Without Johnson and Kennedy, former Vice-President Richard NIxon finally managed to become the 37th President of the United States, with no serious opposition. After taking office Nixon discussed the Warren Report with aides H.R. Haldeman and Charles Colson and said, "It was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated."
The new Preident soon created a "dirty tricks" department to harass politcal opponents that included CIA veterans E. Howard Hunt, Frank Fiorini Sturgis, Bernard Barker, James McCord, G. Gordon Liddy, and many anti-Castro Cubans from Miami. Their job was to create situations and fabricate documents to embarrass and humiliate those who opposed Nixon and his policies. Their targets were the most pominent democratic leaders of the late 1960's and included Senator Edward Kennedy, and Presidentail hopefuls Edmund Muskie and George McGovern.
By early 1970 the war in Vietnam continued to divide the country and haunted Nixon as it had President Johnson before him. In Febrary National Security advisor Henry Kissinger began secret one-on-one meetings with North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho outside of Paris, and by the end of the year the Nixon administration ordered large numbers of troops were withdrawn from combat. As increasing numbers of troops were withdrawn and peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese dragged on, Nixon began to pursue detente with both communist China and the Soviet Union. He was eager to end the war in Vietnam and win back the support of the public before the election in the fall of 1972. But like Presidents Kennedy and Johnson before him, Nixon earned the animosity of the military industrial establishment as he tried to end their war in Vietnam.
As Nixon and his political machine geared up to run for a second term, the Committee to RE-Elect the President was formed. Known as "CREEP" the committeee was comprised mostly of CIA agents and was funded by the Mullen Company, a notorious CIA front. On June 17, 1972 members of CREEP, including Frank Sturgis, Bernard L. Barker, Virgllio R. Gonzales, Eugenio R. Martinez, and James W. McCord, broke into the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington. These people had access to the most sophisticated electronic and burglary tools in the world, yet they used an ordinary piece of tape to keep the latch on the door unlocked.
A security guard, Frank Wills, noticed the tape and called the Washington, D.C. police. When the police arrived at 2:30 A.M. and the men were arrested, and had in their possession a walkie-talkie, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35 mm cameras, lock picks, pencil-sized teargas guns, and bugging devices. Their tools made it appear that they though they were going to "bug" the Democratic National headquarters, but most political analysts agree that their efforts were unnecessary. President Nixon was so far ahead of his opponents in the polls that to most political observers the "Watergate break-in" didn't make any sense.
In jail the veteran intelligence agents said nothing, but the police found E. Howard Hunt's telephone number on one of the men. The following day the police learned that one of the men worked for the Committee to Re-Elect the President, which soon led investigators to the White House. The FBI soon began an investigation.
(According to E. Howard Hunt, the burglars were trying to learn what information the Democrats had concerning President Kennedy's assassination. Frank Sturgis(Fiorini) said, "The reason we burglarized the Watergate was because Nixon was interested in stopping news leaking related to the photos of *our role* in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy." OUR ROLE IN THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY??? Hunt and Sturgis' accusations made it appear as though Nixon was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy, which would have destroyed his political career.)
Less than a week after the break-in, and long before the Watergate burglary made national headlines, Nixon and his Chief of Staff, H.R. Halderman, discussed how to stop the FBI investigation. Nixon told Haldeman to ask CIA Director Richard Helms to pressure FBI Director L. Patrick Gray into curtailing the FBI's investigation. Helms refused, perhaps because he may have been part of the plot to destroy Nixon politically.
Two months later veteran CIA agent E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy were arrested as co-conspirators and indictments were issued on September 15, 1972. Within a month it became clear that all of the men involved in the Watergate break-in were linked to the CIA and to the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).
(Hunt, while in jail, attempted to blackmail the President by threatening to expose many of Nixon's "secrets." White House Chief of Staff John Ehlichman responded by ordering FBI Director L. Patrick Gray to remove the contents of Hunt's safe and "deep six" them. On December 8, 1972 Hunt's wife, former CIA agent Dorothy Wetzel Hunt, was carrying a large amount of cash and was killed when United Airlines flight #553 crashed prior to landing at Chicago's Midway Airport. Her death ended Hunt's threats to reveal Nixon's "dirty secrets."
After CIA Director Richard Helms refused Nixon's requests to pressure the FBI into curtailing their investigation, Nixon fired him on February 2, 1973. Five days later, on February 7, 1973, the Senate Watergate Committee was formed as public interest in the affair grew. (Helms was replaced by 53-old William Colby, a lawyer and OSS veteran from WWII.)
After firing the Director of the CIA President Nixon's days in the White House were numbered, just as Kennedy's days were numbered after he fired CIA Director Allen Dulles. Six weeks after Helms was fired his close friend James McCord, who had worked for the CIA in the Security Research Staff, wrote a letter to Watergate Special Prosecutor Judge John Sirica and said that he and other defendants had been under pressure by the White House to remain silent about the Watergate break-in.
From March 25-29 McCord testified before the committee and named Nixon's former Attorney General, John Mitchell, as their "overall boss" and said that John Dean and Jeb Magruder were also involved. He also claimed that E. Howard Hunt had promised him an executive (Presidential) pardon if he would plead guilty. CIA -asset James McCord's revelations were the beginning of the end for Nixon's term as President.
On June 25 White House counsel John Dean testified before the committee and further inplicated the President. He said that Nixon proposed to raise $1,000,000 to pay the Watergate burglars for their silence. He also told the committee that for the past 4 years the Nixon White House had used the powers of the Presidency to attack political enemies by harassing those who disagreed with his policies. Dean's testimony was supported by Donald Segretti who also told the committee about Nixon's "dirty tricks."
While Nixon continued to deny any knowledge of involvement in the Watergate affair one of his aides, Alexander Butterfield, told the Watergate committee on July 13 that Nixon had secretly recorded all conversations to and from the Oval Office. On July 17, 1973 the Senate Committee requested that President Nixon turn over the secretly recorded White House Tapes. Nixon, who feared exposing the contents of the tapes, refused and soon an 18-minute segment in one of the reels was erased. One of the recorded conversations, in which the President was talking with H.R.Haldeman, shows that Nixon was very concerned that E. Howard Hunt's involvement in the "Bay of Pigs Thing" would be exposed:
"....Hunt, you will-that will uncover a lot of things. You open that scab there's a hell of a lot of things and that we just feel that it would be very detrimental to have this thing go any further....This involves these Cubans, Hunt, and a lot of hanky-panky...the problem is that this will open up the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing...Just say....very bad to have this fellow Hunt, ah, he knows too damned much, if he was involved....If it gets out that this is all involved, the Cuba thing, it would be a fiasco. It would make the CIA look bad, it's going to make Hunt look bad, and it's going to blow the whole *Bay of Pigs thing* which we think would be unfortunate-both for the CIA and the country....."
(According to Haldeman, Nixon always used code words when talking abut President Kennedy's assassination. Haldeman wrote in his book, "The Ends of Power," that whenever Nixon referred to the "Bay of Pigs thing," he was referring to President Kennedy's assassination. If Haldeman is correct, then during their conversation President Nixon was very concerned that E. Howard Hunt would expose the CIA's involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy.)
(During the same conversation Nixon also referred to the "Cubans." (Felix Rodriguez, Bernard Barker, Eugenio Martinez, etc.) and the "Texans" (George H.W. Bush, Robert Mosbacher, and James Baker.).
Amid the political turmoil of Watergate Nixon's Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned on October 10 after pleading "nolo contendere" (no contest) to charges of tax evasion. Two days later, On October 12, 1973, Nixon nominated Gerald Ford as the new Vice-President a man described by Newsweek as the CIA's "best friend in Congress."
As members of Nixon's staff continued to implicte him in the Watergate affair he continued to deny any involvement and on November 17, 1973 told the nation in a nationally televised speech, "I'm not a crook."
On April 30, 1974 the Nixon White House released more than 1200 pages of edited transcripts to the House Judiciary Committee, but refused to release the tapes. The Committee then sought help from the Supreme Court who, on July 24, ruled unanimously that President Nixon had to turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the President's claims of
...
> Without Johnson and Kennedy, former Vice-President Richard NIxon > finally managed to become the 37th President of the United States, > with no serious opposition. After taking office Nixon discussed the > Warren Report with aides H.R. Haldeman and Charles Colson and said, > "It was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated."
> The new Preident soon created a "dirty tricks" department to harass > politcal opponents that included CIA veterans E. Howard Hunt, Frank > Fiorini Sturgis, Bernard Barker, James McCord, G. Gordon Liddy, and > many anti-Castro Cubans from Miami. Their job was to create > situations and fabricate documents to embarrass and humiliate those > who opposed Nixon and his policies. Their targets were the most > pominent democratic leaders of the late 1960's and included Senator > Edward Kennedy, and Presidentail hopefuls Edmund Muskie and George > McGovern.
> By early 1970 the war in Vietnam continued to divide the country and > haunted Nixon as it had President Johnson before him. In Febrary > National Security advisor Henry Kissinger began secret one-on-one > meetings with North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho outside of Paris, > and by the end of the year the Nixon administration ordered large > numbers of troops were withdrawn from combat. As increasing numbers > of troops were withdrawn and peace negotiations with the North > Vietnamese dragged on, Nixon began to pursue detente with both > communist China and the Soviet Union. He was eager to end the war in > Vietnam and win back the support of the public before the election in > the fall of 1972. But like Presidents Kennedy and Johnson before him, > Nixon earned the animosity of the military industrial establishment as > he tried to end their war in Vietnam.
> As Nixon and his political machine geared up to run for a second term, > the Committee to RE-Elect the President was formed. Known as "CREEP" > the committeee was comprised mostly of CIA agents and was funded by > the Mullen Company, a notorious CIA front. On June 17, 1972 members > of CREEP, including Frank Sturgis, Bernard L. Barker, Virgllio R. > Gonzales, Eugenio R. Martinez, and James W. McCord, broke into the > Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate apartment-office > complex in Washington. These people had access to the most > sophisticated electronic and burglary tools in the world, yet they > used an ordinary piece of tape to keep the latch on the door unlocked.
> A security guard, Frank Wills, noticed the tape and called the > Washington, D.C. police. When the police arrived at 2:30 A.M. and the > men were arrested, and had in their possession a walkie-talkie, 40 > rolls of unexposed film, two 35 mm cameras, lock picks, pencil-sized > teargas guns, and bugging devices. Their tools made it appear that > they though they were going to "bug" the Democratic National > headquarters, but most political analysts agree that their efforts > were unnecessary. President Nixon was so far ahead of his opponents > in the polls that to most political observers the "Watergate break-in" > didn't make any sense.
> In jail the veteran intelligence agents said nothing, but the police > found E. Howard Hunt's telephone number on one of the men. The > following day the police learned that one of the men worked for the > Committee to Re-Elect the President, which soon led investigators to > the White House. The FBI soon began an investigation.
> (According to E. Howard Hunt, the burglars were trying to learn what > information the Democrats had concerning President Kennedy's > assassination. Frank Sturgis(Fiorini) said, "The reason we > burglarized the Watergate was because Nixon was interested in stopping > news leaking related to the photos of *our role* in the assassination > of President John F. Kennedy." OUR ROLE IN THE ASSASSINATION OF > PRESIDENT KENNEDY??? Hunt and Sturgis' accusations made it appear as > though Nixon was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy, > which would have destroyed his political career.)
> Less than a week after the break-in, and long before the Watergate > burglary made national headlines, Nixon and his Chief of Staff, H.R. > Halderman, discussed how to stop the FBI investigation. Nixon told > Haldeman to ask CIA Director Richard Helms to pressure FBI Director L. > Patrick Gray into curtailing the FBI's investigation. Helms refused, > perhaps because he may have been part of the plot to destroy Nixon > politically.
> Two months later veteran CIA agent E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy > were arrested as co-conspirators and indictments were issued on > September 15, 1972. Within a month it became clear that all of the > men involved in the Watergate break-in were linked to the CIA and to > the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).
> (Hunt, while in jail, attempted to blackmail the President by > threatening to expose many of Nixon's "secrets." White House Chief of > Staff John Ehlichman responded by ordering FBI Director L. Patrick > Gray to remove the contents of Hunt's safe and "deep six" them. On > December 8, 1972 Hunt's wife, former CIA agent Dorothy Wetzel Hunt, > was carrying a large amount of cash and was killed when United > Airlines flight #553 crashed prior to landing at Chicago's Midway > Airport. Her death ended Hunt's threats to reveal Nixon's "dirty > secrets."
> After CIA Director Richard Helms refused Nixon's requests to pressure > the FBI into curtailing their investigation, Nixon fired him on > February 2, 1973. Five days later, on February 7, 1973, the Senate > Watergate Committee was formed as public interest in the affair grew. > (Helms was replaced by 53-old William Colby, a lawyer and OSS veteran > from WWII.)
> After firing the Director of the CIA President Nixon's days in the > White House were numbered, just as Kennedy's days were numbered after > he fired CIA Director Allen Dulles. Six weeks after Helms was fired > his close friend James McCord, who had worked for the CIA in the > Security Research Staff, wrote a letter to Watergate Special > Prosecutor Judge John Sirica and said that he and other defendants had > been under pressure by the White House to remain silent about the > Watergate break-in.
> From March 25-29 McCord testified before the committee and named > Nixon's former Attorney General, John Mitchell, as their "overall > boss" and said that John Dean and Jeb Magruder were also involved. He > also claimed that E. Howard Hunt had promised him an executive > (Presidential) pardon if he would plead guilty. CIA -asset James > McCord's revelations were the beginning of the end for Nixon's term as > President.
> On June 25 White House counsel John Dean testified before the > committee and further inplicated the President. He said that Nixon > proposed to raise $1,000,000 to pay the Watergate burglars for their > silence. He also told the committee that for the past 4 years the > Nixon White House had used the powers of the Presidency to attack > political enemies by harassing those who disagreed with his policies. > Dean's testimony was supported by Donald Segretti who also told the > committee about Nixon's "dirty tricks."
> While Nixon continued to deny any knowledge of involvement in the > Watergate affair one of his aides, Alexander Butterfield, told the > Watergate committee on July 13 that Nixon had secretly recorded all > conversations to and from the Oval Office. On July 17, 1973 the > Senate Committee requested that President Nixon turn over the secretly > recorded White House Tapes. Nixon, who feared exposing the contents > of the tapes, refused and soon an 18-minute segment in one of the > reels was erased. One of the recorded conversations, in which the > President was talking with H.R.Haldeman, shows that Nixon was very > concerned that E. Howard Hunt's involvement in the "Bay of Pigs Thing" > would be exposed:
> "....Hunt, you will-that will uncover a lot of things. You open that > scab there's a hell of a lot of things and that we just feel that it > would be very detrimental to have this thing go any further....This > involves these Cubans, Hunt, and a lot of hanky-panky...the problem is > that this will open up the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing...Just > say....very bad to have this fellow Hunt, ah, he knows too damned > much, if he was involved....If it gets out that this is all involved, > the Cuba thing, it would be a fiasco. It would make the CIA look bad, > it's going to make Hunt look bad, and it's going to blow the whole > *Bay of Pigs thing* which we think would be unfortunate-both for the > CIA and the country....."
> (According to Haldeman, Nixon always used code words when talking abut > President Kennedy's assassination. Haldeman wrote in his book, "The > Ends of Power," that whenever Nixon referred to the "Bay of Pigs > thing," he was referring to President Kennedy's assassination. If > Haldeman is correct, then during their conversation President Nixon > was very concerned that E. Howard Hunt would expose the CIA's > involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy.)
> (During the same conversation Nixon also referred to the > "Cubans." (Felix Rodriguez, Bernard Barker, Eugenio Martinez, etc.) > and the "Texans" (George H.W. Bush, Robert Mosbacher, and James > Baker.).
> Amid the political turmoil of Watergate Nixon's Vice President, Spiro > T. Agnew, resigned on October 10 after pleading "nolo contendere" (no > contest) to charges of tax evasion. Two days later, On October 12, > 1973, Nixon nominated Gerald Ford as the new Vice-President a man > described by Newsweek as the CIA's "best friend in Congress."
> As members of Nixon's staff continued to implicte him in the Watergate > affair he continued to deny any involvement and on November 17, 1973 > told the nation in a nationally televised speech, "I'm not a
"Dave" <dwickf...@yahoo.com> wrote in message > I think that with Reagan and after the role of US President is just a > mouthpiece. So the Presidential Office itself is now defunct.
That's pretty much been true since Kennedy.
However, the President has one big tool to screw America with....
> "Dave" <dwickf...@yahoo.com> wrote in message > > I think that with Reagan and after the role of US President is just a > > mouthpiece. So the Presidential Office itself is now defunct.
> That's pretty much been true since Kennedy.
> However, the President has one big tool to screw America with....
> "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of > fighting a foreign enemy." > -- James Madison > I think that with Reagan and after the role of US President is just a > mouthpiece. So the Presidential Office itself is now defunct.
That's pretty much been true since Kennedy.
However, the President has one big tool to screw America with....
