WATERGATE SCANDAL

In book Mightier than the Sword, chapter thirteen entitled Watergate Forces the President to His Knees explores the journalist aspect of the infamous Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Scandal was during Richard Nixon’s presidency and involved a break in of five people into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. The funds used for this act were linked to the Committee to Re-elect the President and recordings of Nixon on tape were found of him stating ways to cover the burglary up. All of this information was thoroughly investigated by members of the Washington Post by the names of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They had help along the way but, there were also plenty of people that tried to put them down; however, their persistence never quit. (Above are mugshots of the five burglars)



I chose this chapter because I felt it was necessary to cover an important aspect of journalism, investigative reporting. It is one thing to report what you see and it is another to uncover important new information through exploration. In my opinion it is the best part of journalism because you get to find out information that will help “solve the mystery” so to speak. This can be exhilarating to uncover pieces of the event to complete a story and also takes the role of a journalist one step further.

I. More than a Third-Rate Burglary

• Five men were caught with two devices that were able to pick up any conversation, lock picks, door jimmies and about $2,300 in cash but, oddly enough all of the bills were in sequence by serial number.
• Ron Ziegler, the Press Secretary, degraded this bit of information calling it nothing more than a “third-party burglary.”
• The Post takes charge and beings to investigate. The two reporters on duty go by the names of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein better known as “Woodstein.”
• Woodward attended the arraignment of the burglary and during the trail James McCord, one of the defendants, triggered a thought in Woodward’s head; he stated his occupation, three simple letters… CIA.

II. Flushing out the Evidence

• The first piece of evidence was found in two of the burglars address books. Woodstein discovered that both burglars had E. Howard Hunt with initials W.H. indicating he was linked to the White House.
• As the investigation progressed Woodstein exposed the fact that the burglars were paid with money correlated to the Nixon re-election campaign. This then linked to President Nixon who actually sent out spies and abused his power in office to keep this all confidential.  (That's a picture of "Woodstein" above!)

III. Pushing the Limits of Investigative Reporting

• Bernstein suggested that they hang up the phone and knock on the door. The two began locating the addresses of staff members working for the Committee for the Re-election of the President; however, came face-to-face with more doors then people.
• Woodward turns to a good friend that goes by the name Deep Throat who didn’t release any information; however, he verified any statements that Woodstein came up with and deterred them from any false leads.
• A fact I found very interesting is Deep Throat was able to hide his identity for over three decades! He exposed his real name at ninety-one years old which was W. Mark Felt and was the second highest official in the FBI. There’s definitely no wonder as to why he ranked second.

IV. Going It Alone

• While other newsgroups remained in the shadows because of the complexity of this story the Washington Post did exactly what every journalist should admire: stand tall even if you stand alone! They firmly believed that they were about to uncover something very remarkable and important to society; so, they did what every journalist should do, stay confident and block out any discrimination.

V. Standing Firm

• Ben Bradlee was the executive editor and Katharine Graham was the publisher behind all the mayhem of the Watergate Scandal.
• As the investigators consistently pried for more and more answers President Nixon grew angry and clearly nervous. Nixon threatened to shut down television stations in Florida owned by the Post and tried other tactics to shut them up; however, it was simply a waste of time. They were getting a reaction that they anticipated.
• Woodstein makes their first big, no wait, HUGE mistake! They leaked out misinformation stating that Haldeman was authorized to approve payments from the fund and admitted this in front of the grand jury. The information is correct right up to the point where it was admitted in front of the grand jury because it was not.
• This was the perfect chance for everyone from Nixon to fellow newsgroups to completely bash the post and hit them with every shot possible.
• This sub chapter ends with a quote that your really going to love, get ready for this one: “’don’t get the impression that you’ve aroused my anger;’ Nixon told the reporters. ‘One can only be angry with those he respects.’” Clearly Nixon was getting a bit warm under the collar.

VI. The Press Joins Forces with the Other Estates

• The Post couldn’t do this alone. They had plenty of help from official sources as well.
• The five burglars and their two bosses were all indicted and Nixon was charged with obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress for defying committee subpoenas.

VII. The White House Collapses

• The tapes were manually erased and critics began to accuse Nixon of destroying evidence.
• Haldeman and Ehrlichman resigned in April.

VIII. Reporters as All-American Heroes

• Nixon and his crew maliciously tried to skew the election and nearly ruined the face of the Democratic Party with their actions.
• Woodward and Bernstein are portrayed as heroes for their non-stop effort and professionalism for their jobs as journalists. They became famous and soon very wealthy through pay raises and publishing books about the scandal. Also for their actions the Washington Post also won a Pulitzer Prize for meritorious public service.