Deciphering The Presidentials Tapes Watergate

A detailed Summary of Deciphering The Presidentials Tapes Watergate

Ever since I can remember I have always heard, whether over the news or on an educational channel, about the Watergate scandal. I never knew what the Watergate scandal was about, but I did know that it had to do with one our former Presidents. Before I read "Breaking into Watergate" I had no clue about all the lies and betrayals that went on in the highest and most prestigious office in America. It is very important as a history major to have read this article so that I am no longer oblivious to what went on in the Oval Office prior to June 7, 1972.

As I started to read through this article the realization of what the Watergate scandal was, became more and more clear. The information that I read was very upsetting and discomforting. To know that a President of the United State would be so deceitful and disloyal to not only his piers but also to the people of the United States is very upsetting but unfortunately is not too uncommon these days. Reading about President Nixon trying to bribe witnesses with money and trying to blackmail the opposition was mind boggling. President Nixon did almost everything perfect and might of slipped past the accusations except for the fact that he forgot a

"Breaking Into Watergate" was well documented with factual evidence. The article gave me a sense of what really went on in the Oval Office and what kind of man Richard Nixon really was. If not for the recorded tapes and transcripts we would have never seen or known the truth about the Watergate Scandal.

The problems with tapes and transcripts are that they can be altered, destroyed, or so old that they are illegible or cannot be heard good enough to make out what is being said. Two historians that tried to decipher recorded tapes of President Kennedy reported that "the large majority of the tapes crackle, rumble, and hiss. Conversation is as hard to make out as on a factory floor or in a football stadium(BIW,344)." Stanley Cutler said, "The process of deciphering the tapes is endless, different ears pick up a once unintelligible comment, or correct a previous understanding(BIW,347)." Other transcripts have had omissions, deletions, and unintelligibles that the government has removed for reasons of either personal privacy or national security(BIW,347). Tapes and transcripts are a good source of history but are tangible, which makes them subjects to tampering.

The Nixon tapes not only hold a fascination for historians but also for the general public because the tapes show how devious and disloyal the, what is to be said, most trusted man in America was. Presidential tapes became the subjects of newspaper stories, magazines articles, and television news programs(BIW,346). Even if the outlines of Watergate were clear enough without the tapes, the transcripts remain invaluable in helping us to understand Richard Nixon the man(BIW,352). Historians

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Approximate Word count = 1119
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History