Political Leaders Of The United States Essay example
Political leaders of the United States were once idolized. However, the publishing of the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War made the public wary of their government’s internal motives. In 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, who were linked to President Richard M. Nixon. The public’s opinion of a corrupt government was solidified. Politics and journalism changed forever. The Watergate Scandal led to government reform, an increase in popularity of journalism, and America’s distrust in their government.
On June 17, 1972, five men were captured and arrested in the Democratic National Committee Building (Tracy 8). A bag of bugging equipment and $2,300 in hundred-dollar bills with sequencing serial numbers were confiscated from the thieves (Tracy 8). One of the burglars, James W. McCord, was a security coordinator for the Republican National Committee and a former FBI and CIA agent. McCord was dismissed from duties related to Nixon’s re-election committee the day after the break-in (Tracy 11). Another burglar was Bernard L. Baker, a former CIA operative (Tracy 11). The White House denied all knowledge of the Watergate break-in. John Mitchell, the head of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CREEP), stated to The Washington Post that McCord was “not operating either in our behalf or with our consent” (Woodward).
The Watergate Scandal may not have been the most influential political…