“Executive Privilege” (Watergate, #2)

In early 1973, Richard Nixon seemed stronger than ever. The voters had just handed him a landslide electoral victory, a massive mandate for the next four years. Yet within 20 months, his position would crumble, and his presidency would be no more. The cause of his downfall was – of course – the Watergate scandal. As we’ve seen in the first part, through 1972, most Americans did not take much note of the break-in or the irregularities in Nixon’s election campaign finance. In 1973, however, the connection to politics became evident during the trials of the Watergate burglars and then spread when the existence of a secret taping system at the White House became known. Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency, but the reverberations of the scandal kept rippling through America.

A “Third-Rate Burglary Attempt” (Watergate, #1)

Watergate. The most famous of all political scandals. A salacious mix of illicit surveillance, dubious finance, and open felonies. And the president of the United States embroiled in it. Of course, the topic is not only fascinating to politicos, journalists, gossips, and everyone out for a quick buck – but also to the designers and players of board games. Thus, here’s the first half of a two-part piece on Watergate in history and board games – from the mood at the Nixon White House in the early 1970s over the break-in at the Watergate complex itself to Nixon’s irregular campaign finance.