Nixon and The Watergate Scandal - Part 1

The cartoon criticizes the use of government power to wiretap and investigate citizens during Nixon’s presidency. The cartoon depicts American privacy in the form of a man being wrapped and bugged by the U.S. American privacy is drawn as trapped and enclosed by the overextension of governmental power. The cartoon relates to the confession of the Civil Service Commission in which it investigated around 10 million anti-war Americans.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-history/crook.html

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-history/images/s03488u-th.jpg

After the U.S. continued to be heavily involved in the Vietnam War which began in 1955, continuous opposition from Americans plagued the country. While Nixon pledged to implement his policy of Vietnamization and lessen involvement in Vietnam, the release of the Pentagon Papers greatly ruined the reputation and honesty of previous presidents. The Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. was much more involved in Vietnam than was previously told to the public. The release caused controversy surrounding presidential integrity while simultaneously causing Nixon to become more worried about his reputation and the confidentiality of the government.
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB359/

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After the release of the Pentagon Papers which took the entire country by surprise, Nixon was extremely worried that his secretive actions would be released to the public as well. Attempting to protect his reputation and eliminate opponents, Nixon created the White House Plumbers, a covert White House Special Investigations Unit established on July 24, 1971. The Plumbers had to prevent leaks of classified information to the public. While working for CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the President), the members became involved in illegal activities which greatly damaged the reputation of the government when the actions were exposed. The Plumbers are demonstrated in the political cartoon as it shows Nixon’s “scepter” being a plunger with the words “Plumbers friend” below it to describe the close relations between Nixon and the Plumbers. The plunger features the “seal” of the U.S. to show how Nixon utilized them for his own gain.
https://crooksandliars.com/2017/02/now-its-watergate

https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/post_medium/images/17/02/plumbers.jpg

After a failed attempt to utilize wiretaps in May, five men returned to the Watergate hotel on July 17. They attempted again at the Democratic National Convention to wiretap telephones of major people in the Democratic party. Previously, a security guard noticed that the doors were taped and unlatched so he removed the tape; however, the security guard noticed that the doors were retaped and was immediately more suspicious. The men responsible were caught and arrested after the security guard called the police.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/cartoon.html

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Paul Conrad was likely the first cartoonist to accuse Nixon of being involved in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. It was published on June 18th of 1972, one day after the break-in. At the time, few people accused Nixon of being involved; however, Paul Conrad drew a cartoon of Nixon lying and claiming he was from the phone company to gain information about the secret information of the Democratic National Convention.
http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/watergate-cartoons/

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As the campaign for the presidential election moved forward in 1972, multiple reports started to surface which included several violations against regulations for campaigns. These accusations and reports were based off of suspicious content in reports of the Republican Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Many found their actions and reports highly controversial and demanded for some kind of investigation to seek out any sort of malpractice or corruption. The cartoon shows how Nixon’s administration is assuring that there is nothing wrong, despite the fact that the rest of his men look like crooks.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-history/crook.html

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-history/images/s03470u-th.jpg

In a Washington Post article on October 10, 1972, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (infamous reporters for Watergate during the time) detailed the investigations of the FBI. Although the investigation was still underway, the article accused Nixon aides of sabotaging Democrats. The article described illicit funding and covert activities. The descriptions of corrupt actions exposed in articles by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward directly connected to the Nixon administration. As a result, citizens grew increasingly cynical and suspicious of the government.
https://lewinskygate.wordpress.com/journalism-evolves-coverage/

https://lewinskygate.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/aides-sabotage.png?w=317&h=445

In the presidential election of 1972, Nixon won by a large margin against George McGovern. Nixon won due to his “Southern Strategy” which appealed to whites who promoted segregation. Nixon’s appeal convinced whites that he would not allow for the progression of the civil rights movement. McGovern was unable to appeal to the people as he won only one state while Nixon won the other 49. The Southern strategy was successful in its attempt to target conservative Democrats who previously supported the segregationist George Wallace.
http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?nixon_and_watergate_tmln_other=nixon_and_watergate_tmln_nixon_election_victories&timeline=nixon_and_watergate_tmln

http://cdn.historycommons.org/images/events/Nytimes1972electionpage_answers_2050081722-21593.jpg

In a Washington Post article written by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, they reported that a formal Presidential counsel by the name of John W. Dean III claimed that Nixon was aware of payments made to Watergate conspirators to buy their silence. Dean was seen as an important figure during the time of the Watergate scandal and followed orders to cover up the incident. He also claimed that he had a conversation with Nixon discussing the amount of money paid to silence defendants
https://lewinskygate.wordpress.com/journalism-evolves-coverage/

https://lewinskygate.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/cover-up.png

The cartoon depicts the room of the White House being overwhelmed with water as Nixon attempts to cling onto a table. The cartoon was published in the Washington Post in 1973 in relation to the televised hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on the Watergate scandal. The cartoon shows how Nixon was being overwhelmed by the problems that derived from his involvement in Watergate.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-history/crook.html
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