50 years ago, the United States saw a transformative scandal within the Executive branch. The break in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters located inside the Watergate Complex, spurred a rush of investigations and the eventual resignation of President Nixon. Now, the National Archives has digitized various records from United States v. Liddy, the trial regarding Watergate, for everyone to view.
What is Watergate?
On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters inside the Watergate Hotel. Of the five men, one was a security coordinator for President Nixon's reelection committee. Once that connection was made, more individuals who had a connection to the White House were shown to have been involved. In February 1973, the Senate established a committee to investigate the 1972 election.
The committee found out about some White House tapes, and ordered them to be released, but President Nixon refused. After various attempts to not hand over the tapes, President Nixon released them. This eventually led the House Judiciary Committee to begin hearings on articles of impeachment including:
- "obstructing the Watergate investigation"
- "misuse of power and violating his oath of office"
- "failure to comply with house subpoenas"
The Aftermath
In 1974, President Nixon resigned after two years of the Watergate scandal. President Gerald Ford took office the same day.
The Watergate scandal was "called the greatest political scandal of the twentieth century." Most importantly, it "caused many to lose faith in government and drove Americans to demand greater transparency in politics." There was a variety of legislation passed to create a more transparent government as a response. These include:
- Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972
- "Ensures the public has knowledge of and an opportunity to participate in meetings between Federal agencies and groups"
- Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976
- "Meetings of Government Agencies shall be open to the public and for other purposes"
- Ethics in Government Act of 1978
- "Mandatory disclosure of financial, and employment history of public officials"
- Presidential Records Act of 1978
- "Changes the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public"
The Digitized Records
The Watergate Special Prosecution Force also has records that can be viewed. Patrons can contact Special Access and FOIA on their availability. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum has a Watergate Evidence Exhibit that outlines the entire scandal from conspiracy thinking to why Watergate mattered.
OSU Resources & Relevance
Oklahoma State University has an interesting tie with President Nixon and the Watergate scandal. On May 11, 1974, President Nixon flew to Stillwater, OK to deliver the commencement speech at graduation that year, around three months before he resigned as President. This commencement speech was one of his last ones in office. The OSU Library Archives has a collection from this speech available to be requested here.
The OSU Library has a few resources concerning Watergate including:
Learn more about the FBI's involvement in Watergate.
The Gerald R. Ford Library & Museum has a large overview of the Watergate scandal.
The National Archives also has access to various unsealed materials from U.S. v. Liddy.
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Eager to know more? Start here.
Government Information Online is produced by the staff at the Oklahoma State University Libraries Government Documents Department, a regional depository for U.S. Government and Oklahoma state government documents. We are located on the 5th floor of the Edmon Low Library. Our department website can be reached at www.info.library.okstate.edu/government-documents. For more information or for research assistance, contact us at 405.744.6546. or email suzanne.reinman@okstate.edu.
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