Gordon Lucas Robert Heston Kelby Seanor Abigail Jones Angel Rivera Watergate Study Guide May 28 1972 To secure Nixon s re election operatives working for the Committee to Re elect the President CRP burglarize the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC Watergate office complex Their goal was to secure documents that expose the secrets of the Democrats allowing them to use those secrets against the Democrats August 1 1972 25 000 was deposited in the account of one of the burglars and the FBI desires to figure out who paid the money because they believe that whoever paid the burglars organized the break in October 10 1972 The FBI ties the CRP to the Watergate break in November 11 1972 Nixon is re elected in a landslide defeating McGovern January 11 1973 E Howard Hunt one of the burglars pleads guilty and says that no higher ups are involved in any of it This event was incredibly important in the eyes of the American people For example many felt as if Nixon was actively engaging in dirty politics and conspiring with the men in the break in However Nixon claims he was merely thinking out loud This is important because it is now a matter of executive privilege Executive privilege is the executive s right to speak candidly and privately with his aids A breach of executive privilege is a direct breach of the rights of the executive At that point he is no longer allowed to speak and think candidly The example used in class was a hypothetical situation regarding President Bush and 9 11 Of course President Bush would not order a nuclear strike to wipe out the middle east however a breach in executive privilege does not allow the president and his aids to consider all possible options In the case of Watergate Nixon claims he was just running through all possible options about how to handle the situation and was not directly planning to pay the men off This can be backed up because at the end of the conversation he verbally says that This would be wrong March 23 1973 Prior to Judge John Sirica imposing sentences on the convicted burglars James McCord writes a letter to the judge claiming pressure had been applied to the defendants to ensure silence Perjury was committed in the courtroom Sirica makes the letter public and imposes harsh sentences ranging from twenty to forty years to force the defendants cooperation April 17 1973 White House staff will appear before the Senate committee says Nixon who promises major new developments An official White House statement claims Nixon had no prior knowledge of the break in This event is yet another instance where the public loses trust in president Nixon because there is evidence that he may have known previously April 30 1973 Appearing on national television Nixon announces the dismissal of Dean and the resignations of his closest advisors Haldeman and Ehrlichman Attorney General Kleindienst also resigns Elliot Richardson is appointed to replace him This event was also extremely important in the unfolding of the Watergate scandal This is an event where the president exercises his power as the president to fire certain people in office Some even saw this as an abuse of power As a result of the firings the public felt as if he was trying to cover something up Why else would he fire all of those people who seemed to be onto him May 3 1973 According to a Louis Harris poll following the resignations of his key assistants 54 believes the president s credibility has suffered rendering him less effective yet only 42 agree that he does not inspire confidence personally A strong majority believe his own office was deeply involved in the Watergate affair and almost as many 51 believe his action has gone a long way toward restoring public confidence in the integrity of the White House Most are willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt believing that Democrats as well as Republicans engage in dirty politics May 4 1973 President Nixon appoints General Alexander Haig to replace Haldeman as White House chief of staff May 18 1973 Having begun its work a day earlier the Senate Watergate committee now begins televised hearings Richardson announces former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department s special prosecutor June 3 1973 The Post reports that John Dean has told investigators that he discussed the cover up with Nixon at least 35 times June 13 1973 Prosecutors find a memo to Ehrlichman containing detailed plans to burglarize the office of Dr Lewis Fielding Daniel Ellsberg s psychiatrist June 25 1973 Dean testifies before the Senate Watergate committee claiming Nixon was involved in the cover up soon after the break in and that the White House had conducted political espionage for years July 7 1973 Claiming executive privilege Nixon refuses to grant the Senate Watergate committee access to presidential documents He informs Senator Ervin that he will not testify before the committee July 16 1973 Alexander Butterfield a former aide to the president and one of the few who knew about Nixon s tape recorders testifies before the Senate committee and says that there is tape in the Oval Office In doing so he supposed he was confirming what Haldeman had already told the committee This sets off a legal battle between the White House special prosecutor s office Judge Sirica and the Watergate committee July 18 1973 Nixon orders an end to secret taping July 22 1973 A Louis Harris poll shows 44 percent of participants agreeing that Nixon should resign if it can be proven he ordered a cover up with 70 percent rating his handling of the matter as only fair or poor An even 50 percent believe Dean s charges against the president but split 38 percent to 37 percent over whom they would believe if Nixon denied those charges July 23 1973 The Watergate committee and special prosecutor Cox demand Nixon surrender certain tapes and documents July 25 1973 Nixon refuses to surrender the tapes claiming executive privilege July 26 1973 The Senate committee subpoenas White House tapes August 9 1973 Nixon refuses to comply and the Senate committee takes legal action August 15 1973 Nixon addresses the nation for a second time concerning Watergate He explains his claim of executive privilege and why the tapes should not be turned over to the committee The special prosecutor and the Senate committee ask the Supreme Court to decide the issue August 29 1973 Nixon loses his first court battle when Judge Sirica orders him to hand over nine tapes for