Watergate: Nixon's Downfall

1. How were the "plumbers" connected to President Nixon?
The plumbers were basically a special investigation team that was created during Nixon's presidency. The job of the "plumbers" was to stop information from being leaked to the press and they were tied up in Watergate.



2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out maximum sentences?
John Sirica was the judge and he handed out maximum sentences because he believed that the men did not act alone, as well as the thought that the sentences could be reduced and people would give in to talking.
3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to Nixon?
Dean was a former white house counsel and he provided the first evidence of testimony that Nixon was heavily involved in the scandal. John Mitchell was the former attorney general of President Nixon.

4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected to Nixon?
Haldeman was the White House chief of Staff of President Nixon, and Erlichman was the domestic chief advisor of President Nixon and that is how they were connected.

5. What did the following men tell the Senate about Nixon?

a. Dean- "Nixon had been deeply involved in the cover-up"

b. Butterfield- Butterfield told the senate that Nixon taped all of his presidential conversations. He said the system was called, "to help Nixon write his memoirs."

6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the "massacre"?
Richardson refused the order of firing Cox and as a result he was forced to resign and or fired.

7. Why weren't investigators satisified with the transcripts? The investigators were not satisfied because they wanted the unedited tapes but Nixon refused to hand them over.

8. What did the tapes reveal? The tapes revealed that there was enough evidence to impeach president Richard Nixon. The committee approved three articles of impeachment including obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress for refusing to give up the tapes.

9. Why did Vice President Spiro Agnew resign? Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned because it was revealed that he had accepted bribes from engineering firms while governor of Maryland.

10. What did the House Judiciary Committee charge President Nixon with?
The committee charged Nixon with three articles of impeachment including obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress for refusing to give up the tapes.

11. How did the Watergate scandal create a constitutional crisis?
The Watergate scandal created a constitutional crisis because the American public and the media developed a general cynicism about public officials and made people lose a lot of trust in the government.