"The most important reason for the Watergate affair developing into a scandal was the televised hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee" How far do you agree? What is a scandal?

Write your definition so you are very clear. Decide your conclusion What do I know about the Watergate story? (use page 102 for the timeline) When did the burglars break into the Watergate building? Who were the burglars? What were they trying to steal? What happened BEFORE they went on trial? Who did Hunt and Liddy work for? (Dates, details) What was the role of the Washington Post at this point? Were people very interested? Nixon won the 1972 very comfortably. Did anyone believe he was involved in the Watergate burglary at this point? WAS THERE A SCANDAL AT THIS POINT? (November 1972) January 1973, Hunt and Liddy were charged with what? Was there a scandal at this point? March 1973, what did James McCord's letter say? Did this mean that there was a scandal now? In May 1973, the televised hearings of the Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities began. What was the committee investigating? Who was John Dean and what did he say? WAS THIS THE POINT WHEN THE AFFAIR BECAME A SCANDAL? There were recordings of meetings with Nixon and various officials in the White House. What did the Supreme Court do? What evidence was played on the tapes on 24th July 1974? WAS THIS THE POINT WHEN THE AFFAIR BECAME A SCANDAL, OR WAS IT EARLIER? STRUCTURING THE ESSAY Introduction. Define a scandal. Explain that there are 3 events where the Watergate Affair developed into a scandal: the testimony of James McCord, the televised hearings and the Watergate recordings. Section One: Agree with the title POINT: Arguably, the televised hearings were an important/a very important/the critical point at which the Affair became a scandal. Evidence/Explain: The American public were shocked and many of them watched the meetings. This means that the affair was a scandal because of the fact that the public were now fully aware that there was a lot of corruption at the top. A second example is...... This means that the affair became a scandal because..... Section Two: Disagree with the title POINT: Arguably, the televised hearings were a not a very important/not the critical point at which the Affair became a scandal. Evidence/Explain CONCLUSION: How far do you agree with the title and why?/n/n102 NIXON AND WATERGATE EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE 'EXPLETIVE DELETED' This phrase was used so many times in the scripts of the Watergate recordings that the public were shocked about so much bad language being used. Protestors outside the White House made fun of the president by holding up signs that read 'Impeach the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!' EXAM-STYLE QUESTION A01 SKILLS A02 PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING, DECISION MAKING, ADAPTIVE LEARNING, INNOVATION CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE USA, 1945-74 The fact that Nixon would not allow access to the recordings themselves, and the discovery that some of the scripts had been cut, led the Senate to consider impeaching Nixon. Finally, on 24 July, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to supply all the recordings. When they were played, there was sufficient evidence on them to show that Nixon had blocked the initial investigation of the Watergate break-in, abused his power and failed to obey the laws requiring him to allow access to evidence. Then, on 5 August, the 'smoking gun' was revealed - a recording from 23 June 1972 which revealed that Nixon had tried to stop the FBI investigating the break-in at the Watergate complex. This proved that he had tried to cover up Watergate from the very beginning. On 9 August, before he could be impeached, Nixon resigned. 'The most important reason the Watergate affair developed into a scandal was the televised hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee.' How far do you agree? Explain your answer. You may use the following in your answer: the televised hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee the Watergate recordings. You must also use information of your own. HINT You will need to read this whole section on Watergate so you can select a variety of reasons to write about in your answer. You then need to weigh up each reason to decide whether the televised hearings were the most important one. ▼ Figure 5.2 Timeline of the Watergate Scandal 17 June 1971 5 people arrested at 2:30 a.m. for the Watergate break-in 19 June 1972 The Washington Post reports links between the burglars and CREEP. John Mitchell denies this 1 August 1972 The Washington Post reports that a cheque given to CREEP was paid to one of the Watergate burglars 30 August 1972 Nixon announces that John Dean has investigated the break-in and no White House staff were involved 15 September 1972 The five burglars, plus Hunt and Liddy, are charged with conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping 11 November 1972 Nixon wins Presidential election 8-30 January 1973 Trial for the Watergate break-in 7 February 1973 Senate creates Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities 19 March 1973 James McCord writes to the trial judge claiming White House staff had told the burglars to lie during the trial 23 April 1973 Nixon denies advance knowledge of break-in 30 April 1973 Nixon dismisses Dean and Haldeman, Ehrlichman resigns (16 marks) 17 May 1973 Senate Committee hearings begin 25 June 1973 John Dean first testifies. He says Nixon was involved in the cover-up days after the break-in happened 7 July 1973 Nixon says he won't testify or grant access to files 16 July 1973 White House taping system is revealed 23 July 1973 Senate Committee demands the White House tapes and documents are handed over 25 July 1973 Nixon refuses 9 August 1973 Senate Committee begins a law suit against Nixon for failing to hand over the tapes and documents 23 October 1973 Nixon hands over some edited transcripts of the tapes 21 November 1973 A gap of nearly 20 minutes on a transcript of a conversation between Nixon and Haldeman on 20 June 1972 is discovered 6 February 1974 House of Representatives officially allows investigations on whether to impeach Nixon 24 July 1974 Supreme Court unanimously orders Nixon to release all the tapes and documents 27-30 July 1974 Investigations decide that Nixon can be impeached 5 August 1974 Final tapes are released. 23 June 1972 tape provides the 'smoking gun' 9 August 1974 Nixon resigns, Gerald Ford becomes President