US VS. NIXON
Amina Haseta
Created on August 23, 2023
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Transcript
UNITED STATES VS. NIXON
ISSUE: DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO WITHOLD CERTAIN INFROMATION BASED ON "EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE"
ARGUED: JULY 8, 1974DECIDED: JULY 24, 1974
NIXON RESIGNS!!!August 8, 1974
In office January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
BACKGROUND:
EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE is the idea that the president can keep certain information private from Congress, the courts, or the public. Sometimes presidents want to keep information private because they worry that sharing the infromation might put the nation at risk. For example, a president might claim executive privilege so that they would not have to share information about the location of military troops in the Middle East. The president might worry that sharing this information with the courts or Congress would endanger a military mission and the lives of the soldiers. Presidents also want to keep their conversations private for another reason. They want their advisers to give them honest advice without criticism from other people. Throughout history, several presidents have used executive privilege to keep information private from the courts or Congress. The U.S. Constitution never actually mentions the words "executive privilege." At times, the courts have allowed it because it is seen as part of the seperation of powers. This is the idea that the 3 branches of government need to have their own seperate powers in order for them to be balanced. This is a case about how far a president's executive privilege can go. It is an absulte right of the president, or can it be limited by the courts or by Congress?
FACTS
In 1972, five burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, DC. They were caught and arrested. Investigations showed that the burglars were involved in President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign. The investigations also showed that the president and his aides probably abused their power in other ways as well. The Senate wanted a special group of people to investigate the potential crime. The attorney general chose a special prosecutor to investigate the case. Because all people who work at the Department of Justice are part of the executive branch, which the president leads, it was important to have someone who did not work for the president and was impartial to investigate. During his time in office, President Nixon set up a tape recorder in the Oval Office. He used the recorder to tape the conversations he had there. The special prosecutor found out about the tapes and wanted to hear what was on them. He thought they could help prove that President Nixon and his aides had abused their power and broken the law. President Nixon refused to hand over the tapes. A federal court ordered the president to do so. The special prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to hear the case instead and the Court agreed.
In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled in favor of the United States and against President Nixon. Chief Justice Burger wrote the opinion for the Court. The Supreme Court said that presidents can use executive privilege. They also said that the privilege was not an absolute right. In this case, the president’s use of executive privilege did not allow for a fair trial about the burglary. The president can claim executive privilege when it is based on “military, diplomatic or sensitive national security secrets.” This is when the president’s need for privacy will outweigh the judicial branch’s need for “fair administration of criminal justice.” But when the president’s only reason for using executive privilege is to keep conversations private to protect himself, like it is here, then the judicial system’s reasons will outweigh those of the president.
DECISION
President Nixon turned over the tapes, which showed that he was involved with the criminal coverup of the burglary. Exactly one month after oral arguments and just over two weeks after the Supreme Court’s decision, Richard Nixon became the only president in U.S. history to resign from office. The decision in United States v. Nixon still sets the precedent for the use of executive privilege. Executive privilege has also been extended to other senior officials who work with the president. Every president since Ronald Reagan has used executive privilege to block the release of specific documents or the testimony of some members of their administration.
IMPACT
July 24, 1974
Aug. 8, 1974
July 27-30, 1974
November 7, 1972
July to October 1973
June 17, 1972
The final section of Article II, which generally describes the executive branch, specifies that the “President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States” shall be removed from office if convicted in an impeachment trial of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Two clauses in Article I lay out the role of the House of Representatives and the Senate in impeachments and in trials of impeachment. In practice, impeachments by the House have been rare, and convictions after a trial by the Senate even less common. Three Presidents, one Senator, one cabinet officer, and fifteen judges have been impeached, and of those only eight judges have been convicted and removed from office.
After delivering a farewell address to administration staff, Richard Nixon left the White House for the last time as president on Aug. 9, 1974. He boarded a military helicopter on the South Lawn and gave his iconic wave to the crowd.
The saga began with a break-in at Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., and ended in 1974 with the only presidential resignation in American history. In between, the nation was engaged in a drama that raised issues about the rule of law in our democratic society. In the end, it was an 8-0 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that precipitated President Nixon's resignation. In that ruling, the Court directed the president to release requested tape recordings to congressional committees and to Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworkski. Gerald Ford was sworn in as America's thirty-eighth president and the nation was again reminded that no person - not even the President of the United States - is above the law.