1042 ★ CHAPTER 26 The Triumph of Conservatism
No one knows precisely what the Watergate burglars were looking for
(perhaps they intended to install listening devices), and the botched rob-
bery played little role in the 1972 presidential campaign. But in 1973, Judge
John J. Sirica, before whom the burglars were tried, determined to find out who
had sponsored the break- in. A pair of Washington Post journalists began publish-
ing investigative stories that made it clear that persons close to the president
had ordered the burglary and then tried to “cover up” White House involve-
ment. Congressional hearings followed that revealed a wider pattern of wiretap-
ping, break- ins, and attempts to sabotage political opposition. When it became
known that Nixon had made tape recordings of conversations in his office,
Archibald Cox, a special prosecutor the president had reluctantly appointed to
investigate the Watergate affair, demanded copies. In October 1973, Nixon pro-
posed to allow Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi to review the tapes, rather
than release them. When Cox refused, Nixon fired him, whereupon Attorney
General Elliot Richardson resigned in protest. These events, known as the Sat-
urday Night Massacre, further undermined Nixon’s standing. The Supreme
Court unanimously ordered Nixon to provide the tapes— a decision that reaf-
firmed the principle that the president is not above the law.
Nixon’s Fall
Week after week, revelations about the scandal unfolded. By mid- 1974, it had
become clear that whether or not Nixon knew in advance of the Watergate
break- in, he had become involved immediately afterward in authorizing pay-
ments to the burglars to remain silent or commit perjury, and he had ordered
the FBI to halt its investigation of the crime. In August 1974, the House Judi-
ciary Committee voted to recommend that Nixon be impeached for conspiracy
to obstruct justice. His political support having evaporated, Nixon became the
only president in history to resign.
Nixon’s presidency remains a classic example of the abuse of political
power. In 1973, his vice president, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned after revelations
that he had accepted bribes from construction firms while serving as gover-
nor of Maryland. Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell, and White House
aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, were convicted of obstruction of
justice in the Watergate affair and went to jail. As for the president, he insisted
that he had done nothing wrong— or at any rate, that previous presidents had
also been guilty of lying and illegality.
Although it hardly excused his behavior, Nixon had a point. His departure
from office was followed by Senate hearings headed by Frank Church of Idaho
that laid bare a history of abusive actions that involved every administration
since the beginning of the Cold War. In violation of the law, the FBI had spied