Watergate scandal

== Reactions ==

=== Australia ===
Australian Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]] referred to the American presidency's "parlous position" without the direct wording of the Watergate scandal during [[Question Time]] in May 1973.<ref>[[Hansard#Australia|Hansard]], May 30, 1973 [https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/hansard80/hansardr80/1973-05-30/0011/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929162544/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/hansard80/hansardr80/1973-05-30/0011/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%252Fpdf|date=September 29, 2019}}</ref> The following day responding to a question upon "the vital importance of future United States–Australia relations", Whitlam parried that the usage of the word 'Watergate' was not his.<ref>[[Hansard#Australia|Hansard]], May 31, 1973 [https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/hansard80/hansardr80/1973-05-31/0004/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002063938/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/hansard80/hansardr80/1973-05-31/0004/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%252Fpdf|date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> [[Australia–United States relations|United States–Australia relations]] have been considered to have figured as influential when, in November 1975, Australia experienced its own [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|constitutional crisis]] which led to the dismissal of the Whitlam Government by [[Sir John Kerr]], the [[Governor-General of Australia|Australian Governor-General]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/unholy-fury-review-insightful-account-of-whitlamnixon-spat-20150525-gh2mr9.html |title=Unholy Fury review |date=May 15, 2015 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810210350/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/unholy-fury-review-insightful-account-of-whitlamnixon-spat-20150525-gh2mr9.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Max Suich has suggested that the US was involved in ending the Whitlam government.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/whitlam-death-revives-doubts-of-us-role-in-his-sacking-20141030-11erze |title=Whitlam death revives doubts of US role in his sacking |last=Suich |first=Max |date=November 3, 2014 |publisher=[[Australian Financial Review]] |access-date=September 29, 2019 |archive-date=September 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929041838/https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/whitlam-death-revives-doubts-of-us-role-in-his-sacking-20141030-11erze |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== China ===
Chinese then-Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] said in October 1973 that the scandal did not affect the [[China–United States relations|relations between China and the United States]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sulzberger |first=C. L. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6vdRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7052%2C5281708 |title=The Thoughts of Premier Chou |date=October 30, 1973 |work=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]] |access-date=November 21, 2016 |agency=''The New York Times'' Service |page=4–A |via=Google News |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215042/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6vdRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7052%2C5281708 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the then–Prime Minister [[Kukrit Pramoj]] of Thailand in July 1975, Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] called the Watergate scandal "the result of 'too much [[freedom of speech|freedom of political expression]] in the U.S.{{'"}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GppKAAAAIBAJ&pg=1961%2C3810476 |title=Mao Tse-tung Said to Hold Former Opinion of Nixon |date=July 10, 1975 |work=[[Nashua Telegraph]] |access-date=November 22, 2014 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |page=25 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215105/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GppKAAAAIBAJ&pg=1961%2C3810476 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mao called it "an indication of [[American isolationism]], which he saw as 'disastrous' for Europe". He further said, "Do Americans really want to go isolationist?&nbsp;... In the two [[world war]]s, the Americans came [in] very late, but all the same, they did come in. They haven't been isolationist in practice."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chamberlain |first=John |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RvdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3293%2C3013773 |title=Another Look at Mao Tse-tung |date=November 9, 1976 |work=[[Ludington Daily News]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |page=4 |via=[[Google News]] Archive |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421144740/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RvdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3293%2C3013773 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Japan ===
In August 1973, then–Prime Minister [[Kakuei Tanaka]] said that the scandal had "no cancelling influence on U.S. leadership in the world". Tanaka further said, "The pivotal role of the United States has not changed, so this internal affair will not be permitted to have an effect."<ref name="Freed1973">{{Cite news |last=Freed |first=Kenneth J. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vp8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=6874%2C2181142 |title=Watergate and Its Effects on Foreign Affairs Discussed |date=August 15, 1973 |work=[[Nashua Telegraph]] |access-date=November 25, 2014 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |page=21 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215246/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vp8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=6874%2C2181142 |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1975, Tanaka's successor, [[Takeo Miki]], said at a convention of the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]], "At the time of the Watergate issue in America, I was deeply moved by the scene in the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], where each member of the committee expressed his own or her own heart based upon the spirit of the American Constitution. It was this attitude, I think, that rescued American democracy."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Halloran |first=Richard |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xx8qAAAAIBAJ&pg=7253%2C5576885 |title=Watergate Effects Abroad Are Slight |date=March 20, 1975 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 25, 2014 |page=13 |via=Google News Archive |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421144741/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xx8qAAAAIBAJ&pg=7253%2C5576885 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Singapore ===
Then-Prime Minister [[Lee Kuan Yew]] said in August 1973 that the scandal may have led the United States to lessen its interests and commitments in world affairs, to weaken its ability to enforce the [[Paris Peace Accords]] on Vietnam, and to not react to violations of the Accords. Lee said further that the United States "makes the future of this peace in Indonesia an extremely bleak one with grave consequence for the contiguous states." Lee then blamed the scandal for economic inflation in Singapore because the [[Singapore dollar]] was pegged to the United States dollar at the time because Singapore had "unwisely" believed that the U.S. dollar was stronger than the British [[pound sterling]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A5EjAAAAIBAJ&pg=3593%2C1690124 |title=Watergate may sap U.S. power |date=August 8, 1973 |work=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |location=Montreal |page=2 |via=Google News Archive |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421144743/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A5EjAAAAIBAJ&pg=3593%2C1690124 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Soviet Union ===
In June 1973, when chairman [[Leonid Brezhnev]] arrived in the United States to have a one-week meeting with Nixon,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moseley |first=Ray |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cKJUAAAAIBAJ&pg=7240%2C4226076 |title=Brezhnev to ignore Watergate in talks |date=June 16, 1973 |work=[[Daily Record (Washington)|Daily Record]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |agency=[[United Press International]] |issue=142 |location=Ellensburg, Washington |volume=72 |page=1 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215101/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cKJUAAAAIBAJ&pg=7240%2C4226076 |url-status=live }}</ref> Brezhnev told the press, "I do not intend to refer to that matter—[the Watergate]. It would be completely indecent for me to refer to it&nbsp;... My attitude toward Mr. Nixon is of very great respect." When one reporter suggested that Nixon and his position with Brezhnev were "weakened" by the scandal, Brezhnev replied, "It does not enter my mind to think whether Mr. Nixon has lost or gained any influence because of the affair." Then he said further that he had respected Nixon because of Nixon's "realistic and constructive approach to [[Soviet Union–United States relations]]&nbsp;... passing from an era of confrontation to an era of negotiations between nations".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XTkoAAAAIBAJ&pg=7434%2C4352706 |title=Brezhnev to Shun Talk of Watergate |date=June 15, 1973 |work=[[The Milwaukee Journal]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |at=Part 1, page 3 |via=Google News Archive }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
Talks between Nixon and Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]] may have been bugged. Heath did not publicly display his anger, with aides saying that he was unconcerned about having been bugged at the White House. According to officials, Heath commonly had notes taken of his public discussions with Nixon so a recording would not have bothered him. However, officials said that if Heath's private talks with Nixon were bugged, then he would have been outraged.<ref name="Heath">{{Cite news |last=Gavshon |first=Arthur L. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yHsgAAAAIBAJ&pg=1093%2C2199417 |title=Britain's Leader Shows Restraint Over Bugging |date=July 18, 1973 |work=The Lewiston Daily Sun |access-date=November 25, 2014 |author-link=Arthur Gavshon |via=Google News Archive |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215246/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yHsgAAAAIBAJ&pg=1093%2C2199417 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Iran ===
Iranian then-Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] told the press in 1973, "I want to say quite emphatically&nbsp;... that everything that would weaken or jeopardize the President's power to make decisions in split seconds would represent grave danger for the whole world."<ref name=Freed1973/>

=== Kenya ===
An unnamed Kenyan senior official of [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kenya)|Foreign Affairs Ministry]] accused Nixon of lacking interest in Africa and its politics and then said, "American President is so enmeshed in domestic problems created by Watergate that foreign policy seems suddenly to have taken a {{sic|back seat}}."<ref name="Freed1973" />

=== Cuba ===
Cuban then-leader [[Fidel Castro]] said in his December 1974 interview that, of the crimes committed by Cuban exiles, like killings, attacks on Cuban ports, and spying, the Watergate burglaries and wiretappings were "probably the least of [them]".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HYc1AAAAIBAJ&pg=4339%2C455617 |title=Fidel says Watergate least of exiles' crimes |date=December 2, 1974 |work=[[The Miami News]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |agency=[[Reuters]] |page=2A |via=Google News Archive }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== United States ===
After the [[fall of Saigon]] ended the Vietnam War, Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] said in May 1975 that, if the scandal had not caused Nixon to resign, and Congress had not overridden Nixon's veto of the [[War Powers Resolution]], [[North Vietnam]] would not have captured [[South Vietnam]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=soMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1077%2C746828 |title=The name-calling in the wake of defeat |date=May 6, 1975 |work=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=November 23, 2014 |location=Malaysia |via=Google News Archive |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215143/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=soMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1077%2C746828 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kissinger told the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]] in January 1977 that Nixon's presidential powers weakened during his tenure, thus (as rephrased by the media) "prevent[ing] the United States from exploiting the [scandal]".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kFwqAAAAIBAJ&pg=1509%2C3522410 |title=Scandal Hurt Policy – Kissinger |date=January 11, 1977 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |access-date=November 21, 2016 |agency=United Press International |page=A-4 |via=Google News |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421144745/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kFwqAAAAIBAJ&pg=1509%2C3522410 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The publisher of ''[[The Sacramento Union]]'', John P. McGoff, said in January 1975 that the media overemphasized the scandal, though he called it "an important issue", overshadowing more serious topics, like a declining economy and an [[1970s energy crisis|energy crisis]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=75Q1AAAAIBAJ&pg=3236%2C2592713 |title=Publisher criticizes the media |date=January 30, 1975 |work=Lodi News-Sentinel |access-date=October 24, 2015 |agency=United Press International |via=Google News Archive |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421144745/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=75Q1AAAAIBAJ&pg=3236%2C2592713 |url-status=live }}</ref>