The Nixon Administration and Watergate

Richard Nixon (1913–94) served as the 37th president of the United States from January 20, 1969, until August 9, 1974, when his role in the Watergate scandal and probable impeachment prompted his resignation. Nixon’s presidency saw many accomplishments, including the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the end of the Vietnam War, and the Apollo 11 moon landing. However, Nixon’s administration began to crumble when members of his reelection team broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC, on June 17, 1972.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in on June 17, 1972, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has compiled collections related to the Nixon Administration and Watergate scandal and the major players involved. 

John Ehrlichman papers

John Ehrlichman was the White House Domestic Affairs Advisor under President Richard Nixon.  His collection includes notes of White House meetings, memoranda, letters, and reports, relating primarily to Nixon administration domestic policy, policy relating to the Vietnam War, the 1972 presidential elections, and the Watergate controversy; and sound recordings of television news programs and interviews, Congressional hearings, and trial proceedings relating to the Watergate affair.

Firing Line broadcast records

The Firing Line broadcast records include videotapes from the Firing Line television show, as well as sound recordings, administrative and speaker files, program research files, photographs, transcripts, and other materials from the show. Relevant guests include Mark Felt, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Roy Cohn, G. Gordon Liddy, James Buckley, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

 

Edwin Eugene Herron drawings

The artist Edwin Eugene Herron produced the artwork in this collection under the pen name Copain. Almost all of the drawings are caricatures of contemporary world leaders and other public figures, and are frequently satirical in nature. Drawings related to Watergate include depictions of Charles Colson, Archibald Cox, John Dean, John Ehrlichman, Sam Ervin, H. R. Haldeman, Howard Hunt, Leon Jaworski, Jeb Magruder, Robert Mardian, John Mitchell, and Maurice Stans.

Jeb Stuart Magruder papers

Jeb Stuart Magruder was the special assistant to President Richard M. Nixon, 1969-1971 and deputy director of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, 1971-1972. His collection includes writings, correspondence, office files, memoranda, reports, sound recordings, and printed matter relating to the elections of 1970 and 1972 and the Watergate hearings.

 

 

Frederic V. Malek papers

Frederic V. Malek was the Special Assistant to President Richard Nixon and the Deputy Director of the Committee for the Re-election of the President in 1972. His collection includes speeches and writings, correspondence–including correspondence with H. R. Haldeman, memoranda, reports, and notes, relating to domestic politics and administration of the federal government during the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.

Robert Charles Mardian papers

Robert Charles Mardian served in the Nixon administration and was a member of the Committee to Re-elect the President. His papers include speeches and writings, correspondence, memoranda, reports, proposals, minutes, testimony, legal documents, printed matter, and audiovisual material relating to education policy during the presidential administration of Richard M. Nixon, school desegregation, surveillance of radical movements, administration of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Watergate affair and subsequent trials. 

 

George P. Shultz papers

George P. Shultz was the United States Secretary of Labor, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard Nixon. His collection includes material related to Richard Nixon and Shultz’s work during the Richard Nixon administration.

 

 

Richard V. Allen papers

Richard V. Allen was a senior staff member of the  Hoover Institution, 1966–68; Deputy National Security Advisor for Richard Nixon, 1969; and National Security Advisor for Reagan, 1981–82. His collection includes correspondence, speeches, interviews, legal files, subject files, photographs, audio and video recordings, clippings, and notes relating to Allen's work in American politics and government. As a specialist in security and foreign policy, Allen worked on the Nixon and Reagan campaigns and held posts on the National Security Council under each of them. Topics of note include: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, foreign policy, national security, political campaigns, Iran hostage crisis, Republican National Committee, libel and media abuses, Korea, and Taiwan.

 

Martin Anderson papers

Martin Anderson (August 5, 1936–January 3, 2015) was an American academic, economist, author, policy analyst, and adviser to US politicians and presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Under the Nixon administration, Anderson was credited with helping to end the military draft and bringing into existence the all-volunteer armed forces. Under Reagan, Anderson helped draft the administration's original economic program that became known as "Reaganomics." A political conservative and a strong proponent of free-market capitalism, he was influenced by libertarianism and opposed government regulations that limited individual freedom.