Summary Of The Watergate Scandal: United States Vs. Nixon

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United States vs. Nixon was a case brought to the Supreme Court in 1974, questioning whether or not President Nixon was involved in the Watergate Scandal. The Supreme Court declared he was not above the law and required him to hand over tapes they believe had evidence on the event. President Nixon, instead of handing over the tapes, resigned and his Vice President, Gerald Ford was signed into office. The case of United States versus Nixon was important in that it reaffirmed checks and balances and defined the powers of Executive Privilege.
The Watergate Scandal eventually led to President Nixon’s resignation from office. Before his re-election, a group aptly coined CREEP, illegally broke into the Democratic National Committee office to steal information to use in the upcoming election. Nixon tried to cover up the incident by denying his involvement in the crime. His top aides, including his Vice President Spiro Agnew, resigned to avoid giving anything away that would connect Nixon to the Watergate Scandal. The only piece of evidence seemed to be Nixon’s recordings of all conversations had by him in the White House; however, Nixon refused to give up the tapes, claiming Executive Privilege. Soon, …show more content…

President Nixon claimed Executive Privilege to stop the Supreme Court from obtaining the tapes that would convict Nixon of being a conspirator to the Watergate Scandal. Nixon claimed the president of the United States has a right to keep things a secret from the general public. The Supreme Court concluded that Nixon did not have that right in this matter as it was a purely selfish reason and was not for the better of any person other than himself, forcing Nixon to hand over the tapes. This helped define the President's power when regarding Executive Privilege- there must be a reason that the president is withholding the information and it must be to benefit citizens of the United

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