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In this article, we are going to provide you with information about these various political scandals and other types of affairs you may be seeking.
The Watergate Affair Scandal Summary
What I would say is the most recognized political scandal in U.S. History, the Watergate affair took place in the 1970s.The political affair resulted from a burglary at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972. Despite an enormous impact of the Watergate scandal, the actual purpose of the break-in of the DNC offices has never been conclusively established. Some theories suggest that the burglars were after specific information. The likeliest of these theories suggests that the target of the break-in was the offices of Larry O'Brien, the Chairman of the DNC. With the upcoming Presidential election, former Howard Hughes business associate John H. Meier, working with Hubert Humphrey and others, wanted to feed misinformation to Richard Nixon. Meier told Donald Nixon (Richard Nixon's brother) that he was sure the Democrats would win the election because they had considerable information on Richard Nixon’s illicit dealings with Howard Hughes that had never been released, and that Larry O’Brien had the information. O’Brien didn't actually have any documents, but Meier claims to have wanted President Nixon to think he did. The obvious is then suspected that Donald called his brother Richard and told him that Meier gave the Democrats all the Hughes information that could destroy him and that Larry O’Brien had the proof.
The political scandal eventually led to the resignation of the U.S. President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974 and the indictment and conviction of several Nixon administration officials. An investigation by the FBI connected the men to the 1972 Committee to Re-elect the President by a slush fund. Evidence began mounting against Nixon's staff, which included former staff members testifying against them in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee. During the investigation, it was discovered that President Nixon had an audio recording system in his offices and he had recorded numerous conversations, including ones that implicated him, revealing that he had attempted to cover up the break-in. A series of court battles began, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president had to hand over the tapes; in which he complied.
Because he was facing near-certain impeachment in the House of Representatives and a strong possibility of a conviction in the United States Senate, Nixon resigned from of the presidency on August 9, 1974. When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts." Gerald Ford issued a pardon a month later to President Nixon.
Numerous other scandal theories exist in claiming other significance to the Watergate affair than that commonly acknowledged by media, historians, and movies. Wikipedia and all links in this article are the sources for the above Watergate Scandal Information.
The Iran-Contra Affair Scandal Summary
The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal that began in 1985, during President Ronald Reagan's administration, in which senior U.S. figures agreed to facilitate the sale of arms to Iran, during an arms embargo, in order to fund Nicaraguan contras. The U.S. supply of weapons to a sworn enemy, Iran, was in hopes of securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah terrorists (also Hizbollah, is a Lebanese Shia Islamist group) loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's leader. The U.S. took millions of dollars from the weapons sale and routed them and guns to the right-wing "Contra" guerrillas in Nicaragua. The Contras were the armed opponents of Nicaragua's Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction, following the July 1979 overthrow of strongman Anastasio Somoza Debayle and the ending of the Somoza family's 43-year reign.
The affair began as an operation to improve U.S.-Iranian relations. The 'master plan' was that Israel would ship weapons to a relatively moderate, politically influential group of Iranians, and then the U.S. would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. This way, the United States was not directly getting the arms to Iran. The Iranian recipients then promised to do everything they could to get the six U.S. hostages being held by Hezbollah, who were clandestinely connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The plan eventually deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council in late 1985 contributed large modifications to the plan, in which a portion of the proceeds from the weapon sales was diverted to fund anti-Sandinista and anti-communist rebels, or Contras, in Nicaragua.
While President Ronald Reagan was a supporter of the Contra cause, there has never been any conclusive evidence found showing that he authorized the diversion of the money raised by the Iranian arms sales to the Contras, but that Reagan was aware of potential hostages transfers with Iran, as well as the sale of Hawk and TOW missiles to "moderates elements" within that country. Oliver North, the most memorable central figure in the Iran-Contra affair, wrote in a book that "Ronald Reagan knew of and approved a great deal of what went on with both the Iranian initiative and private efforts on behalf of the contras and he received regular, detailed briefings on both." Oliver North's account is difficult to verify because of the secrecy that still surrounds the Iran-Contra affair.
After the weapon sales were discovered a year later, in November 1986, Reagan appeared on national television and stated that the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, but that the United States did not trade arms for hostages. In a sneaky way, that is true since everything was indirectly put into Israel's hands, who were the ones directly trading the weapons for hostages. To this day, it is unclear exactly what Reagan knew and when, and whether the arms sales were motivated by his desire to save the U.S. hostages. Investigations were compounded when large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan administration officials, who apparently learned from the Watergate scandal mishaps. On March 4, 1987, Reagan returned to the airwaves in a nationally televised address, taking full responsibility for any actions that he was unaware of, and admitting that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages." Investigations ensued, including those by the United States Congress and the three-man, Reagan-appointed Tower Commission. Neither found any evidence that President Reagan knew of the extent of the multiple programs, despite fourteen administration officials being indicted, including then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Eleven convictions resulted, a few of which were vacated upon appeal, and the rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the George H. W. Bush presidency. George H. W. Bush had been vice-president during the time of the Iran-Contra affair.