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Mansfield called him, “the only person who could have handled this assignment. During his twenty years as a Senator, Ervin acquired a reputation as an authority on American Constitutional Law. Throughout his political career, Ervin was known to be very conservative; he opposed many civil rights and desegregation legislation, but he had independent judgment and unyielding dedication to constitutional principles. Erving’s leadership was necessary for this task because he was visible to millions daily during the televised Watergate proceedings. He had a folksy but tenacious grilling of sometimes reluctant witnesses. ” He exemplified the est. in American politics: fairness, honesty, a passion for truth, and a reverence for the Constitution. On the list of misdeed by the White House, number six, “They lied to agents of the FBI, prosecutors, and grand Jurors who undertook to investigate the bugging and the burglary, and to Judge Corsica and the Petit Jurors who tried the seven original Watergate defendants in January 1973… ” Was the most serious and threatening to the constitutional order. The stage was set for a great constitutional struggle between a President determined not to give up executive documents and trials and a Senate committee and a federal prosecutor who are determined to get them,” The White House claimed “Executive Privilege” when they refused to disclose the recorded tapes of President Nixon and his aides. Nixon and his advisors became arrogant with their possession of power. The Executive Branch was disrupting the balance of power and the separation of powers written Into the Constitution.
No Branch, elected official, governmental worker, or even the President Is above the law, but Nixon definitely tried! All of the misdeeds carried equal weight cause the Executive Branch organized an Illegal political espionage against their enemies. They were charged with violating the public trust, bribery, contempt of Congress, and attempted obstruction of Justice. Watergate was a conglomerate of various Illegal and unethical actively and all of them violated the Constitution equally. Sam Ervin and other members of the Senate and House, all experienced politician, thought Watergate was more than Just “politics as usual. President Roosevelt Increased the powers of his office, Justifying his actions as necessary to rote national security. President Nixon took the powers of the Executive office to traditional checks and balances, and the separation of powers. Watergate was not just normal dirty politics because it opened the door to abuses. No president had ever had the courage to go as far as Nixon, he saw opposition to his policies as a personal attack and he violated the Constitution to stop it. Even after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, Nixon attempted to distribute hush money and the White House publicly denied their connection to the crime.