Watergate scandal

== Aftermath ==

=== Final legal actions and effect on the law profession ===
[[Charles Colson]] pled guilty to charges concerning the [[Daniel Ellsberg#Fielding break-in|Daniel Ellsberg]] case; in exchange, the indictment against him for covering up the activities of the [[Committee to Re-elect the President]] was dropped, as it was against Strachan. The remaining five members of the Watergate Seven indicted in March went on trial in October 1974. On January 1, 1975, all but Parkinson were found guilty. In 1976, the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Mardian; subsequently, all charges against him were dropped.

Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell exhausted their appeals in 1977. Ehrlichman entered prison in 1976, followed by the other two in 1977. Since Nixon and many senior officials involved in Watergate were lawyers, the scandal severely tarnished the public image of the legal profession.<ref>Anita L. Allen, ''The New Ethics: A Tour of the 21st Century Landscape'' (New York: Miramax Books, 2004), 101.</ref><ref>Thomas L. Shaffer & Mary M. Shaffer, ''American Lawyers and Their Communities: Ethics in the Legal Profession'' (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991), p. 1.</ref><ref>Jerold Auerbach, ''Unequal Justice: Lawyers and Social Change in Modern America'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976), p. 301.</ref>

The Watergate scandal resulted in 69 individuals being charged and 48 being found guilty, including:<ref name="convictions">{{Cite news |last=Bill Marsh |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/weekinreview/ideas-trends-when-criminal-charges-reach-the-white-house.html |title=Ideas & Trends – When Criminal Charges Reach the White House |date=October 30, 2005 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618094717/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/weekinreview/ideas-trends-when-criminal-charges-reach-the-white-house.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

# [[John N. Mitchell]], [[Attorney General of the United States]] who resigned to become Director of [[Committee to Re-elect the President]], convicted of perjury about his involvement in the Watergate break-in. Served 19 months of a one- to four-year sentence.<ref name=nixonmitchell />
# [[Jeb Stuart Magruder]], Deputy Director of [[Committee to Re-elect the President]],<ref name=mccordreturns /> pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to the burglary, and was sentenced to 10 months to four years in prison, of which he served seven months before being paroled.<ref name="ReferenceC">Time, March 11, 1974, "The Nation: The Other Nixon Men"</ref>
# [[Frederick C. LaRue]], Advisor to [[John N. Mitchell|John Mitchell]], convicted of obstruction of justice. He served four and a half months.<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[H. R. Haldeman]], [[White House Chief of Staff]], convicted of conspiracy to the burglary, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/haldeman.html |title=Washington Post profile of Haldeman |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814104855/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/haldeman.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[John Ehrlichman]], [[United States Domestic Policy Council|White House Domestic Affairs Advisor]], convicted of conspiracy to the burglary, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stout |first=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/16/us/john-d-ehrlichman-nixon-aide-jailed-for-watergate-dies-at-73.html |title=John D. Ehrlichman, Nixon Aide Jailed for Watergate, Dies at 73 |date=February 16, 1999 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223220417/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/16/us/john-d-ehrlichman-nixon-aide-jailed-for-watergate-dies-at-73.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[Egil Krogh]], [[United States Secretary of Transportation|United States Under Secretary of Transportation]], sentenced to six months for his part in the [[Daniel Ellsberg#Fielding break-in|Daniel Ellsberg]] case.<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[John W. Dean III]], [[White House Counsel]], convicted of obstruction of justice, later reduced to felony offenses and sentenced to time already served, which totaled four months.<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[Dwight L. Chapin]], [[Secretary to the President of the United States]], convicted of perjury.<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[Maurice Stans]], [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] who resigned to become Finance Chairman of [[Committee to Re-elect the President]], convicted of multiple counts of illegal campaigning, fined $5,000 (in 1975 – ${{Inflation|US|5000|1975|r=-2|fmt=c}} today).<ref name="WaterGuilt">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/15/us/maurice-stans-dies-at-90-led-nixon-commerce-dept.html |title=Maurice Stans Dies at 90; Led Nixon Commerce Dept. |last=David Rohde |date=April 15, 1998 |website=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-date=June 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608034508/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/15/us/maurice-stans-dies-at-90-led-nixon-commerce-dept.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[Herbert W. Kalmbach]], personal attorney to Nixon, convicted of illegal campaigning. Served 191 days in prison and fined $10,000 (in 1974 – ${{Inflation|US|10000|1974|r=-2|fmt=c}} today).<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[Charles W. Colson]], Director of the [[White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs|Office of Public Liaison]], convicted of obstruction of justice. Served seven months in Federal Maxwell Prison.<ref name="time.com">Time, June 24, 1977, "The Law: Watergate Bargains: Were They Necessary?"</ref>
# [[Herbert L. Porter]], aide to the [[Committee to Re-elect the President]]. Convicted of perjury.<ref name="ReferenceC" />
# [[G. Gordon Liddy]], Special Investigations Group, convicted of masterminding the burglary, original sentence of up to 20 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name="burglarsentence">{{Cite web |url=http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032373wgsentences&scale=0#a032373wgsentences |title=March 23, 1973: Watergate Burglars Sentenced; McCord Letter Revealed |website=[[History Commons]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006163431/http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032373wgsentences&scale=0#a032373wgsentences |url-status=dead }}</ref> Served {{frac|4|1|2}} years in federal prison.<ref name=HISTwhereRthey/>
# [[E. Howard Hunt]], security consultant, convicted of masterminding and overseeing the burglary, original sentence of up to 35 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name=burglarsentence/> Served 33 months in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/e-howard-hunt-262375#synopsis |title=E. Howard Hunt Biography Writer, Spy (1918–2007) |website=[[Fyi (TV network)#As The Biography Channel|Bio]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006181652/http://www.biography.com/people/e-howard-hunt-262375#synopsis |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[James W. McCord Jr.]], convicted of six charges of burglary, conspiracy and wiretapping.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> Served two months in prison.<ref name="HISTwhereRthey">{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.com/news/watergate-where-are-they-now |title=Watergate: Where Are They Now? |last=Jennie Cohen |date=June 15, 2012 |website=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006071840/http://www.history.com/news/watergate-where-are-they-now |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[Virgilio Gonzalez]], convicted of burglary, original sentence of up to 40 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name=burglarsentence/> Served 13 months in prison.<ref name=HISTwhereRthey/>
# [[Bernard Barker]], convicted of burglary, original sentence of up to 40 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name=burglarsentence/> Served 18 months in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Albin Krebs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/28/nyregion/notes-on-people-bernard-barker-to-retire-from-miami-job-early.html |title=Notes on People – Bernard Barker to Retire From Miami Job Early |date=January 28, 1982 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |last2=Robert McG. Thomas Jr. |name-list-style=amp |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006213659/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/28/nyregion/notes-on-people-bernard-barker-to-retire-from-miami-job-early.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[Eugenio Martínez]], convicted of burglary, original sentence of up to 40 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name=burglarsentence/> Served 15 months in prison.<ref name="ABCwhereRthey">{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/watergate-burglars-now/story?id=16567157#4 |title=Watergate Burglars: Where Are They Now? |last1=Jilian Fama |last2=Meghan Kiesel |date=June 17, 2012 |website=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] |access-date=September 30, 2014 |name-list-style=amp |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092508/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/watergate-burglars-now/story?id=16567157#4 |url-status=live }}</ref>
# [[Frank Sturgis]], convicted of burglary, original sentence of up to 40 years in prison.<ref name="ReferenceC" /><ref name=burglarsentence/> Served 10 months in prison.<ref name=ABCwhereRthey/>

To defuse public demand for direct federal regulation of lawyers (as opposed to leaving it in the hands of state [[bar associations]] or courts), the [[American Bar Association]] (ABA) launched two major reforms. First, the ABA decided that its existing [[American Bar Association Model Code of Professional Responsibility|Model Code of Professional Responsibility]] (promulgated 1969) was a failure. In 1983, the ABA replaced the Model Code with the [[American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct|Model Rules of Professional Conduct]].<ref>Theodore Schneyer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0JpNiF0ieOgC&pg=PA104 "Professionalism as Politics: The Making of a Modern Legal Ethics Code"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424060648/https://books.google.com/books?id=0JpNiF0ieOgC&pg=PA104 |date=April 24, 2023 }} in ''Lawyers' Ideals/Lawyers' Practices: Transformations in the American Legal Profession'', eds. Robert L. Nelson, David M. Trubek, & Rayman L. Solomon, 95–143 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992), 104.</ref>  The Model Rules have been adopted in part or in whole by all 50 states. The Model Rules's preamble contains an emphatic reminder that the legal profession can remain self-governing only if lawyers behave properly.<ref>[https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_preamble_scope/ Preamble] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106224913/https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_preamble_scope/ |date=November 6, 2018 }}, ''Model Rules of Professional Conduct'' (Chicago: American Bar Association, 2020), at ¶¶ 10–12.</ref> Second, the ABA promulgated a requirement that law students at ABA-approved law schools take a course in [[professional responsibility]] (which means they must study the Model Rules). The requirement remains in effect.<ref>{{Cite book |last=American Bar Association |title=ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools 2015–2016 |date=2015 |publisher=American Bar Association |isbn=978-1-63425-352-9 |location=Chicago |page=16 |chapter=Standard 303, Curriculum |access-date=December 15, 2016 |chapter-url=http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/misc/legal_education/Standards/2015_2016_aba_standards_for_approval_of_law_schools_final.authcheckdam.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221004552/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/misc/legal_education/Standards/2015_2016_aba_standards_for_approval_of_law_schools_final.authcheckdam.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

On June 24 and 25, 1975, Nixon gave secret testimony to a [[grand jury]]. According to news reports at the time, Nixon answered questions about the {{frac|18|1|2}}-minute tape gap, altering White House tape transcripts turned over to the House Judiciary Committee, using the [[Internal Revenue Service]] to harass political enemies, and a $100,000 contribution from billionaire [[Howard Hughes]]. Aided by the [[Public Citizen Litigation Group]], the historian [[Stanley Kutler]], who has written several books about Nixon and Watergate and had successfully sued for the 1996 public release of the [[Nixon White House tapes]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.news.wisc.edu/20004 |title=Historian's work gives a glimpse of Nixon "unplugged" |date=November 8, 2011 |website=University of Wisconsin-Madison |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930211322/http://www.news.wisc.edu/20004 |url-status=live }}</ref> sued for the release of the transcripts of the Nixon grand jury testimony.<ref name=Secret/>

On July 29, 2011, U.S. District Judge [[Royce Lamberth]] granted Kutler's request, saying historical interests trumped privacy, especially considering that Nixon and other key figures were deceased, and most of the surviving figures had testified under oath, have been written about, or were interviewed. The transcripts were not immediately released pending the government's decision on whether to appeal.<ref name="Secret">[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nixon-watergate-idUSTRE76S4ZH20110729 "Nixon's secret Watergate testimony ordered released"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303132204/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nixon-watergate-idUSTRE76S4ZH20110729 |date=March 3, 2023 }}, Reuters, July 29, 2011</ref> They were released in their entirety on November 10, 2011, although the names of people still alive were redacted.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kim Geiger |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-nixon-testimony-20111110,0,6436502.story |title=Nixon's long-secret grand jury testimony released |date=November 10, 2011 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=November 10, 2011 |archive-date=November 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111110218/http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-nixon-testimony-20111110,0,6436502.story |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Texas A&M University–Central Texas]] professor [[Luke Nichter]] wrote the chief judge of the federal court in Washington to release hundreds of pages of sealed records of the [[Watergate Seven]]. In June 2012 the U.S. Department of Justice wrote the court that it would not object to their release with some exceptions.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/02/long-sealed-watergate-documents-may-be-released/ |title=Long-sealed Watergate documents may be released Associated Press reprinted by Fox News June 2, 2012 |date=June 2, 2012 |work=Fox News |access-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-date=May 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523230629/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/02/long-sealed-watergate-documents-may-be-released/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 2, 2012, Watergate trial records for G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord were ordered unsealed by Federal Judge [[Royce Lamberth]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/fedl_judge_unseals_watergate_trial_records_for_g._gordon_liddy_and_james_mc/ |title=Fed'l Judge Unseals Watergate Trial Records for G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord ABA Journal November 2, 2012 |date=November 2, 2012 |website=Abajournal.com |access-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080402/http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/fedl_judge_unseals_watergate_trial_records_for_g._gordon_liddy_and_james_mc/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Political and cultural reverberations ===
According to Thomas J. Johnson, a professor of journalism at [[University of Texas at Austin]], Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] predicted during Nixon's final days that history would remember Nixon as a great president and that Watergate would be relegated to a "minor footnote".<ref>Thomas J. Johnson, ''Watergate and the Resignation of Richard Nixon: Impact of a Constitutional Crisis'', "The Rehabilitation of Richard Nixon", eds. P. Jeffrey and Thomas Maxwell-Long: Washington, D.C., CO. Press, 2004, pp. 148–149.</ref>

When Congress investigated the scope of the president's legal powers, it belatedly found that consecutive presidential administrations had declared the United States to be in a continuous open-ended [[state of emergency]] since 1950. Congress enacted the [[National Emergencies Act]] in 1976 to regulate such declarations. The Watergate scandal left such an impression on the national and international consciousness that many scandals since then have been labeled with the "[[List of scandals with "-gate" suffix|-gate suffix]]".

[[File:1976 campaign button f.JPG|thumb|One of a variety of anti-Ford [[Pin-back button|buttons]] generated during the 1976 presidential election: it reads "Gerald&nbsp;... Pardon me!" and depicts a thief cracking a safe labeled "Watergate".]]

Disgust with the revelations about Watergate, the Republican Party, and Nixon strongly affected results of the [[1974 United States Senate elections|November 1974 Senate]] and [[1974 United States House of Representatives elections|House elections]], which took place three months after Nixon's resignation. The Democrats gained five seats in the Senate and forty-nine in the House (the newcomers were nicknamed "[[Watergate Babies]]"). Congress passed legislation that changed [[Campaign finance in the United States|campaign financing]], to amend the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]], as well as to require financial disclosures by key government officials (via the [[Ethics in Government Act]]). Other types of disclosures, such as releasing recent income tax forms, became expected, though not legally required. Presidents since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] had recorded many of their conversations but the practice purportedly ended after Watergate.

Ford's pardon of Nixon played a major role in his defeat in the [[1976 United States presidential election|1976 presidential election]] against [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref name="shanescott" />

In 1977, Nixon arranged [[The Nixon Interviews|an interview]] with British journalist [[David Frost]] in the hope of improving his legacy. Based on a previous interview in 1968,<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,947901-2,00.html |title=The Nation: David Can Be a Goliath |date=May 9, 1977 |magazine=Time |access-date=January 15, 2015 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215209/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,947901-2,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> he believed that Frost would be an easy interviewer and was taken aback by Frost's incisive questions. The interview displayed the entire scandal to the American people, and Nixon formally apologized, but his legacy remained tarnished.<ref name="NYTimes David Frost">{{Cite news |last=Stelter |first=Brian |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/world/europe/david-frost-known-for-nixon-interview-dead-at-74.html |title=David Frost, Interviewer Who Got Nixon to Apologize for Watergate, Dies at 74 |date=September 1, 2013 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223121327/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/world/europe/david-frost-known-for-nixon-interview-dead-at-74.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The 2008 movie ''[[Frost/Nixon (film)|Frost/Nixon]]'' is a media depiction of this.

In the aftermath of Watergate, "[[follow the money]]" became part of the American lexicon and is widely believed to have been uttered by Mark Felt to Woodward and Bernstein. The phrase was never used in the 1974 book ''[[All the President's Men]]'' and did not become associated with it until the [[All the President's Men (film)|movie of the same name]] was released in 1976.<ref>"Follow The Money: On The Trail Of Watergate Lore", NPR, June 16, 2012</ref> The 2017 movie ''[[Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House]]'' is about Felt's role in the Watergate scandal and his identity as Deep Throat.

The parking garage where Woodward and Felt met in Rosslyn still stands. Its significance was noted by Arlington County with a historical marker in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2011/08/17/historical-marker-installed-outside-deep-throat-garage/ |title=Historical Marker Installed Outside 'Deep Throat' Garage |date=August 17, 2011 |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106015713/https://www.arlnow.com/2011/08/17/historical-marker-installed-outside-deep-throat-garage/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=55498 |title=Watergate Investigation Historical Marker |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=January 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070810/https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=55498 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017 it was announced that the garage would be demolished as part of construction of an apartment building on the site; the developers announced that the site's significance would be memorialized within the new complex.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/parking-garage-where-deep-throat-spilled-beans-watergate-being-torn-down-180961733/ |title=The Parking Garage Where Deep Throat Spilled the Beans on Watergate Is Being Torn Down |last=Lewis |first=Danny |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=March 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303225141/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/parking-garage-where-deep-throat-spilled-beans-watergate-being-torn-down-180961733/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Maher |first=Kris |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/watergate-parking-garage-to-be-torn-down-1402874716 |title=Watergate Parking Garage to Be Torn Down |date=June 20, 2014 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=January 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124005742/https://www.wsj.com/articles/watergate-parking-garage-to-be-torn-down-1402874716 |url-status=live }}</ref>