United States v Nixon

By: Daniel Koos

Plaintiff and Defendant
● Plaintiff
○ United States
● Defendant
○ Richard Nixon
● Argued
○ July 8, 1974
● Decided
○ July 24, 1974
Background Information
● Started June 1972
● Burglars caught at Watergate complex
○ Caught by security guard
○ Connected to the President
○ Wiretapping phones & stealing documents
○ Didn’t work
Background Information continued...
● Part of cover-up
● In the process of re-election
○ Re-elected
● Refused to give up tapes
● “I am not a crook”
Precedent Set

● Executive Powers Set:

○ Claimed didn’t have to follow the subpoena
○ Using Executive Powers granted by Doctrine of
Executive Privilege
Outcome
● Ruled in favor of the United States
○ Chief Justice Burger
○ “constitutionally protected executive privilege, but
that the privilege was not absolute.”
● In August, Nixon resigned
○ Ford sworn in
● People lost confidence in the position
Sources
“{{Meta.pageTitle}}.” {{Meta.siteName}}, www.oyez.org/cases/1973/73-1766.

“Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court.” Summary of the Decision |

Www.streetlaw.org,
landmarkcases.org/en/Page/719/Summary_of_the_Decision.

History.com, A&E Television Networks,

www.history.com/topics/1970s/watergate.