To what extent was President Richard Nixon responsible in the Watergate scandal

To what extent was President Richard Nixon responsible in the Watergate scandal in the 1972-1974? Abstract: The United States of America had its first President way back in 1789 and in the past 221 years only once did the President have to resign. This was the 37th president, Richard Nixon. He resigned from office due to his alleged involvement in the Watergate scandal. This paper will thus explore the question: ?To What Extent Was Richard Nixon Responsible For the Watergate Scandal of 1974?? For this incident there are no specific schools of learning, therefore I will wield three different perspectives to this incident, people who were neutral (people out for a true story, namely Bob Woodward from the Washington post and also Carl Bernstein), people who were anti-Nixon (who might or might not have been supporters of Nixon but blamed him for the entire scandal) and what the President had to say about the entire era during his interviews with Sir David Frost. The main limitation to this paper is that each perspective has a bias; either a loyalty bias or a personal bias as most of the sources themselves were a part of the scandal (whether an investigator or a conspirator). This paper deals with a time line of 1972 to 1976, from the first burglary up until the time the President resigns in 1976, these were the years in which the entire scandal was unearthed. Even though Nixon?s involvement in the entire scandal is doubtful because there is no solid evidence of his involvement, I will try to find out in the course of my investigation whether this whole incident was blown out of proportion by the media. This paper will conclude that up till today even though nobody was able to convict Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, he was however involved in a cover-up, an act to obstruct justice. …read more.

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Nixon?s involvement in the cover up of the Watergate scandal was highly disputed up until March the 21st. There is no doubt that on the 21st of march John Dean(The White House Counsel) accosted him and laid down key elements of the ?cover-up?, these key elements included a history of the break in and also criminal liabilities of top presidential aides like Haldeman and Alecman and also Dean himself. Nixon was told that 100?s of thousands of dollars had been paid to keep the Watergate burglars silent through the January trials, but he refuses knowledge of hush money being paid. 2 days before the trials, Hunt demanded 120,000 for continued silence. A total of 1 million US Dollars were paid as blackmail money. According to the Ex-President after the resignation of Haldeman and Alecman[9] he worked to get the truth out but his critics think otherwise and believe that he continued his involvement in the cover up.?If the President does it, that means it?s not illegal?[10] Richard Nixon spoke these insolent words during the interviews, Historians – critics like Fred Emery, Stanley Kutler, James Preston and others – have widely criticized him for his choice of words. The Ex-President argued that in the area of criminal activity the President is immune; that he can use the government resources for personal benefit. James Preston, the chief researcher for David Frost revealed in his book that according to the President he could bend government agencies for his political purposes, to such an extent that he could risk National Security[11]. To add to the conviction of historians regarding Nixon?s complicity, when Frost questioned him about his statement he said that when these actions were exposed, as President he could c