Watergate

Richard Nixon may have won the election in November 1972 with an overwhelming majority, but only weeks into his second term, the Watergate scandal escalated as growing evidence of an elaborate coverup became public. Besides the ever-active Washington Post, the New York Times and other newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, provided new accusations that the White House, and possibly the president, was involved in the sordid affair. Feeling the pressure, Nixon came to the conclusion that he had to do something drastic. On April 30, 1973, he announced the resignation of his two closest lieutenants, Bob Haldeman and John Erlichman. John Dean also packed his bags, as did the similarly tainted attorney general, Richard Kleindienst. Although tearfully communicating on television that letting the “Germans” go was one of the most difficult things he had ever done, Nixon had carefully planned his course, convinced that throwing his closest advisors to the wolves was the best way to take the heat off himself. An anonymous aide commented that “[f]or Nixon … the shortest distance between two points is over four corpses.”353 Declaring sanctimoniously that he would “do everything in [his] power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice,”354 only served to further raise suspicion that the president was somehow involved.