Thirty years have passed since President Nixon's resignation, yet, the impact of the "Watergate" scandal continues to affect the institutional power of the American chief executive. Through documents and analytical essays, this timely collection places the Watergate crisis in perspective, providing a cogent and balanced analysis of the development and consequences of an event that has overshadowed Nixon's legacy and permanently altered the country's perceptions of politics. Watergate threatened the very constitutional order of the nation, and continues to this day to affect the public's attitudes about the presidency, America's political culture, the mass media's coverage of politics, the separation of powers, and the investigation of high-level misconduct in the federal government. Twelve topical essays written by presidential scholars cover these themes and examine the impact of the crisis over time. Primary source materials, including transcripts from oral interviews, Nixon's speeches, letters, the infamous Watergate tapes, excerpts from testimony and hearings in Congress, the proposed articles of impeachment, and more are all put in context with explanatory headnotes.
