Scandal in ’72
Yesterday in my JMS 440 class we watched All the President’s Men. For those of you who have not seen this movie, it is based on the Watergate scandal that occurred in June of 1972. This movie is quite fitting for this class, seeing as how it’s based around the two main reporters from The Washington Post, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein that covered this story. This presidential issue resulted in Nixon resigning from office, and many prominent figures in our country being charged with conspiracy and many of them spent time in jail.
This was just one of the many issues the American people faced in the 70’s, but it changed the face of journalism and changed the lives of Woodward and Bernstein, who were given the chance and trusted by others to cover one of the biggest political stories of our time.
The “Watergate 5”
H.R. Haldeman-American political aide businessman
John Ehrlichman-Counsel and Assistant to Nixon for Domestic Affairs
John Mitchell-United States Attorney General under Nixon
Robert Mardian-Served in administration for Nixon
Kenneth Parkinson-Counsel to the Committee to Re-elect President Nixon
And of course…President Richard M. Nixon
He announced his resignation on August 8, 1974 to a stunned nation. He knew he no longer had the support of the American people, therefore making the decision to bow out gracefully. Vice President Ford was sworn in the follwing afternoon.
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A Dose of the Decades 
Watergate must have been a journo’s dream disaster. There was probably a great amount of pressure on Woodward and Bernstein to accurately and objectively report the notorious happenings. I remember seeing a fairly famous movie about these two guys and The Washington Post’s coverage of Watergate… do you know the name of it?
“All the President’s Men” is the name of the movie.
This movie reminds me of freshman year of high school…we watched it in Journalism 101 so I can see how it fits into JMS440! Love that movie.