Chapter 25 – 1970’s

Vocabulary

  1. Stagflation
  2. Realpolitik
  3. Détente
  4. Silent Majority
  5. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
  6. Henry Kissinger
  7. Watergate
  8. Saturday Night Massacre
  9. Apartheid
  10. National Energy Act
  11. Department of Energy
  12. Three Mile Island Accident
  13. Panama Canal Treaties
  14. Personal Computer
  1. Voting Rights Act of 1975
  1. Sunbelt
  1. Neil Armstrong
  1. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
  1. Apollo 11
  1. Skylab
    Middle East

Watergate and the Constitution

Background

When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 after the Watergate scandal, it was only the second time in history that impeachment of a President had been considered. Many of the actions in the case had some constitutional significance. The following document deals with a specific question: Should the Watergate Special Prosecutor seek an indictment of the former President?

The document is two pages of a three-page memorandum written for the Watergate Special Prosecutor in August 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency and before President Ford pardoned him. (The third page adds one more item to the pro-indictment list and adds another category, "delay decision.")

The Office of the Special Prosecutor was created by Executive Order in May 1973 and faced the question two times to charge Richard Nixon. The first time was in March 1974, when the grand jury handed down indictments of seven White House aides for perjury and obstruction of justice (aides that worked for Nixon.)

President Nixon was named an "unindicted coconspirator" at that time because Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski advised the grand jury that he felt a sitting President could not be indicted. In his view, the House Judiciary Committee was the appropriate body under the Constitution for examining evidence relating to the President.

The House Judiciary Committee pursued its constitutional mandate and drew up five articles of impeachment, three of which they approved in the summer of 1974. When the President was forced by the Supreme Court in August 1974 to surrender tape recordings that revealed his knowledge of the cover-up, even his staunchest supporters in the House admitted that they would have to vote in favor of impeachment. On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency and became citizen Richard Nixon.

Thus, for the second time the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office faced the question of whether or not to seek an indictment. Article I, section 3, clause 7 of the Constitution= a person removed from office by impeachment and conviction "shall nevertheless be liable to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to the Law." However, it does not include guidelines in the Constitution about a President who has resigned. The memorandum outlines reasons for and against pursuing an indictment against Richard Nixon.

It is taken from Records Relating to Richard M. Nixon, Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, Record Group 460.

Written Document Analysis Worksheet

1. / TYPE OF DOCUMENT (Check one):
___ Newspaper
___ Letter
___ Patent
___ Memorandum / ___ Map
___ Telegram
___ Press release
___ Report / ___ Advertisement
___ Congressional record
___ Census report
___ Other
2. / UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE DOCUMENT (Check one or more):
___ Interesting letterhead
___ Handwritten
___ Typed
___ Seals / ___ Notations
___ "RECEIVED" stamp
___ Other
3. / DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT:
______
4. / AUTHOR (OR CREATOR) OF THE DOCUMENT:
______
POSITION (TITLE):
______
5. / FOR WHAT AUDIENCE WAS THE DOCUMENT WRITTEN?
______
6. / DOCUMENT INFORMATION (There are many possible ways to answer A-E.)
A. List three things the author said that you think are important:
______
______
______
B. Why do you think this document was written?
______
______
C. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the document.
______
______
D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was written:
______
______
E. Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document:
______
______

Designed and developed by the
Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408.

Justice Department Memorandum

Justice Department MemorandumConsidering Indictment of Richard M. Nixon

Would have been in favor of prosecuting the former President in August 1974 and why?

List reasons and examples from the document.

Choose the argument on each side that seems most persuasive.

You will be staging a debate debate on the question: Should the Watergate Special Prosecutor seek an indictment of Richard Nixon? Know both positions in case you have to argue

Activity copied from National Archives Teaching Activities


Forrest Gump

List historical events and social changes that you have learned about through the decades covered by the movie.

1950’s – Cold War / Elvis / Segregation

2 Events (Items newsworthy)2 Social Changes (Items in everyday life)

1960’s – Counterculture / Kennedy / Vietnam / Rights Movements

2 Events (Items newsworthy)2 Social Changes (Items in everyday life)

1970’s – Oil / Watergate / Nixon

2 Events (Items newsworthy)2 Social Changes (Items in everyday life)

Which event do you feel is most important from the movie? Why?

Lieutenant Dan and Bubba look at the Vietnam War differently. Discuss their viewpoints (why they were in the war and what they expected from the war) and why they are different.
Chapter 25 Review

Kennedy/Johnson’s policies and how they are different from Nixon’s (3)
“Enemies List”
What was it, who created it?
Nixon Doctrine
Spiro Agnew
Who was he, what did he do?
Ford pardoning Nixon
Why was this important?
Carter’s 1976 Campaign
What did he want to do if he got into office?
Carter asked Americans to do this to relieve the energy crisis (3)
Olympics in Moscow
Why are they important to the U.S.?
Ways life changed in the U.S.
(6)
Watergate
What was it, who was involved, how were the people involved and what happened to them?
Economic Situations during the 1970s (3)

1