Watergate
Watergate was a 1970s scandal involving the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"], TV: The Impossible Astronaut [+]Loading...["The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
In 1972, five burglars were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Complex. Their plan was to steal information that would damage the Democrats' chances in that year's presidential election. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"]) The reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein found out about it and published articles about it in The Washington Post. (AUDIO: Judgement Day [+]Loading...["Judgement Day (SJA audio story)"])
Following Nixon's victory in the election, (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"]) the US Senate Watergate Committee investigated the reports. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)"]) The burglars were found to be linked to Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President following the investigation. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"])
Much of Nixon's activities in the White House were tape recorded. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)"]) These were known as the Nixon tapes. (COMIC: Air Force Gone [+]Loading...["Air Force Gone (comic story)"]) A phone call between Nixon and Melody Pond (TV: The Impossible Astronaut [+]Loading...["The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)"]) was transcribed as part of the investigation into Watergate. A transcription of the Eleventh Doctor arriving in the Oval Office was also made available to the Senate committee, though Nixon refused to identify the Doctor, citing reasons of international security. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)"]) Eventually, evidence emerged in other tapes that Nixon had attempted to cover up his own involvement in the burglary. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"]) Facing impeachment, Nixon resigned as President on 9 August 1974, (PROSE: The Time Lord Letters [+]Loading...["The Time Lord Letters (novel)"]) with his Vice President Gerald Ford succeeding him. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"])
According to the Third Doctor, Nixon held onto the Watergate tapes because he thought he was invincible. (AUDIO: The Paradise of Death [+]Loading...["The Paradise of Death (audio story)"])
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
Marwan Hamwai believed everyone in the Western world had heard of the Watergate scandal. (PROSE: Dancing the Code [+]Loading...["Dancing the Code (novel)"])
Ian Chesterton watched several post-Watergate thriller films. As a result, he had a distrust of the American intelligence services. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy [+]Loading...["The Face of the Enemy (novel)"])
In 1977, former President Nixon was interviewed by British television presenter David Frost, who accused him of lying and committing criminal acts during the scandal. These interviews were watched by over 45 million people. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"]) According to an excised transcript of the interview, Nixon gave his views on Watergate and stated that it was the part of his legacy he would be remembered for, but in terms of the "big picture", it was "peanuts". Nixon went on to reveal that he was saving the world "not from nukes or commies" but from "real, goddamn aliens." Nixon did not elaborate further, prompting Frost to ask if they should break for lunch. (PROSE: Stop, Thief! [+]Loading...["Stop, Thief! (short story)"])
River Song noted President Nixon's involvement in Watergate and the Vietnam War before adding that there was "some good stuff too". (TV: The Impossible Astronaut [+]Loading...["The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)"])
In 2011, Rani Chandra wrote an essay about the Watergate scandal. (AUDIO: Judgement Day [+]Loading...["Judgement Day (SJA audio story)"])
The classified Nixon tapes were left for future Presidents to know of the Doctor. The President of Earth, Vera Fusek, made the connection between the Doctor and the Nixon tapes when she encountered the Eleventh Doctor herself. (COMIC: Air Force Gone [+]Loading...["Air Force Gone (comic story)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the real world, President Nixon's precise involvement in the Watergate burglary remains unknown. Some sections of the "Nixon tapes" were lost. The "smoking gun" tape that eventually implicated Nixon proved that he tried to prevent the FBI from investigating the break-in.[1] In addition, there were also attempts to pay hush money to the conspirators,[2] although these details are unstated in Tricky Dicky [+]Loading...["Tricky Dicky (short story)"].
