Water Gate Scandal and the Iran Contra Affair

Water Gate Scandal and the Iran Contra Affair

Over the past 50 years, there have been three major political scandals in the United States, one of the greatest being the Watergate scandal on June 17, 1972. This happened during the regime of President Richard Nixon. The term Watergate refers to a complex web of political scandals in 1972 and 1974. The scandal began after the re-election of President Nixon, when two burglars were arrested (Sirica, 1979).

The burglars were tapping wires into the Watergate hotel when they were arrested. It was noted that a lot of money was found in one of the Watergate burglar’s account. In 1972, President Nixon won the re-election with a landslide, something that has never happened in the history of the American politics. Investigations were done it was revealed that Nixon had knowledge of burglary and that he was also involved in the cover up of the whole story (Sirica, 1979).

The 1980s Iran-Contra Affairs in the Regan administration of foreign policies that were towards two seemingly unrelated countries, Iran and Nicaragua. The United State believed that the changes that had taken place in 1970s did threaten their national interests. The United States had had policies for a long time that were fair until the Iran-Contra Affairs. During this time, radical changes took happened in the political arena of Iran, and the U.S backed government was overthrown. It was because of the unfriendliness of the new Iranian government to the U.S, which even held some American hostage that the hostility began. These are some factors that led to the scandal (Ranstorp, 1997).

In conclusion, scandals have two common things; there is lying to the public and trying to cover up that the scandals never happened with the political heads knowledge.

WORK CITED

Sirica, J. (1979). To Set the Record Straight: The Break-in, the Tapes, the Conspirators, the Pardon. New York: Norton.

Ranstorp, M.,(1997) Hizb'allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press