war monger.)

[TacticalPeek]

37. Speaking of that,

I understand that a few months back, Bob Woodward stood up for Walter Pincus at the WaPo, helping "unspike" a atory critical of the admin.

A faint echo from the past.

[Minstrel Boy]

43. based on anonymous sources contradicting official denials

Would that be published in today's Washington Post, even though it's edited by Bob Woodward?




Thirty years after the Watergate break-in, The Washington Post wouldn't run the kinds of stories that helped to bring down a president if the same thing happened today, journalist Greg Palast says.

...

Palast said The Post's former managing editor, Ben Bradlee, was the real hero of Watergate journalism because he kept reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the story, even though their reports were based on anonymous sources contradicting the official denials of wrongdoing from the Richard Nixon White House.

Today, Palast said, assistant Post managing editor Woodward probably would refuse to run that kind of a story. Palast detects a tendency to avoid criticism of the commander-in-chief in today's wartime environment.
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=166&row=1

[NashVegas]

11. From One Kid to Another

I was 10 years old in the summer of 1974 when the hearings were carried on live TV. I had no *real* idea of what was going on, just that Nixon was being investigated. The hearings were boring to watch for a kid, but they were the only thing on, and they were certainly serious. That was the main thing. There was an undercurrent of people getting down to business. Next thing I knew, Agnew was gone, and then Nixon resigned.

[Ivote]

17. I Concur

It's really about true investigative reporting, and a few people that finally came forward with the truth. Deepthroat is still a mystery.
Allthough a lot of people have their own ideas as to who it is.

[morningglory]

15. Every day there was an incredible headline. Just like these days

there is an incredible revelation daily on the internet about the fraud, and it is frustrating now that it has not been getting out in the regular press, however that seems to be changing. Now it will be fun, fun, fun. Back then, you could wake up and there would be a headline that Nixon had fired the special prosecutor, then a big wig would resign with statements made. The press was allowed to follow Nixon around and hound him. Imagine that happening to the chimp*. One day near the end Nixon was walking behind his press secretary and he got so aggravated that he shoved the PS and almost knocked him down. Would that be a blast? Seeing the head monkey shove Ari Fleischer or this new toadie down in the road? We are insulated today from seeing Rove have to answer for his crimes, but back then... what fun! They went down like bowling pins. Nixon would hold long press conferences, his entire head glistening with flop sweat and say things like: "I am not a crook." His re-election campaign was named (by his own people) CREEP, the Committee to Re-elect the President. He would set up Kennedy-esque walks on the beach, photo-ops, in which he would wear wing-tipped shoes on the beach. We the people would be hee-hawing on our sofas that night. It was a fine comeuppance for a career criminal. --Edited to add that meanwhile 50,000 of our boys had been dying in Viet Nam. Just imagine that.

[DemMother]

18. Ah, the memories

My dad had just retired and was addicted to the hearings. I was in college and had a TV that could muster only a faint black and white picture. When Nixon announced the Saturday night massacre, my mother called and wanted us all to clear out of the country. She figured that was it. My roommates and I listened to the reports on our failing, shadowy TV, which made it seem even weirder.

I lived in Berkeley when Nixon finally resigned and there was literally dancing in the streets. As much as I disliked Nixon and wanted him gone--I'd worked for RFK as a teenager, travelled to three states to work for McGovern and voted for the first time in that election--I can say I never had the same visceral emotion toward him that I feel toward Bush.

Watergate was slow to unfold, very dramatic and very satisfying once it got rolling. But I do remember during the McGovern campaign feeling frustrated that the larger public didn't seem to be getting it (I'm a little hazy, but I remember some information being out there). Much like now--although I sense a change in the air.

A hopeful awakening...

[blondeatlast]

20. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

Happy to have a Berkley-ite here!

[Solomon]

22. I was college age and a political science major to boot.

It was an incredibly exciting time. Well, for us people who didn't like Nixon anyway. It started in a way as if some obscure political burglary had occurred that had nothing to do with the white house. Then it seemed like everyday, somebody higher up was being implicated. Big headlines and news stories everyday. Reporters were all over it after a while.

The big big riveting stuff was they actually published transcripts of Nixon's conversations in the white house. Can you imagine that? I couldn't wait for the paper everyday. The term "expletive deleted" entered the lexicon, as Nixon swore so much, that they had to continually use the term in the transcipts. Didn't take long though, before the books came out with the real language in them.

The public was shocked.

The biggest thing I think about when I think about those days was how very different the political perception of the people were. We were still very naive. I mean, the Kennedy, and King assasinations really shook us up, but we still had no public proof of any government conspiracy. We still trusted fully in anything our government told us. I think that's what Watergate did. In a way it was proof that government could no longer be trusted to tell the truth. American changed after that.

Republicans never got over it, and part of the Clinton persecution was related to getting back for Watergate.

[MuseRider]

24. I was in college too

and you are right, we were naive. Watergate and simply the times changed it all for me. Nam was horrific, the assasinations (as you said) shook us up. It was almost a daily treat to read the paper and watch these crooks go down one by one. No, America has never been the same. Thankfully there are still a lot of skeptics out there. I am crossing my fingers that we will survive this band of crooks as well because if we don't this is our last chance.

[mac56]

40. Agreed.

I was a senior in high school, plenty politically aware. It was a mere trickle at first but near the end, the revelations were coming out fast and furious.

I fully agree that part of the Clinton persecution was related to this. The Repugs dearly wanted to get out of the 20th century with a Republican FDR and a Democratic Watergate. They thought they had their FDR with Reagan and their Watergate with Monica.

[DrBB]

23. Nixon WON reelection

That's the first thing to remember. The reports started during the election campaign, but didn't stop him from getting back into office.

Second thing to remember? In spite of that, HE RESIGNED. I remember the day it happened. Like a miracle. But he was a Repuke, and we had a Democratic congress.

Third thing to remember: as P K Dick so eloquently and prophetically put it, "The Empire Never Ended." A lot of the same players are back, and they've learned a few things from their experiences since then.

Never give up, but never think you've got these guys beat, either.

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. The summer of the Watergate hearings

I was stuck at home recovering from knee surgery.

The hearings became like a soap opera. It was quiet the drama. AG John Mitchell couldn't remember whether or not he took a shit the day before. Halderman and Co were falling on their swords for the President. Then John Dean testified and started to tell the truth. He had kept extremely detailed notes, with exact dates, places and names for meetings and talks. Then the bombshell hit. Someone (I don't remember the man's name) who worked on WH security (?) testified that Nixon had set up an audio tape system in the Oval Office. This system recorded everything that had gone on in the office for years. The uproar in the hearing room was incredible. That was the moment of no return for Nixon.

The night that Nixon resigned I was at a CSN&Y concert in NJ. They sang Ohio while Nixon read his resignation speech. One of life's better moments, I must say.

[aquart]

29. Butterfield. An offhand remark by Butterfield changed the case.

Changed the outcome.

[mac56]

41. I remember the day that hit.

I was working as a dishwasher in a greasy spoon restaurant. Went home at lunchtime for a break, turned on the TV, and it was like a bomb had gone off. An amazing revelation.

[Liberal Christian]

30. The Nixon tapes

Then the bombshell hit. Someone (I don't remember the man's name) who worked on WH security (?) testified that Nixon had set up an audio tape system in the Oval Office.

It was a guy named Butterfield, some obscure ex-staffer.

[July]

42. John Dean has a book coming out soon,

and the title is "Worse Than Watergate." He's been highly critical of the Bush administration in his columns at findlaw.com.

[ironflange]

28. Here's the worst thing about Watergate

Since then, any sort of scandal gets -gate stuck on the end. Contra-gate, Whitewater-gate, Monica-gate, you know, etc etc etc. I'm sick of it! How long till Janet-gate or Nipple-gate? Ack!

[aquart]

31. It's called backforming. Like cheeseburger.

[Skittles]

34. I remember when I was 17

the TV was on, two of my brothers were arguing about a baseball game and I was yelling THE F***ING PRESIDENT IS RESIGNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[Zo Zig]

35. Read

Hunter S. Thompson, he loved Tricky Dick. His account is the most whacked out of any that I have read. He wanted Nixon carved up into six pieces and buried with a SS agent on guard 24/7 so the bastard couldn't rise from the dead. Drugs, they do a body good!

[Bridget Burke]

39. Speaking of Hunter S. Thompson,

which I will do at the drop of a hat, he's now covering sports for ESPN. His latest column is about the Superbowl and ends thus:

"The football season is finally over and good riddance.

"The hottest sporting event for 2004 is clearly the Presidential election. That will be Big, very Big, and I will be on it like a shark on fresh meat. But that is another story, and we don't have time for it now.....

"Next week, we will discuss the book of Revelation and what it means to John Ashcroft. Okay, that's it for now."

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/thompson/040203.html

[Laughing Mirror]

38. Watergate was kept in the news

To keep us distracted from the real crimes we were committing as revealed in the Pentagon Papers, the illegal immoral war, the secret bombing of Cambodia, overthrowing the Allende government in Chile, supporting the dirty war in Argentina ... the list was and is endless.

The burglary of Democratic campaign headquarters at Watergate took a long time to take over the media because it took a while to figure out how the story could best be exploited.

Anybody who grows up in DC knows practicaly intuitively that crimes and misdemeanors are an everday affair of our governments--ALL of our governments. What came as a surprise to a lot of us was not that Watergate happened, it was that such a big deal was made out of it.

But then, when we realized how Watergate was being used to cover up the really smelly doo doo, the obsession with Watergate at the New York Times and the Washington Post, and on all three networks 24 hours a day, became quite obvious.

[Jose Diablo]

44. It was...intense n/t

[randr]

45. As the investigation, which was televised live,

proceeded we were privy to a daily exposure of information that made it clear that Nixon and cronies were common criminals. The facts that emerged quieted even the most ardent supporter of Nixon as it was becoming apparent he was a man of no redeeming character surrounded by even lesser ass kissers. The best part was that each day we were watching our system work. The final act of seeing Nixon whisked away in disgrace was one of proudest moments in our nations history.