TEN YEARS LATER, THE IMPACT OF WATERGATE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100040038-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: August 13, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP90-01208R000100040038-8
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U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
13 August 1981i.
I's She
I Waernat
The White House, Congress, FBI, CIA-much
of government was altered by the scandal
that cost a President his office. Now, experts
say that some of the effects are fading.
Watergate: A trauma that forever transformed America,
or merely a historical footnote?
Ten years ago on August 9, a disgraced Richard Nixon
ended a national nightmare by resigning the Presidency
under threat or impeachment.
Today, the lasting significance of the events that began
with a botched burglary of the Democra'ic headquarters in
Washington's Watergate office complex and ended with the
fall of an administration is still hotly debated.
Evidence of Watergate's impact abounds-a less arrogant
Presidency, a more assertive Congress, a more responsible
FedezaLBureau of Investigation and Central Intelli ence
Aeencv, a more o en bureaucracy and a more ti t v con-
trolled federal-election system.
The scandal's chief legacy, in the view of many experts,
has been to instill in all public officials a sense of account-
ability often missing before Watergate. "In all three
branches of government," observes senior FBI aide John
Hotis, "officials now look not only at the legality of -their
conduct but also the propriety."
But with the dimming of memories-dramatized by Nix-
on's own emergence from the shadows of disgrace-many
experts see the changes wrought by Watergate becoming
blurred as the government slides back to its pre-Watergate
ways. "For a time, Washington seemed aware of the dan-
gerous fruits of secrecy," says Archibald Cox, the special
Watergate prosecutor fired by Nixon. "Unfortunately,
there is reason to believe the lesson is being forgotten."
Of most concern to reformers like Cox: The continuin
impact of big-money_contributors on politics, a Reagan
administration drive to weaken post-Wate gate restrictions
P11 the FBI and revelations that the IA still conducts
covert activities without fully inform-
ia s.
The Watergate crucible showed that
the system of checks and balances
worked, but it exposed serious prob-
lems-a Presidency that had become
all-powerful, a growing government
taste for secrecy, a political system rife
with corruption and a Congress reluc-
tant to probe the Executive Branch.
The reform mood that swept the cap-
ital in the scandal's aftermath spawned
many changes. Politicians were subject-
ed to new ethics and campaign rules.
The intelligence community came un-
der close scrutiny. Federal agencies
moved to insulate themselves against
further abuses. Procedures were estab-
lished under the Freedom of Informa-
tion Act for public access to previously
withheld government records. And
Congress, anxious to end the "imperial
Presidency," sought to regain its lost
status as a co-equal branch.
The White House: Power Eroded
Watergate's shadow lies most heavily
over the White House.
Aides must now comply with both
tough ethics standards and rules that
discourage use of federal agencies for
political purposes-a major contributor to Nixon's downfall.
Most important, experts conclude, is that the public no
longer perceives the President as a near-mythical being
who can do no wrong. The trust-shattering combination of
Watergate and Vietnam, followed by the weakened tenures
of Presidents Ford and Carter, ended that. Explains Thom-
as Cronin, professor of political science at Colorado Col-
lege: "The storybook or the textbook Presidency-the ro-
manticized view taught to schoolchildren that the
President must know best-is no longer present."
Adds political scientist Louis W. Koenig of New York
University: "The Presidency has come off its pedestal."
The Presidency today is a far cry from the office as Nixon
and some of his predecessors knew it. Apart from Vietnam,
Nixon conducted foreign policy with little interference
from Congress. When he found fault with budget outlays,
he impounded funds. When oversight of federal agencies
became a problem, he appointed department heads as
White House counselors, thus shielding them from a prying
Congress under a cloak of "executive privilege."
Ronald Reagan's powers are more limited. Although
hailed as the strongest post-Watergate President, he often
complains of undue constraints placed on him by Congress, 1
particularly in the areas of budget and foreign affairs. Also,
the Supreme Court has barred Presidents from holding
back appropriated funds and from imposing so-called exec-
utive privilege to shield illegalities.
Where Nixon and his predecessors often exposed U.S.
troops to hostile situations abroad, Reagan must seek Con-
gress's approval. Last winter, the lawmakers invoked the
War Powers Act-a byproduct of Vietnam and Watergate-
to impose an 18-month deadline on U.S. participation in the
multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon. 4or . r -
cently, they shut off U.S. -aid _to the MA-acked teb6s-
fighting Nicaragua's leftist government
The changes go beyond power. Ethical standards, say
officials, are much higher than in Nixon's day. "People are
much more aware and-sophisticated.about the potential for
appearances of impropriety," comments White House legal
counsel Fred Fielding, who brings to his present job the
perspective of a man who also served Nixon as an aide.
Stricter standards are evident in the fate of several Rea-
gan administration officials, starting with former national
security adviser Richard Allen. Allen felt obliged to quit in
1982 amid a dispute over the origin and purpose of $1,000
in cash that turned up in his office safe.
Similarly, Max Huge] had only briefly been chief of the
CIA's clandestine operations w en e was asked to ste
down because of questions about is us nness dealings. A
dozen top officials of the EnvironmentaIProtection Agency
quit in a flap over political misuse of the Superfund toxic-
waste cleanup program. Currently, the Justice Department
has an independent investigator looking into the finances of
Edwin Meese, Reagan's nominee for Attorney General.
Contitltie
Ily Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP90-01208R000100040038-8