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137-529: The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon which began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign breaking into and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at
274-560: A special prosecutor for Watergate in May. Cox obtained a subpoena for the tapes, but Nixon continued to resist. In the " Saturday Night Massacre " in October, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox, after which Richardson resigned, as did his deputy William Ruckelshaus ; Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out the order. The incident bolstered a growing public belief that Nixon had something to hide, but he continued to defend his innocence and said he
411-602: A broader nationalist message. His election accelerated the Republican Party's shift towards right-wing populism and resulted in decreasing influence among its conservative factions. After the 2016 elections , Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate , the House , and governorships , and wielded newly acquired executive power with Trump's election. The Republican Party controlled 69 of 99 state legislative chambers in 2017,
548-571: A conversation taped on June 23 between the President and his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman , in which Nixon asked, "Who was the asshole that did that?" However, Nixon subsequently ordered Haldeman to have the CIA block the FBI's investigation into the source of the funding for the burglary. A few days later, Nixon's press secretary, Ron Ziegler , described the event as "a third-rate burglary attempt". On August 29, at
685-509: A crook." He needed to allow Bork to appoint a new special prosecutor; Bork, with Nixon's approval, chose Leon Jaworski to continue the investigation. On March 1, 1974, a grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted several former aides of Nixon, who became known as the " Watergate Seven "— H. R. Haldeman , John Ehrlichman , John N. Mitchell , Charles Colson , Gordon C. Strachan , Robert Mardian , and Kenneth Parkinson —for conspiring to hinder
822-402: A distinguished public servant, my personal friend for 20 years, with no personal involvement whatever in this matter has been a close personal and professional associate of some of those who are involved in this case, he and I both felt that it was also necessary to name a new Attorney General. The Counsel to the President , John Dean, has also resigned. On the same day, April 30, Nixon appointed
959-544: A large majority of the Democratic Party's upper and middle-class support. McKinley defeated Bryan and returned the presidency to Republican control until the 1912 presidential election . The 1896 realignment cemented the Republicans as the party of big businesses while president Theodore Roosevelt added more small business support by his embrace of trust busting . He handpicked his successor William Howard Taft in
1096-522: A large sum of money, which he declined. The President announced the resignations in an address to the American people: Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my Presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates in the White House, Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know. [...] Because Attorney General Kleindienst, though
1233-564: A new attorney general, Elliot Richardson , and gave him authority to designate a special counsel for the Watergate investigation who would be independent of the regular Justice Department hierarchy. In May 1973, Richardson named Archibald Cox to the position. On February 7, 1973, the United States Senate voted 77-to-0 to approve 93 S.Res. 60 and establish a select committee to investigate Watergate, with Sam Ervin named chairman
1370-508: A news conference, Nixon stated that Dean had conducted a thorough investigation of the incident, when Dean had actually not conducted any investigations at all. Nixon furthermore said, "I can say categorically that ... no one in the White House staff, no one in this Administration, presently employed, was involved in this very bizarre incident." On September 15, Nixon congratulated Dean, saying, "The way you've handled it, it seems to me, has been very skillful, because you—putting your fingers in
1507-418: A number of Republicans and conservative thought leaders questioning whether Trump should continue as the party's main figurehead and leader. Despite this, Trump easily won the nomination to be the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . Trump achieved a decisive victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris , winning every swing state and the popular vote, while the Republicans held
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#17328374518251644-530: A reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending . The Tea Party movement was also described as a popular constitutional movement composed of a mixture of libertarian , right-wing populist , and conservative activism. The Tea Party movement's electoral success began with Scott Brown 's upset win in the January Senate special election in Massachusetts ;
1781-415: A second "burglary" to take care of the situation. Sometime after midnight on Saturday, June 17, 1972, Watergate Complex security guard Frank Wills noticed tape covering the latches on some of the complex's doors leading from the underground parking garage to several offices, which allowed the doors to close but stay unlocked. He removed the tape, believing it was not in itself suspicious. When he returned
1918-527: A secret Republican fund used to finance intelligence-gathering against the Democrats. On October 10, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post reported that the FBI had determined that the Watergate break-in was part of a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of the Nixon re-election committee. Despite these revelations, Nixon's campaign was never seriously jeopardized; on November 7,
2055-406: A series of articles about the financial dealings of Charles "Bebe" Rebozo , a friend of Nixon. The administration and its supporters accused the media of making "wild accusations", putting too much emphasis on the story and of having a liberal bias against the administration. Nixon said in a May 1974 interview with supporter Baruch Korff that if he had followed the liberal policies that he thought
2192-482: A short time later and discovered that someone had re-taped the locks, he called the police. Police dispatched an unmarked police car with three plainclothes officers, Sgt. Paul W. Leeper, Officer John B. Barrett, and Officer Carl M. Shoffler, who were working the overnight shift; they were often referred to as the "bum squad" because they often dressed undercover as hippies and were on the lookout for drug deals and other street crimes. Alfred Baldwin, on " spotter " duty at
2329-518: A source they called " Deep Throat " (later identified as Mark Felt , associate director of the FBI ) and uncovered a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donor contributions. Nixon dismissed the accusations as political smears, and he won the election in a landslide in November. Further investigation and revelations from the burglars' trial led
2466-520: A treaty annexing Hawaii before Cleveland could be inaugurated. Most Republicans supported the proposed annexation, but Cleveland opposed it. In the 1896 presidential election , Republican William McKinley 's platform supported the gold standard and high tariffs, having been the creator and namesake for the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Though having been divided on the issue prior to that year's National Convention , McKinley decided to heavily favor
2603-634: A veteran crime reporter of the New York Daily News , tracked Mitchell to the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, and described Mitchell as "a beaten woman" with visible bruises. Mitchell reported that, during the week following the Watergate burglary, she had been held captive in a hotel in California, and that security guard Steve King ended her call to Thomas by pulling the phone cord from
2740-412: A way that was least likely to incriminate him and his presidency. Nixon created a new conspiracy—to effect a cover-up of the cover-up—which began in late March 1973 and became fully formed in May and June 1973, operating until his presidency ended on August 9, 1974." On March 23, 1973, Judge Sirica read the court a letter from Watergate burglar James McCord , who alleged that perjury had been committed in
2877-471: A wider web of crimes than the FBI first disclosed. All the secret meetings between Woodward and Felt took place at an underground parking garage in Rosslyn over a period from June 1972 to January 1973. Prior to resigning from the FBI on June 22, 1973, Felt also anonymously planted leaks about Watergate with Time magazine , The Washington Daily News and other publications. During this early period, most of
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#17328374518253014-547: A winner at the end of election day. Voter suppression in the South gave Republican-controlled returning officers enough of a reason to declare that fraud, intimidation and violence had soiled the states' results. They proceeded to throw out enough Democratic votes for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to be declared the winner. Democrats refused to accept the results and the Electoral Commission made up of members of Congress
3151-475: The 1980 United States presidential election . The Reagan presidency , lasting from 1981 to 1989, constituted what is known as " the Reagan Revolution ". It was seen as a fundamental shift from the stagflation of the 1970s, with the introduction of Reagan's economic policies intended to cut taxes, prioritize government deregulation and shift funding from the domestic sphere into the military to check
3288-466: The 2022 elections confident and with analysts predicting a red wave , but it ultimately underperformed expectations, with voters in swing states and competitive districts joining Democrats in rejecting candidates who had been endorsed by Trump or who had denied the results of the 2020 election. The party won control of the House with a narrow majority, but lost the Senate and several state legislative majorities and governorships. The results led to
3425-534: The Coinage Act of 1873 , as a solution to the depressed American economy in the aftermath of that year's panic . Ahead of the 1880 presidential election , both James G. Blaine and opponent John Sherman failed to win the Republican nomination; each then backed James A. Garfield for president. Garfield won the 1880 presidential election, but was assassinated early in his term . His death helped create support for
3562-619: The Court of International Trade by the time he left office, shifting the court system to the right . Other notable achievements during his presidency included the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017; the creation of the U.S. Space Force , the first new independent military service since 1947; and the brokering of the Abraham Accords , a series of normalization agreements between Israel and various Arab states . The second half of his term
3699-561: The Howard Johnson's hotel across the street, was distracted watching the film Attack of the Puppet People on TV and did not observe the arrival of the police car in front of the Watergate building, nor did he see the plainclothes officers investigating the DNC's sixth floor suite of 29 offices. By the time Baldwin finally noticed unusual activity on the sixth floor and radioed the burglars, it
3836-534: The Iraq War . In the 2008 presidential election , Arizona Republican senator John McCain was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator Barack Obama . The Republicans experienced electoral success in the 2010 elections . The 2010 elections coincided with the ascendancy of the Tea Party movement , an anti-Obama protest movement of fiscal conservatives . Members of the movement called for lower taxes , and for
3973-635: The Kansas–Nebraska Act , which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to slavery and future admission as slave states. They denounced the expansion of slavery as a great evil, but did not call for complete abolition , including in the Southern states. While opposition to the expansion of slavery was the most consequential founding principle of the party, like
4110-696: The Old Executive Office Building . On Monday, July 16, in front of a live, televised audience, chief minority counsel Fred Thompson asked Butterfield whether he was "aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president". Butterfield's revelation of the taping system transformed the Watergate investigation. Cox immediately subpoenaed the tapes, as did the Senate, but Nixon refused to release them, citing his executive privilege as president, and ordered Cox to drop his subpoena. Cox refused. On October 20, 1973, after Cox,
4247-523: The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act , which was passed in 1883; the bill was signed into law by Republican president Chester A. Arthur , who succeeded Garfield. In 1884, Blaine won the Republican presidential nomination, but lost the general election to Democrat Grover Cleveland . Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected president since James Buchanan. Dissident Republicans, known as Mugwumps , had defected from Blaine due to
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4384-461: The Pew Research Center found that social conservatives and free market advocates remained the other two main groups within the party's coalition of support, with all three being roughly equal in number. However, libertarians and libertarian-leaning conservatives increasingly found fault with what they saw as Republicans' restricting of vital civil liberties while corporate welfare and
4521-593: The President was re-elected in one of the biggest landslides in American political history. The connection between the break-in and the re-election committee was highlighted by media coverage—in particular, investigative coverage by The Washington Post , Time , and The New York Times . The coverage dramatically increased publicity and consequent political and legal repercussions. Relying heavily upon anonymous sources , Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered information suggesting that knowledge of
4658-563: The Second New Deal , saying it represented class warfare and socialism . Roosevelt was easily re-elected president in 1936 ; however, as his second term began, the economy declined , strikes soared, and he failed to take control of the Supreme Court and purge the Southern conservatives from the Democratic Party. Republicans made a major comeback in the 1938 House elections . Southern conservatives joined with most Republicans to form
4795-550: The Senate to establish a special Watergate Committee and the House of Representatives to grant its Judiciary Committee expanded authority in February 1973. The burglars received lengthy prison sentences that they were told would be reduced if they co-operated, which began a flood of testimony from witnesses. In April, Nixon appeared on television to deny wrongdoing on his part and to announce
4932-799: The Soviet Union by utilizing deterrence theory . During a visit to then- West Berlin in June 1987, he addressed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during a speech at the Berlin Wall , demanding that he " Tear down this wall! ". The remark was later seen as influential in the fall of the wall in 1989, and was retroactively seen as a defining achievement. The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 . Following Reagan's presidency, Republican presidential candidates frequently claimed to share Reagan's views and aimed to portray themselves and their policies as heirs to his legacy. Reagan's vice president, George H. W. Bush , won
5069-546: The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —which banned slavery, except as punishment for a crime—was ratified in 1865. Following the assassination of Lincoln , Johnson ascended to the presidency. Johnson was vitriolic in his criticisms of the Radical Republicans during a national tour ahead of the 1866 elections . Anti-Johnson Republicans won a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress following
5206-757: The Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. , on June 17, 1972, and Nixon's later attempts to hide his administration's involvement. Following the arrest of the burglars, both the press and the Department of Justice connected the money found on those involved to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the fundraising arm of Nixon's campaign. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward , journalists from The Washington Post , pursued leads provided by
5343-505: The White House quickly went to work to cover up the crime and any evidence that might have damaged the president and his reelection. On September 15, 1972, a grand jury indicted the five office burglars, as well as Hunt and Liddy, for conspiracy, burglary, and violation of federal wiretapping laws. The burglars were tried by a jury, with Judge John Sirica officiating, and pled guilty or were convicted on January 30, 1973. Within hours of
5480-619: The World Trade Organization . Bush lost his re-election bid in 1992 . While there is debate about whether Perot's candidacy cost Bush re-election, Charlie Cook asserted that Perot's messaging carried weight with Republican and conservative voters. In the 1994 elections , the Republican Party, led by House minority whip Newt Gingrich , who campaigned on the " Contract with America ", won majorities in both chambers of Congress, gained 12 governorships, and regained control of 20 state legislatures . The Republican Party won control of
5617-504: The conservative coalition , which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964. By the time of World War II , both parties split on foreign policy issues, with the anti-war isolationists dominant in the Republican Party and the interventionists dominant in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt won a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944 . Conservatives abolished most of the New Deal during
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5754-589: The large-scale corruption present in the Grant administration , with the emerging Stalwart faction defending Grant and the spoils system , and the Half-Breeds advocating reform of the civil service . Republicans who opposed Grant branched off to form the Liberal Republican Party , nominating Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential election . The Democratic Party attempted to capitalize on this divide in
5891-579: The planter class became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln , the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War , thereby preserving
6028-515: The 1908 election , but they became enemies as the party split down the middle. Taft defeated Roosevelt for the 1912 nomination . Roosevelt ran on the ticket of his new Progressive Party . He called for social reforms , many of which were later championed by New Deal Democrats in the 1930s. He lost and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP, they found they did not agree with the new conservative economic thinking , leading to an ideological shift to
6165-411: The 1960s era of civil rights legislation, enacted by Democrats, the South became more reliably Republican, and Richard Nixon carried 49 states in the 1972 election , with what he touted as his " silent majority ". The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics, bringing together advocates of free-market economics, social conservatives , and Cold War foreign policy hawks under
6302-477: The Democrats, whom they saw as the party of bloated, secular, and liberal government. This period saw the rise of "pro-government conservatives"—a core part of the Bush's base—a considerable group of the Republicans who advocated for increased government spending and greater regulations covering both the economy and people's personal lives, as well as for an activist and interventionist foreign policy. Survey groups such as
6439-492: The FBI to halt its investigation. On the verge of being impeached, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, becoming the only U.S. president to do so. In all 48 people were found guilty of Watergate-related crimes, but Nixon was pardoned by his vice president and successor Gerald Ford on September 8. Public response to the Watergate disclosures had electoral ramifications: the Republican Party lost four seats in
6576-556: The GOP and he proved unable to shift the party to a more moderate position. Historians cite the 1964 presidential election and its respective National Convention as a significant shift, which saw the conservative wing, helmed by Arizona senator Barry Goldwater , battle liberal New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and his eponymous Rockefeller Republican faction for the nomination. With Goldwater poised to win, Rockefeller, urged to mobilize his liberal faction, retorted, "You're looking at it, buddy. I'm all that's left." Following
6713-406: The GOP by co-nominating Greeley under their party banner. Greeley's positions proved inconsistent with the Liberal Republican Party that nominated him, with Greeley supporting high tariffs despite the party's opposition. Grant was easily re-elected. The 1876 presidential election saw a contentious conclusion as both parties claimed victory despite three southern states not officially declaring
6850-579: The GOP cooperated with Truman's Cold War foreign policy, funded the Marshall Plan and supported NATO , despite the continued isolationism of the Old Right. Eisenhower had defeated conservative leader senator Robert A. Taft for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination , but conservatives dominated the domestic policies of the Eisenhower administration . Voters liked Eisenhower much more than they liked
6987-520: The House and retook control of the Senate, thus delivering a Republican trifecta . Trump significantly improved his vote share among almost all demographics nationwide, particularly among Hispanic voters, in a working class coalition described as the most racially diverse for a Republican presidential candidate in decades. As of 2024, the GOP holds a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives . It also holds 27 state governorships , 28 state legislatures , and 23 state government trifectas . Six of
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#17328374518257124-499: The House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years , and won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South for the first time since Reconstruction. However, most voters had not heard of the Contract and the Republican victory was attributed to traditional mid-term anti-incumbent voting and Republicans becoming the majority party in the South for the first time since Reconstruction, winning many former Southern Democrats . Gingrich
7261-462: The Howard Johnson's motel across the street from the Watergate complex. Room 419 was booked in the name of McCord's company. At the behest of Liddy and Hunt, McCord and his team of burglars prepared for their first Watergate break-in, which began on May 28. Two phones inside the DNC headquarters offices were said to have been wiretapped . One was Robert Spencer Oliver 's phone. At the time, Oliver
7398-464: The President (CRP) and former aide to John Ehrlichman , presented a campaign intelligence plan to CRP's acting chairman Jeb Stuart Magruder , Attorney General John Mitchell , and Presidential Counsel John Dean . The plot involved extensive illegal activities against the Democratic Party . According to Dean, this marked "the opening scene of the worst political scandal of the twentieth century and
7535-522: The Republican House's legislative agenda if he were to serve as speaker. Illinois representative Dennis Hastert was promoted to speaker in Livingston's place, serving in that position until 2007. Republican George W. Bush won the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections . He campaigned as a " compassionate conservative " in 2000, wanting to better appeal to immigrants and minority voters. The goal
7672-421: The Republican Party lost seven seats in the House , but still retained control of that chamber. However, Republicans were unable to gain control of the Senate , continuing their minority status with a net loss of two seats. In the aftermath of the loss, some prominent Republicans spoke out against their own party. A 2012 election post-mortem by the Republican Party concluded that the party needed to do more on
7809-618: The Republican Party had greatly shifted towards illiberalism following the election of Trump, and research conducted by the V-Dem Institute concluded that the party was more similar to Europe's most right-wing parties such as Law and Justice in Poland or Fidesz in Hungary. In 2022 and 2023, Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump proved decisive in landmark decisions on gun rights , abortion , and affirmative action . The party went into
7946-401: The Republican Party's first National Convention in 1856 , the party adopted a national platform emphasizing opposition to the expansion of slavery into the free territories. Although Republican nominee John C. Frémont lost that year's presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan , Buchanan managed to win only four of the fourteen northern states. Despite the loss of the presidency and
8083-855: The Republican banner. Since 2009, the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and has shifted towards right-wing populism . In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from rural voters , evangelical Christians , men , senior citizens , and voters without college degrees . On economic issues, the party has maintained a pro-business attitude since its inception. It supports low taxes and deregulation while opposing socialism , labor unions and single-payer healthcare . The populist faction supports economic protectionism , including tariffs . On social issues, it advocates for restricting abortion , discouraging and often prohibiting recreational drug use , promoting gun ownership and easing gun restrictions , and opposing transgender rights . In foreign policy,
8220-497: The Republicans lost five seats, though whether it was due to poor messaging or Clinton's popularity providing a coattail effect is debated. Gingrich was ousted from party power due to the performance, ultimately deciding to resign from Congress altogether. For a short time afterward, it appeared Louisiana representative Bob Livingston would become his successor; Livingston, however, stepped down from consideration and resigned from Congress after damaging reports of affairs threatened
8357-494: The Republicans struck a deal with Clinton on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 , which included tax cuts, the Republican House majority had difficulty convening on a new agenda ahead of the 1998 elections . During the ongoing impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, Gingrich decided to make Clinton's misconduct the party message heading into the elections, believing it would add to their majority. The strategy proved mistaken and
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#17328374518258494-402: The Senate and 48 seats in the House at the 1974 mid-term elections , and Ford's pardon of Nixon is widely agreed to have contributed to his election defeat in 1976 . A word combined with the suffix " -gate " has become widely used to name scandals, even outside the U.S., and especially in politics. On January 27, 1972, G. Gordon Liddy , Finance Counsel for the Committee for the Re-Election of
8631-495: The Senate on June 6, 2001, when Vermont Republican senator Jim Jeffords switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in the 2002 elections , helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the September 11 attacks , and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in the 2006 elections , largely due to increasing opposition to
8768-464: The Senate voted to acquit him. Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden . He refused to concede the race, claiming widespread electoral fraud and attempting to overturn the results . On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters following a rally at which Trump spoke. After the attack, the House impeached Trump for a second time on
8905-408: The Senate. Over the course of his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court : Neil Gorsuch , Brett Kavanaugh , and Amy Coney Barrett . It was the most Supreme Court appointments for any president in a single term since Richard Nixon . Trump appointed 260 judges in total, creating overall Republican-appointed majorities on every branch of the federal judiciary except for
9042-529: The Union and abolishing slavery . After the war, the party largely dominated national politics until the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it lost its congressional majorities and the Democrats' New Deal programs proved popular. Dwight D. Eisenhower 's election in 1952 was a rare break between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II . Following
9179-418: The Watergate investigation. The grand jury secretly named Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator . The special prosecutor dissuaded them from an indictment of Nixon, arguing that a president can be indicted only after he leaves office. John Dean, Jeb Stuart Magruder , and other figures had already pleaded guilty. On April 5, 1974, Dwight Chapin , the former Nixon appointments secretary, was convicted of lying to
9316-426: The Watergate trial, and defendants had been pressured to remain silent. In an attempt to make them talk, Sirica gave Hunt and two burglars provisional sentences of up to 40 years. Urged by Nixon, on March 28, aide John Ehrlichman told Attorney General Richard Kleindienst that nobody in the White House had had prior knowledge of the burglary. On April 13, Magruder told U.S. attorneys that he had perjured himself during
9453-592: The Whig Party it replaced, Republicans also called for economic and social modernization . At the first public meeting of the anti-Nebraska movement on March 20, 1854, at the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin , the name "Republican" was proposed as the name of the party. The name was partly chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party . The first official party convention
9590-541: The bank records of a Miami company run by Watergate burglar Barker revealed an account controlled by him personally had deposited a check and then transferred it through the Federal Reserve Check Clearing System . The investigation by the FBI, which cleared Barker's bank of fiduciary malfeasance, led to the direct implication of members of the CRP, to whom the checks had been delivered. Those individuals were
9727-405: The beginning of the end of the Nixon presidency". Mitchell viewed the plan as unrealistic. Two months later, Mitchell approved a reduced version of the plan, which included burglarizing the Democratic National Committee 's (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. to photograph campaign documents and install listening devices in telephones. Liddy has since insisted that he
9864-585: The break-in, and attempts to cover it up, led deeply into the upper reaches of the Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and the White House. Woodward and Bernstein interviewed Judy Hoback Miller , the bookkeeper for Nixon's re-election campaign, who revealed to them information about the mishandling of funds and records being destroyed. Chief among the Post's anonymous sources was an individual whom Woodward and Bernstein had nicknamed Deep Throat ; 33 years later, in 2005,
10001-497: The burglars' arrests, the FBI discovered E. Howard Hunt 's name in Barker and Martínez's address books. Nixon administration officials were concerned because Hunt and Liddy were also involved in a separate secret activity known as the " White House Plumbers ", which was established to stop security " leaks " and investigate other sensitive security matters. Dean later testified that top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman ordered him to " deep six "
10138-401: The burglars' trial, and implicated John Dean and John Mitchell. John Dean believed that he, Mitchell, Ehrlichman, and Haldeman could go to the prosecutors, tell the truth, and save the presidency. Dean wanted to protect the president and have his four closest men take the fall for telling the truth. During the critical meeting between Dean and Nixon on April 15, 1973, Dean was totally unaware of
10275-579: The charge of incitement of insurrection , making him the only federal officeholder to be impeached twice. Trump left office on January 20, 2021. His impeachment trial continued into the early weeks of the Biden presidency , and he was acquitted on February 13, 2021 . Since the 2020 election, election denial has become increasingly mainstream in the party, with the majority of 2022 Republican candidates being election deniers. The party also made efforts to restrict voting based on false claims of fraud. By 2020,
10412-474: The committee bookkeeper and its treasurer, Hugh Sloan . As a private organization, the committee followed the normal business practice in allowing only duly authorized individuals to accept and endorse checks on behalf of the committee. No financial institution could accept or process a check on behalf of the committee unless a duly authorized individual endorsed it. The checks deposited into Barker's bank account were endorsed by Committee treasurer Hugh Sloan, who
10549-416: The contents of Howard Hunt's White House safe. Ehrlichman subsequently denied this. In the end, Dean and L. Patrick Gray , the FBI's acting director, (in separate operations) destroyed the evidence from Hunt's safe. Nixon's own reaction to the break-in, at least initially, was one of skepticism. Watergate prosecutor James Neal was sure that Nixon had not known in advance of the break-in. As evidence, he cited
10686-564: The corruption which had plagued his political career. Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in the 1888 election . During his presidency, Harrison signed the Dependent and Disability Pension Act , which established pensions for all veterans of the Union who had served for more than 90 days and were unable to perform manual labor. Following his loss to Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election , Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to pass
10823-544: The decade produced an unprecedented prosperity until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression. The New Deal coalition forged by Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excluding the presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress and
10960-428: The dikes every time that leaks have sprung here and sprung there." Martha Mitchell was the wife of Nixon's Attorney General , John N. Mitchell , who had recently resigned his role so that he could become campaign manager for Nixon's Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP). John Mitchell was aware that Martha knew McCord, one of the Watergate burglars who had been arrested, and that upon finding out, she
11097-518: The economy moved sharply upward from its nadir in early 1933. The 1934 elections left the GOP with only 25 senators against 71 Democrats. The House likewise had overwhelming Democratic majorities. The Republican Party factionalized into a majority Old Right , based predominantly in the Midwest , and a liberal wing based in the Northeast that supported much of the New Deal. The Old Right sharply attacked
11234-417: The elections, which helped lead the way toward his impeachment and near ouster from office in 1868, the same year Ulysses S. Grant was elected as the next Republican president . Grant was a Radical Republican, which created some division within the party. Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner and Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull opposed most of his Reconstructionist policies. Others took issue with
11371-529: The electronic media have covered it in depth. The Muckraker movement in American journalism was a component of the Progressive Era in the U.S. in the early 20th century. Journalists have built their careers on exposure of corruption and political scandal, often acting on behalf of the opposition party. The political ideology of media owners plays a role—they prefer to target the opposition but will reluctantly cover their own side. Journalists have to frame
11508-513: The finance committee of the Committee to Reelect the President, the check was a 1972 campaign donation by Kenneth H. Dahlberg . This money (and several other checks which had been lawfully donated to the CRP) had been directly used to finance the burglary and wiretapping expenses, including hardware and supplies. Barker's multiple national and international businesses all had separate bank accounts, which he
11645-429: The funds via cashier's checks and money orders, resulted in the banks keeping the entire transaction records until October and November 1972. All five Watergate burglars were directly or indirectly tied to the 1972 CRP, thus causing Judge Sirica to suspect a conspiracy involving higher-echelon government officials. On September 29, 1972, the press reported that John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled
11782-511: The gold standard over free silver in his campaign messaging, but promised to continue bimetallism to ward off continued skepticism over the gold standard, which had lingered since the Panic of 1893 . Democrat William Jennings Bryan proved to be a devoted adherent to the free silver movement, which cost Bryan the support of Democratic institutions such as Tammany Hall , the New York World and
11919-758: The grand jury. Two days later, the same grand jury indicted Ed Reinecke , the Republican Lieutenant Governor of California , on three charges of perjury before the Senate committee. Political scandal In politics , a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians , government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt , unethical or sexual practices. Politicians and officials who are embroiled in scandals are more likely to retire or get lower vote shares. Scandal sells, and broadsides, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines and
12056-566: The hearings. On Friday, July 13, during a preliminary interview, deputy minority counsel Donald Sanders asked White House assistant Alexander Butterfield if there was any type of recording system in the White House. Butterfield said he was reluctant to answer, but finally admitted there was a new system in the White House that automatically recorded everything in the Oval Office , the Cabinet Room and others, as well as Nixon's private office in
12193-474: The informant was identified as Mark Felt , deputy director of the FBI during that period of the 1970s, something Woodward later confirmed. Felt met secretly with Woodward several times, telling him of Howard Hunt's involvement with the Watergate break-in, and that the White House staff regarded the stakes in Watergate as extremely high. Felt warned Woodward that the FBI wanted to know where he and other reporters were getting their information, as they were uncovering
12330-479: The lack of a majority in the U.S. Congress , Republicans were able to orchestrate a Republican speaker of the House of Representatives , which went to Nathaniel P. Banks . Historian James M. McPherson writes regarding Banks' speakership that "if any one moment marked the birth of the Republican party, this was it." The Republicans were eager for the 1860 elections . Former Illinois U.S. representative Abraham Lincoln spent several years building support within
12467-484: The media failed to understand the full implications of the scandal, and concentrated reporting on other topics related to the 1972 presidential election. Most outlets ignored or downplayed Woodward and Bernstein's scoops; the crosstown Washington Star-News and the Los Angeles Times even ran stories incorrectly discrediting the Post's articles. After the Post revealed that H.R. Haldeman had made payments from
12604-702: The media preferred, "Watergate would have been a blip." The media noted that most of the reporting turned out to be accurate; the competitive nature of the media guaranteed widespread coverage of the far-reaching political scandal. Rather than ending with the conviction and sentencing to prison of the five Watergate burglars on January 30, 1973, the investigation into the break-in and the Nixon Administration's involvement grew broader. "Nixon's conversations in late March and all of April 1973 revealed that not only did he know he needed to remove Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean to gain distance from them, but he had to do so in
12741-435: The media was polled at more than 40%. Nixon and top administration officials discussed using government agencies to "get" (or retaliate against) those they perceived as hostile media organizations. Such actions had been taken before. At the request of Nixon's White House in 1969, the FBI tapped the phones of five reporters. In 1971, the White House requested an audit of the tax return of the editor of Newsday , after he wrote
12878-465: The money to G. Gordon Liddy . Liddy, in turn, gave the money to Barker and attempted to hide its origin. Barker tried to disguise the funds by depositing them into accounts in banks outside of the United States. Unbeknownst to Barker, Liddy, and Sloan, the complete record of all such transactions was held for roughly six months. Barker's use of foreign banks in April and May 1972 to deposit checks and withdraw
13015-419: The most it had held in history. The Party also held 33 governorships, the most it had held since 1922. The party had total control of government in 25 states; it had not held total control of this many states since 1952. The opposing Democratic Party held full control of only five states in 2017. In the 2018 elections , Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, but strengthened their hold on
13152-467: The national debt hiked considerably under Bush's tenure. In contrast, some social conservatives expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that conflicted with their moral values. The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney . Democrats gained control of
13289-406: The national level to attract votes from minorities and young voters. In March 2013, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus issued a report on the party's electoral failures in 2012, calling on Republicans to reinvent themselves and officially endorse immigration reform. He proposed 219 reforms, including a $ 10 million marketing campaign to reach women, minorities, and gay people;
13426-492: The next day. The hearings held by the Senate committee, in which Dean and other former administration officials testified, were broadcast from May 17 to August 7. The three major networks of the time agreed to take turns covering the hearings live, each network thus maintaining coverage of the hearings every third day, starting with ABC on May 17 and ending with NBC on August 7. An estimated 85% of Americans with television sets tuned into at least one portion of
13563-422: The nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Its most recent presidential nominee is Donald Trump , who served as the 45th president of the United States and was the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . There have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one political party. The Republican Party's founding members chose its name as homage to
13700-539: The party establishment is interventionist, while the populist faction supports isolationism and in some cases non-interventionism . In 1854, the Republican Party was founded in the Northern United States by forces opposed to the expansion of slavery , ex- Whigs , and ex- Free Soilers . The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the briefly popular Know Nothing Party. The party grew out of opposition to
13837-615: The party, campaigning heavily for Frémont in 1856 and making a bid for the Senate in 1858 , losing to Democrat Stephen A. Douglas but gaining national attention from the Lincoln–Douglas debates it produced. At the 1860 Republican National Convention , Lincoln consolidated support among opponents of New York U.S. senator William H. Seward , a fierce abolitionist who some Republicans feared would be too radical for crucial states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana , as well as those who disapproved of his support for Irish immigrants. Lincoln
13974-622: The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 , the southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while northeastern states became more reliably Democratic. The GOP went on to control the White House from 1969 to 1977 under 37th president Richard Nixon , and when he resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal , Gerald Ford became the 38th president, serving until 1977. Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in
14111-487: The presidency in a landslide in the 1988 election . However, his term was characterized by division within the Republican Party. Bush's vision of economic liberalization and international cooperation with foreign nations saw the negotiation and, during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the conceptual beginnings of
14248-459: The president's depth of knowledge and involvement in the Watergate cover-up. It was during this meeting that Dean felt that he was being recorded. He wondered if this was due to the way Nixon was speaking, as if he were trying to prod attendees' recollections of earlier conversations about fundraising. Dean mentioned this observation while testifying to the Senate Committee on Watergate, exposing
14385-657: The resignation of Attorney General Kleindienst, to ensure no one could claim that his innocent friendship with Haldeman and Ehrlichman could be construed as a conflict. He fired White House Counsel John Dean, who went on to testify before the Senate Watergate Committee and said that he believed and suspected the conversations in the Oval Office were being taped. This information became the bombshell that helped force Richard Nixon to resign rather than be impeached. Writing from prison for New West and New York magazines in 1977, Ehrlichman claimed Nixon had offered him
14522-416: The resignation of his aides. After it was revealed that Nixon had installed a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office, his administration refused to grant investigators access to the tapes , leading to a constitutional crisis . The televised Senate Watergate hearings by this point had garnered nationwide attention and public interest. Attorney General Elliot Richardson appointed Archibald Cox as
14659-482: The right in the Republican Party. The Republicans returned to the presidency in the 1920s, winning on platforms of normalcy , business-oriented efficiency, and high tariffs. The national party platform avoided mention of prohibition, instead issuing a vague commitment to law and order . Warren G. Harding died in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge easily defeated the splintered opposition in 1924. The pro-business policies of
14796-464: The seat had been held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy . In November, Republicans recaptured control of the House , increased their number of seats in the Senate , and gained a majority of governorships . The Tea Party would go on to strongly influence the Republican Party, in part due to the replacement of establishment Republicans with Tea Party-style Republicans. When Obama was re-elected president in 2012 , defeating Republican Mitt Romney ,
14933-541: The secret fund, newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer failed to publish the information, but did publish the White House's denial of the story the following day. The White House also sought to isolate the Post's coverage by tirelessly attacking that newspaper while declining to criticize other damaging stories about the scandal from the New York Times and Time magazine . After it
15070-547: The serial numbers in sequence... a shortwave receiver that could pick up police calls, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35-millimeter cameras and three pen-sized tear gas guns". The Post would later report that the actual amount of cash was $ 5,300. The following morning, Sunday, June 18, G. Gordon Liddy called Jeb Magruder in Los Angeles and informed him that "the four men arrested with McCord were Cuban freedom fighters, whom Howard Hunt recruited". Initially, Nixon's organization and
15207-519: The setting of a shorter, more controlled primary season; and the creation of better data collection facilities. Following the 2014 elections , the Republican Party took control of the Senate by gaining nine seats. With 247 seats in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the Congress since the 71st Congress in 1929. In the 2016 presidential election , Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton . The result
15344-471: The special prosecutor, refused to drop the subpoena, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. Richardson resigned in protest rather than carry out the order. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox, but Ruckelshaus also resigned rather than fire him. Nixon's search for someone in the Justice Department willing to fire Cox ended with Solicitor General Robert Bork . Though Bork said he believed Nixon's order
15481-512: The story in terms of the audience's values and expectations to maximize the impact. Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party , also known as the GOP ( Grand Old Party ), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States . It emerged as the main political rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then. The Republican Party
15618-525: The thread of what were taped conversations that would unravel the fabric of the conspiracy. Two days later, Dean told Nixon that he had been cooperating with the U.S. attorneys . On that same day, U.S. attorneys told Nixon that Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean, and other White House officials were implicated in the cover-up. On April 30, Nixon asked for the resignation of Haldeman and Ehrlichman, two of his most influential aides. They were both later indicted, convicted, and ultimately sentenced to prison. He asked for
15755-477: The values of republicanism promoted by Democratic-Republican Party, which its founder, Thomas Jefferson, called the "Republican Party". The idea for the name came from an editorial by the party's leading publicist, Horace Greeley, who called for "some simple name like 'Republican' [that] would more fitly designate those who had united to restore the Union to its true mission of champion and promulgator of Liberty rather than propagandist of slavery". The name reflects
15892-405: The wall. Mitchell made several attempts to escape via the balcony, but was physically accosted, injured, and forcefully sedated by a psychiatrist. Following conviction for his role in the Watergate burglary, in February 1975, McCord admitted that Mitchell had been "basically kidnapped", and corroborated her reports of the event. On June 19, 1972, the press reported that one of the Watergate burglars
16029-467: The war, but they did not attempt to do away with Social Security or the agencies that regulated business. Historian George H. Nash argues: Unlike the "moderate", internationalist, largely eastern bloc of Republicans who accepted (or at least acquiesced in) some of the "Roosevelt Revolution" and the essential premises of President Harry S. Truman 's foreign policy, the Republican Right at heart
16166-562: Was "not a crook". In April 1974, Cox's replacement Leon Jaworski issued a subpoena for the tapes again, but Nixon only released edited transcripts of them. In July, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the tapes, and the House Judiciary Committee recommended that he be impeached for obstructing justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. In one of the tapes, later known as "the smoking gun", he ordered aides to tell
16303-487: Was a Republican Party security aide. Former attorney general John Mitchell, who was then the head of the CRP, denied any involvement with the Watergate break-in. He also disavowed any knowledge whatsoever of the five burglars. On August 1, a $ 25,000 (approximately $ 182,000 in 2023 dollars) cashier's check was found to have been deposited in the US and Mexican bank accounts of one of the Watergate burglars, Bernard Barker. Made out to
16440-539: Was a zealous radical. Gingrich's strategy of " constitutional hardball " resulted in increasing political polarization . The Republicans maintained their majority for the first time since 1928 despite Bob Dole losing handily to Clinton in the presidential election . However, Gingrich's national profile proved a detriment to the Republican Congress, which enjoyed majority approval among voters in spite of Gingrich's relative unpopularity. After Gingrich and
16577-453: Was already too late. The police apprehended five men, later identified as Virgilio Gonzalez , Bernard Barker , James McCord , Eugenio Martínez , and Frank Sturgis . They were criminally charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications. The Washington Post reported the day after the burglary that, "police found lock-picks and door jimmies, almost $ 2,300 in cash, most of it in $ 100 bills with
16714-445: Was authorized by the finance committee. However, once Sloan had endorsed a check made payable to the committee, he had a legal and fiduciary responsibility to see that the check was deposited only into the accounts named on the check. Sloan failed to do that. When confronted with the potential charge of federal bank fraud, he revealed that committee deputy director Jeb Magruder and finance director Maurice Stans had directed him to give
16851-415: Was counterrevolutionary. Anti-collectivist, anti-Communist , anti-New Deal, passionately committed to limited government , free market economics , and congressional (as opposed to executive) prerogatives, the G.O.P. conservatives were obliged from the start to wage a constant two-front war: against liberal Democrats from without and "me-too" Republicans from within. After 1945, the internationalist wing of
16988-626: Was duped by both Dean and at least two of his subordinates. This included former CIA officers E. Howard Hunt and James McCord , the latter of whom was serving as then-CRP Security Coordinator after John Mitchell resigned as attorney general to become the CRP chairman. In May, McCord assigned former FBI agent Alfred C. Baldwin III to carry out the wiretapping and monitor the telephone conversations afterward. On May 11, McCord arranged for Baldwin, whom investigative reporter Jim Hougan described as "somehow special and perhaps well known to McCord", to stay at
17125-506: Was elected president in the general election . This election result helped kickstart the American Civil War , which lasted from 1861 until 1865. The 1864 presidential election united War Democrats with the GOP in support of Lincoln and Tennessee Democratic senator Andrew Johnson , who ran for president and vice president on the National Union Party ticket; Lincoln was re-elected. Under Republican congressional leadership,
17262-576: Was established to decide who would be awarded the states' electors. After the Commission voted along party lines in Hayes' favor, Democrats threatened to delay the counting of electoral votes indefinitely so no president would be inaugurated on March 4. This resulted in the Compromise of 1877 and Hayes finally became president. Hayes doubled down on the gold standard , which had been signed into law by Grant with
17399-414: Was found to have attempted to use to disguise the true origin of the money being paid to the burglars. The donor's checks demonstrated the burglars' direct link to the finance committee of the CRP. Donations totaling $ 86,000 ($ 626,000 today) were made by individuals who believed they were making private donations by certified and cashier's checks for the president's re-election. Investigators' examination of
17536-555: Was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act , which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported classical liberalism and economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners of
17673-524: Was held on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan . The party emerged from the great political realignment of the mid-1850s, united in pro-capitalist stances with members often valuing Radicalism . The realignment was powerful because it forced voters to switch parties, as typified by the rise and fall of the Know Nothing Party , the rise of the Republican Party and the splits in the Democratic Party. At
17810-471: Was increasingly controversial, as he implemented a family separation policy for migrants , deployed federal law enforcement forces in response to racial protests and reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic before clashing with health officials over testing and treatment. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5, 2020,
17947-470: Was learned that one of the convicted burglars had written to Judge Sirica alleging a high-level cover-up, the media shifted its focus. Time magazine described Nixon as undergoing "daily hell and very little trust". The distrust between the press and the Nixon administration was mutual and greater than usual due to lingering dissatisfaction with events from the Vietnam War . At the same time, public distrust of
18084-467: Was likely to speak to the media. In his opinion, her knowing McCord was likely to link the Watergate burglary to Nixon. John Mitchell instructed guards in her security detail not to let her contact the media. In June 1972, during a phone call with United Press International reporter Helen Thomas , Martha Mitchell informed Thomas that she was leaving her husband until he resigned from the CRP. The phone call ended abruptly. A few days later, Marcia Kramer ,
18221-399: Was made speaker, and within the first 100 days of the Republican majority, every proposition featured in the Contract was passed, with the exception of term limits for members of Congress. One key to Gingrich's success in 1994 was nationalizing the election, which in turn led to his becoming a national figure during the 1996 House elections , with many Democratic leaders proclaiming Gingrich
18358-454: Was to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and aid for prisoner reentry into society, a move intended to capitalize on President Clinton's tougher crime initiatives such as his administration's 1994 crime bill . The platform failed to gain much traction among members of the party during his presidency. The Republican Party remained fairly cohesive for much of the 2000s, as both strong economic libertarians and social conservatives opposed
18495-538: Was unexpected; polls leading up to the election showed Clinton leading the race. Trump's victory was fueled by narrow victories in three states— Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin —that had been part of the Democratic blue wall for decades. It was attributed to strong support amongst working-class white voters, who felt dismissed and disrespected by the political establishment. Trump became popular with them by abandoning Republican establishment orthodoxy in favor of
18632-469: Was valid and appropriate, he considered resigning to avoid being "perceived as a man who did the President's bidding to save my job". Bork carried out the presidential order and dismissed the special prosecutor. These actions met considerable public criticism. Responding to the allegations of possible wrongdoing, in front of 400 Associated Press managing editors at Disney's Contemporary Resort , on November 17, 1973, Nixon emphatically stated, "Well, I am not
18769-533: Was working as the executive director of the Association of State Democratic Chairmen. The other phone belonged to DNC chairman Larry O'Brien . The FBI found no evidence that O'Brien's phone was bugged; however, it was determined that an effective listening device was installed in Oliver's phone. While successful with installing the listening devices, the committee agents soon determined that they needed repairs. They plotted
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