Today was the day 50 years ago, when most Americans first heard of the name “Watergate”.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the break-in at the Watergate Office Building in Washington D.C. that sparked one of the worst political scandals in modern U.S. history, ending with what no one had first expected but then became necessary when impeachment was about to remove him from office, the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
His resignation speech watched live on TV around the world, by millions, who saw a sitting president of the United States standing in the door of a helicopter on the White House lawn waving goodbye to the job that is described as "leader of the free world", a position that he disgraced and soiled through lies, coverups and criminal acts.
The word Watergate itself would lead to words that described other political scandals…. Iran-Gate, and a host of others, which described wrongdoing and coverup in some way.
Many of the journalists today and many who came after Watergate, were motivated by what had happened and how reporters, through their hard work, had discovered and exposed what had happened.
Now today, 50 years later, as the investigation into what happened on January 6th 2021 goes on, and during a time when there are many who use fake news to describe journalists, it is probably a good time to remember that without journalists, Americans might never have known about Watergate…and those responsible for the wrongdoing would never had been held accountable.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: AFP via Getty Images