Crone,+Madeline

Madeline Crone IB History Year 2 Historical Investigation Part A: Plan of the Investigation My historical investigation will assess the ways in which the media’s portrayal of the Watergate scandal affected and altered its political outcome. The investigation will describe Nixon’s initial paranoia of the media and early media coverage on the Watergate scandal, and additionally will describe coverage from specific media sources such as the // Washington Post¸ // news reports by Walter Cronkite, Nixon’s televised addresses and conferences, and the televised Watergate hearings, and will describe how these sources shaped public and political opinion. Two of the sources used to research this investigation will be evaluated: the memoir // All The President’s Men // by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and the Watergate section of the // Washington Post //website. The origins, purposes, values and limitations of these sources will be analyzed. Lastly, a conclusion will be provided that will analyze the effect that the media’s portrayal of Nixon and Watergate affected the ultimate political outcome in 1974. (151 words)

Madeline Crone IB History Year 2 Historical Investigation Part B: Summary of Evidence Nixon’s Paranoia Even before Watergate, Richard Nixon and his administration showed paranoia regarding the media. On June 13, 1971, the // New York Times //published an excerpt from the Pentagon Papers (classified documents concerning America in the Vietnam War). Although the material was not detrimental to the Nixon administration, Nixon’s National Security advisor Henry Kissinger argued that it was potentially harmful to foreign relations. The administration sued the newspaper and hired “plumbers” to break into the office of Daniel Ellsberg (the main author of the Papers, and the man who gave the documents to the // New York Times //) and to find harmful information against him. [i] This led to Nixon’s paranoia of the media’s effect on his administration, as well as to the creation of the “plumbers” that would eventually burglarize the Democratic National Headquarters and set off the spark for Watergate. [ii] Early Media Coverage The White House covered up the burglary to the point where national news media didn’t consider the story significant enough to cover. [iii] It was instead covered by local reporters, including two // Washington Post //reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The two became famous for their coverage of the Watergate scandal. The // Washington Post // In August 1972, after early stories about the Watergate break-in, Woodward and Bernstein wrote an article for the // Washington Post //under the headline “Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds”, describing their discovery that a $25,000 check, “apparently earmarked for the campaign chest of President Nixon”, was deposited into Bernard Barker’s (one of the Watergate burglars) bank account. [iv] After reading the initial draft, D.C. editor Barry Sussman declared, “We’ve never had a story like this.” [v] Although it was not the // Post //’s first story about Watergate, it was the first that linked the burglary to the Nixon campaign. [vi] Other newspapers ignored the Watergate story, while the White House declared the // Post //’s coverage to be “biased and misleading”. [vii] However, Woodward and Bernstein continued to investigate, with help from a top-secret inside source who called himself “Deep Throat” (later revealed to be former FBI agent Mark Felt). He had access to information from the FBI, the CRP, and the White House, informed Woodward and Bernstein about “the involvement of higher-ups in the Watergate break-in and other illegal activities”. [viii] Even with these informed reports, the public was unreceptive to the idea of Nixon’s guilt until early 1973, when four of Nixon’s top aides, including chief of staff John Haldeman, resigned. After this, Nixon’s press secretary, Ron Ziegler, declared the White House’s criticisms of the // Post //investigation “inoperative”, and the newspaper’s reports were legitimized. [ix] In April 1974, the // Post //’s coverage of Nixon’s surrendering of the Watergate papers sparked outrage from the public. Even Nixon’s conservative followers “voiced dismay about profanity-laced discussions in the White House around how to raise blackmail money and avoid perjury.” [x] The // Post //investigation focused the public on Watergate. Woodward and Bernstein continued to reveal shocking details, causing the Senate to vote unanimously to establish the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, which investigated “unethical activities” from the 1972 election. [xi] Walter Cronkite In October 1972, the CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite reported two lengthy back-to-back segments on Watergate. [xii] Cronkite referred to the Watergate scandal as “a high-level campaign of political sabotage and espionage apparently unparalleled in American history.” [xiii] He was backed by a team of reporters who described the affair in its entirety to a much wider audience, making the story and evidence impossible to be ignored. [xiv] According to Benjamin Bradlee, the then-editor of the // Washington Post //, Cronkite’s coverage “gave the story a kind of blessing, which is exactly what… the // Post //lacked.” [xv] The “most trusted man in America” convinced viewers of Nixon’s guilt who had not initially believed Woodward and Bernstein’s reports. In addition to legitimizing the Watergate situation in general, Cronkite legitimized the // Post //itself. Without visual evidence to show on television, the segments showed stories from the newspaper, “[making] heroes out of the // Post //and Woodward and Bernstein and even [Bradlee}”. [xvi] Nixon’s Televised Addresses and Press Conferences By 1973, the Watergate affair had grown increasingly suspicious, particularly after the resignation of politician and Nixon administrative Spiro Agnew, and had become a “full-scale scandal”. [xvii] Nixon maintained his cover-up, and on April 30, 1973, he pleaded so on national television. He claimed his innocence and promised to instill justice upon the guilty, as well as accepting the numerous resignations of his employees. On November 18, 1973, Nixon delivered his famously proclaimed, “I am not a crook” at a televised press conference. The President continued to claim innocence and promised to reveal more financial evidence and presidential documents. [xviii] According to the // Post //, Nixon was “tense and sometimes misspoke”, and many Americans did not trust his assurances. Televised Watergate Hearings During the summer of 1974, Senate Watergate hearings were nationally telecast and “mesmerized a nation”. [xix] These revealed disturbing details of the Nixon administration’s wrongdoings and strongly decreased public support for the president. [xx] These hearings not only affected public support but ended in the court charging Nixon with all three articles of impeachment, and, later, Nixon’s resignation. (962 words)

** Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. //All The President’s Men//. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1974. **  // All The President’s Men // originated as a memoir written by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two prominent reporters on the Watergate scandal for the // Washington Post //. It was published in 1974, the year that President Richard Nixon resigned. Bernstein and Woodward wrote the book to describe the events of Watergate from a reporter’s “behind-the-scenes” perspective, and to describe their experience government interaction and writing about the events. The book holds enormous value since it is a primary source. Apart from this, the source is valuable because this investigation revolves around the role of the media in the Watergate scandal, and the source is an account from the most important media source that covered Watergate. It describes the complicated relationship that developed between the reporters, their sources, and the government. For instance, some sources met in secret with the reporters, developing systems so that the reporters could gain information without the sources telling them directly. The press also manipulated certain situations in order to write about the scandal. A limitation is that, since it is a primary source, the authors go to certain lengths to justify their actions. This leads to a biased account. However, the authors acknowledge mistakes and failures in their behavior and coverage of Watergate. (207 words) ** “The Watergate Story.” //The Washington Post//. The Washington Post Company, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . **   This source originates from the major newspaper the // Washington Post //, and consists of a collection of both original articles covering the Watergate story and a thorough modern-day description and analysis of the events. It also contains links to relevant audio and video clips as well as other sources. The purpose of this source is to explain the Watergate scandal to a modern audience in order to educate as well as to display the revolutionary journalism that // Post // reporters, namely Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, achieved during the Watergate years. The value of this source is that it provides a number of different, credible primary and secondary sources that all relate to Watergate. It is valuable for this investigation because it originates from what was perhaps the most important media source that affected the outcome of Watergate, and therefore much emphasis is placed on the role of the // Post // on the scandal. However, herein lies a limitation: There is a high possibility of bias in this source, and it does not give adequate mention or credit to the role of other key media players during Watergate. (185 words)

Historical Investigation Part D: Analysis The combined effects of different types of media coverage on the Watergate scandal inflicted major stress upon the Nixon administration, and eventually pressured Richard Nixon to resign from the presidency. Nixon put up guards against the media from the beginning, as demonstrated by the Pentagon Papers incident. The paranoia encouraged by Henry Kissinger caused the administration to hire the group of “plumbers” that would later be responsible for the Watergate break-in. In this way, Nixon and his administration set the stage for a battle against the media, with the former attempting to cover up the truth and the latter attempting to discover it. Nixon didn’t have much to worry about initially – the lack of national news coverage on the break-in helped to slow public opinion and outside pressures. However, as previously examined, the explosive Bernstein and Woodward story “Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds” changed all this. The first story to link the burglary to the Nixon campaign, it shifted the tone of the media coverage on Watergate. Although many still ignored or denied reports by the // Washington Post //, this story was the first of many that would eventually convince both other media sources and the public that the seemingly paranoid suspicions of a few were actually quite shockingly true. The major turning point was perhaps the occurrence and coverage of the resignation of top White House aides. This event showed just how serious the claims of political scandal were, and legitimized the // Washington Post // reports. This was one of the most important steps in transforming the media into a formidable force of pressure against the Nixon administration, because it caused the public to pay more serious attention to the Watergate coverage, which in succession would turn public opinion against Nixon. The // Post //was not Nixon’s only concern, however – as stated before, Walter Cronkite’s news reports brought a new light of legitimacy to Bernstein and Woodward’s journalism. Hearing the news from an already trusted source convinced Americans of Nixon’s guilt. By the time that Nixon attempted to use the media to his advantage, it was too late. His infamous “I am not a crook” press conference only supported America’s suspicious preconceptions. His defensive physical mannerisms, such as crossing his arms, were undeniably visible on television. Furthermore, many Americans had come to trust the // Washington Post //’s reporting at this time, and so when the newspaper commented on Nixon’s tense demeanor and way of speaking, the public was further convinced of the president’s suspicious behavior and subsequent guilt. This demonstrates that by this point, the media was already turned against Nixon. This concept also affected the Nixon administration during the nationally televised Watergate hearings. Public opinion was already turned against Nixon, and this undoubtedly also impacted the courts in charging the president with all three articles of impeachment. The conclusion that can be reached through the aforementioned evidence and analysis is that the media was vital in revealing the crimes of the Nixon administration regarding the Watergate scandal, and that the media was therefore instrumental in pressuring the president to resign. Although initial news reports were understated or ignored, the persistence of journalists, especially Bernstein and Woodward, resulted in a dramatic shift in public opinion. These two forces (the media and public opinion) then developed a reciprocal relationship that was far more imperative regarding the eventual outcome of the Watergate scandal than was solid political action taken by any figure or administration in Washington. (571 words) 

Historical Investigation Part E   Conclusion Over the past few decades there has been a significant amount of dispute between historians over just what role the media played in deciding the outcome of the Watergate scandal. In light of this investigation, there is little room left for argument. Different types of media, such as the // Washington Post //, news reports by Walter Cronkite, and televised press conferences and hearings, all contributed to the major shift in public opinion that created the immense pressures which eventually forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency. These very real forces were more instrumental in deciding this outcome than perhaps any other factor during this time period. (105 words)

Historical Investigation Part F    Works Cited  Berkowitz, Edward D. //Something Happened: A Political And Cultural Overview Of The Seventies//. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Print.  Bradlee, Benjamin. “Ben Bradlee Remembers Walter Cronkite.” //Newsweek//. Newsweek, Inc., 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. .  Folkenflik, David. “Walter Cronkite, The Nation’s Narrator, Dies At 92.” //NPR//. NPR, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. .  Peters, Gerhard, John T. Woolley, and Michael Nelson, eds. “Watergate Affair.” //The Presidency A To Z//. CQ Electronic Library, 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .  “Watergate Revisited.” //CNN AllPolitics//. CNN, 1997. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.cnn.com//‌////.html>. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together; text-indent: -0.5in;"> “The Watergate Story.” //The Washington Post//. The Washington Post Company, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/srv////.html>.

<span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together; text-indent: -0.5in;"> [i] Berkowitz, Edward D. //Something Happened: A Political And Cultural Overview Of The Seventies//. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Print. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ibid. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in -0.5in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: -0.5in;"> [iv] “The Watergate Story.” //The Washington Post//. The Washington Post Company, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‌  wp-srv/  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‌  politics/  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‌  special/  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‌  watergate/  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‌  index.html>. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in -0.5in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: -0.5in;"> [v] Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. //All The President’s Men//. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1974. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in -0.5in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: -0.5in;"> [vi] The //Washington Post//. [vii] Ibid. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[viii]  Bernstein and Woodward [ix] The// Washington Post. //    <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[x]   Ibid. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xi]    Peters, Gerhard, John T. Woolley, and Michael Nelson, eds. “Watergate Affair.” //The Presidency A To Z//. CQ Electronic Library, 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <http://library.cqpress.com/‌presidencyaz/‌document.php?id=praz4d_s567.1&type=hitlist&num=0#>. [xii] Bradlee, Benjamin. “Ben Bradlee Remembers Walter Cronkite.” //Newsweek//. Newsweek, Inc., 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.newsweek.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ 2009/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ 07/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ 16/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ walter-cronkite-1916-2009.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiii]  Folkenflik, David. “Walter Cronkite, The Nation’s Narrator, Dies At 92.” //NPR//. NPR, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.npr.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ templates/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ story/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ story.php?storyId=106770499>. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiv]  Ibid. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xv]  Bradlee. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xvi]  Ibid. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[xvii]  Berkowitz. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xviii]  The // Washington Post //. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xix]  “Watergate Revisited.” //CNN AllPolitics//. CNN, 1997. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.cnn.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ ALLPOLITICS/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ 1997/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ gen/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ resources/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ watergate/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">‌ index.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xx]  Ibid.