Inngangur: Hvað er Watergate hneykslið? Um hvað snýst það og hvernig gekk það fyrir sig? Hvað var ólöglegt við þetta? Af hverju sagði Nixon af sér?
Stutt lýsing / skilgreining á því sem við köllum Watergate hneykslið
Orðið ?Watergate? Er almennt hugtak, notað til að lýsa flóknum vef pólitískra hneyksla á árunum 1972-74. Orðið vísar til Watergate hótelsins í Washington D.C. fylki Bandaríkjanna¹
Röð aðgerða, lýsing
2 ½. Hver var þáttur Nixons í þessum aðgerðum?
In August, the previously unknown tape from
June 23,
1972 was released. Recorded only a few days after the break-in, it documented Nixon and Haldeman formulating a plan to block investigations by having the CIA claim to the FBI (falsely) that national security was involved. The tape was referred to as a "smoking gun". With this last piece of evidence, Nixon's few remaining supporters deserted him. The ten congressmen who had voted against all three Articles of Impeachment in committee announced that they would all support impeachment when the vote was taken in the full House. Throughout this time, Nixon still denied any involvement in the ordeal.²
The House Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 on
July 27,
1974 to recommend the first article of impeachment against the President:
obstruction of justice. The second (
abuse of power) and third (
contempt of Congress) articles were passed on
July 29 and
July 30, respectively.²
Af hverju gerðu þeir þetta? Hvernig högnuðust þeir á þessu? Hvað var ólöglegt við þetta?
Afsögn Nixons og eftirmálar
After being told by key
Republican Senators that enough votes existed to convict him, Nixon decided to resign. In a nationally televised address on the evening of
August 8,
1974, he announced he would resign effective noon on
August 9. Though Nixon's resignation obviated the pending impeachment, criminal prosecution was still a possibility. He was immediately succeeded by
Gerald Ford, who on
September 8,
1974, issued a
pardon for Nixon, immunizing him from prosecution for any crimes he may have committed as President. Nixon proclaimed his innocence until his death, although his acceptance of the pardon was construed by many as an admission of guilt. He did state in his official response to the pardon that he "was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy."²
Var þetta einsdæmi, eða er spillingu að finna í öllum ríkisstjórnum?
Samantekt/Lokaorð
Heimildaskrá:
Tekið af
http://www.watergate.info/ þann 20. nóvember 2006
Tekið af
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate þann 21. nóvember 2006
