The Watergate Tapes (lost 18½ minute gap of audio recordings of American President; 1972): Difference between revisions

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{{NeedingWork|lack of references|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap}}
    |title=<center>The Watergate tapes, 18½ minute gap</center>
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    |image=Nixon.jpg
|title=<center>The Watergate Tapes (18½ minute gap)</center>
    |imagecaption=Former US president Richard Nixon.
|image=Nixon.jpg
    |status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|imagecaption=Former U.S. President Richard Nixon.
    }}  
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
Former President of the United States, '''Richard Nixon''', recorded many of his conversations, phone or otherwise, in the White House for his own records. He was far from the first president to do so; Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy beat him to that title. What makes Nixon's recordings so unique is the sheer length of material. Unfortunately for Nixon, over 200 hours of his recordings would be used against him for the Watergate Scandal.
}}  
On June 17th, 1972, five burglars were caught rummaging through the Democratic National Committee's office at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C.; the discovery that these men were associated with then-U.S. president Richard M. Nixon led to a thorough investigation from members of Congress into Nixon's involvement with the break-in and his efforts to cover it up. The affair surrounding this investigation, which would eventually culminate in Nixon's own resignation in 1974 while on the brink of a presumably unwinnable impeachment trial, has come to be known as the Watergate Scandal.


Reportedly, over 18 minutes of the final portions of the tape were wiped over. There are various theories as to why this happened. According to Nixon himself, the tapes were wiped by accident by an associate of his named Rose Mary Woods. Nixon was harassed by various members of the media, with many claiming he deliberately erased the audio. It is not entirely known exactly why the tape was wiped.
During the Watergate investigation, it came to light that Nixon recorded many of his conversations, phone or otherwise, in the White House for his own records. While he wasn't the first president to do this, with Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy doing it before him, Nixon's, in particular, were unusually frequent and comprehensive. While Nixon's team initially refused to provide public access to these recordings, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared that executive control over them was unconstitutional before ordering their release. It was from these tapes that numerous crucial conversations between Nixon and his associates would be revealed, including one in which Nixon explicitly ordered a cover-up of the Watergate investigation; it was from this particular "smoking gun" tape that Nixon would eventually be forced to resign the office of the presidency, no longer able to deny his involvement in the break-in.


This, however, has not stopped various conspiracy theory groups from using the wiped audio as "evidence". Theories of what the audio contained ranges from a deal with terrorists to war plans with the Soviet Union. In truth, the audio is more than likely just more incriminating Watergate material or insignificant phone conversations with his secretaries.
[[File:Rose Mary Woods.jpg|thumb|300px|Rosemary Woods demonstrating how she erased the 18½ minutes, according to her account of the incident.]]
While it is now common knowledge that Nixon was guilty in his breaches of federal law through his involvement in Watergate, one aspect of the investigation still remains unclear: '''an 18½-minute portion of audio that had been erased from one of the tapes.''' Nixon's secretary, Rosemary Woods, claimed that she inadvertently wiped that portion of the tape while answering the phone: according to her account, she had accidentally hit the record button on her Uher 5000 instead of the stop button, re-recording roughly five minutes of the tape. The erasure of the other 13½ minutes supposedly occurred while she was listening to the portion she had re-recorded. Woods' reenactment of her version of the incident was viewed as dubious by Nixon's opponents, who accused Nixon of having erased the 18½ minutes himself.


Despite the material being gone, modern day technology is getting closer and closer to being able to reverse the process of an audiotape being wiped. The reversal process may very well bring this mysterious piece of history to light.
In the years following Nixon's resignation, conspiracy theorists have devised a number of explanations regarding the tape's contents, accusing Nixon of various wrongdoings. Theories of what the audio contained ranges from a deal with terrorists to war plans with the Soviet Union. Given the initial recording date of the tape (June 20, 1972, just three days after the Watergate burglary), it can be assumed that if the audio on the tapes ''did'' contain anything incriminating (as opposed to insignificant conversations with members of White House staff), it would most likely be dialogue relating to the Watergate cover-up.
{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJDX7AFujYs|320x240|center|A short US National Archives presentation on the missing recordings.|frame}}


[[Category:Lost recordings of real incidents|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap (lost audio; 1972)]]
==Video==
[[Category:Lost audio|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap (lost audio; 1972)]]
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =IJDX7AFujYs
  |description1 =A short U.S. National Archives presentation on the missing recordings.
}}
 
[[Category:Lost audio|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap]]
[[Category:Lost recordings of real incidents|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap]]
[[Category:Historic|Watergate tapes 18½ minute gap]]

Revision as of 13:35, 21 May 2019

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This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of references.



Nixon.jpg

Former U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Status: Lost

On June 17th, 1972, five burglars were caught rummaging through the Democratic National Committee's office at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C.; the discovery that these men were associated with then-U.S. president Richard M. Nixon led to a thorough investigation from members of Congress into Nixon's involvement with the break-in and his efforts to cover it up. The affair surrounding this investigation, which would eventually culminate in Nixon's own resignation in 1974 while on the brink of a presumably unwinnable impeachment trial, has come to be known as the Watergate Scandal.

During the Watergate investigation, it came to light that Nixon recorded many of his conversations, phone or otherwise, in the White House for his own records. While he wasn't the first president to do this, with Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy doing it before him, Nixon's, in particular, were unusually frequent and comprehensive. While Nixon's team initially refused to provide public access to these recordings, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared that executive control over them was unconstitutional before ordering their release. It was from these tapes that numerous crucial conversations between Nixon and his associates would be revealed, including one in which Nixon explicitly ordered a cover-up of the Watergate investigation; it was from this particular "smoking gun" tape that Nixon would eventually be forced to resign the office of the presidency, no longer able to deny his involvement in the break-in.

Rosemary Woods demonstrating how she erased the 18½ minutes, according to her account of the incident.

While it is now common knowledge that Nixon was guilty in his breaches of federal law through his involvement in Watergate, one aspect of the investigation still remains unclear: an 18½-minute portion of audio that had been erased from one of the tapes. Nixon's secretary, Rosemary Woods, claimed that she inadvertently wiped that portion of the tape while answering the phone: according to her account, she had accidentally hit the record button on her Uher 5000 instead of the stop button, re-recording roughly five minutes of the tape. The erasure of the other 13½ minutes supposedly occurred while she was listening to the portion she had re-recorded. Woods' reenactment of her version of the incident was viewed as dubious by Nixon's opponents, who accused Nixon of having erased the 18½ minutes himself.

In the years following Nixon's resignation, conspiracy theorists have devised a number of explanations regarding the tape's contents, accusing Nixon of various wrongdoings. Theories of what the audio contained ranges from a deal with terrorists to war plans with the Soviet Union. Given the initial recording date of the tape (June 20, 1972, just three days after the Watergate burglary), it can be assumed that if the audio on the tapes did contain anything incriminating (as opposed to insignificant conversations with members of White House staff), it would most likely be dialogue relating to the Watergate cover-up.

Video

A short U.S. National Archives presentation on the missing recordings.