Samuel B. Hoff
The CNN Watergate documentary, narrated by former White House counsel John Dean, was timed for the mid-century acknowledgment of the June 17, 1972 break-in that changed the course of American politics. While it conveyed new information about the scandal, the corrosive impact of Watergate has continued.
Among the first-time or revised tidbits emanating from Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal were Dean’s revelations that the Watergate burglars actually tried to breach the Democratic National headquarters three times rather than two. Further, Dean relates a meeting with Arizona senator Barry Goldwater in which the senator encouraged his testimony against President Ricard Nixon’s claims that he knew nothing about the break-in at the DNC. Later, Dean recounts the meeting between Nixon and several GOP senators in August 1974 which led to Nixon’s resignation, noting that Goldwater told the president he could only count on five senators to vote against his removal once impeached; most retelling of that meeting has Goldwater counting twelve supporters.
However, other factors of the Watergate scandal remain apparent. Among those is the damaging impact that the scandal has wrought on the American presidency. It seems that there have been cycles of congressional activism and acquiescence toward the chief executive. In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, we witnessed a plethora of laws such at the War Powers Act, Budget Control and Impoundment Act, National Emergencies Act and Independent Counsel Act. Later, the pendulum shifted from fears of an imperial presidency to that of an imperiled one, and the reins were loosened. But subsequent major investigations of domestic and foreign policy matters alike have at times crippled the White House and its occupant. Further, the invocation of executive privilege — determined by the U.S. Supreme Court to be a valid constitutional tool in certain instances — has been cheapened by how many of Nixon’s successors abused it to hide illicit behavior.
Another result of the Watergate scandal is the manner by which the media became emboldened to investigate alleged wrongdoing more aggressively. But for every leak and scoop uncovering secrets, there has been overreach.
When finally cleared of charges lodged against him as President Ronald Reagan’s Labor Secretary, Ray Donovan asked where he could go to get his reputation back. Unfortunately, the “gotcha” mentality still pervades how media outlets of various types cover the White House.
Perhaps the most destructive impact of the Watergate scandal has been a diminution of respect and trust toward American government. While there has always been some healthy skepticism about policies and people serving, the last fifty years have seen questions about the legitimacy of political parties, elections, and institutions themselves. That distrust has been fed by rampant partisanship, social media, and too by certain persons serving in the Oval Office.
There are some lessons to be reminded of when reminiscing about the “third-rate burglary” that became the 20th century’s greatest political scandal. For one, following the money is usually good advice to get to the bottom of wrongdoing. Second, good people can lose their moral bearings when in the cocoon of the White House and its environs, whether through blind loyalty or the groupthink which it often engenders. Finally, there is every reason to thank the nation’s constitutional architects for ensuring that the separate powers of each branch of American national government would be accompanied by checks on authority.
Even if believed when he voiced it, President Gerald Ford’s statement about “our long national nightmare” being over has proven harder to expunge with time.
Dr. Samuel B. Hoff is George Washington Distinguished professor emeritus of history and political science at Delaware State University. He has taught and published extensively on the American presidency and served in three congressional staff positions.
