Why does it seem that the republicans are involved in the biggest scandals, Bill Clinton ,aside. [I feel that was a set up by the republicans.] If you look back to the beginning of the country you will find the attempted fascist take-over by the Whigs, the early Republican party. Which I covered in
"When The Government Crumbles. This Ain't the First Time"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/10/10257/6885 , Part 2,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/19/64110/6948
and Part 3.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/20/82033/7687
Read on>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Then came the many scandals of Ulysses S. Grant, which ranged from the Secretary of the Treasury, to the removal of the Vice President, for corruption. Grant unlike Lincoln before him, that used his cabinet to smooth over and help the healing of the Civil War, Grant placed old friends, and cronies in those positions, regardless of experience.
In 1948, the republicans, surprised that Dewey had lost the election to Harry S. Truman, they figured out away to try and discredit the Democrats. With the fall of China to communism, and the war in Korea, they worked the anticommunist angle, and they enlisted Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, to engage in a smear campaign against democrats.
On October 11, 1973, Spiro T. Agnew became the first American vice president to resign from office because of criminal charges. He was charged with extortion, tax evasion, and bribery. He pleaded no contest to tax evasion and was fined $10,000. Agnew's disgrace added to the weight of the problems faced by United States President Richard Nixon. The 1972 break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington, D.C., caused Nixon to resign from office less than a year after Agnew resigned.
June 17, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate Hotel by, the name of Frank Wills noticed suspicious activity, and so started the down fall of President Richard M. Nixon.
There were 5 burglars arrested on June 17, 1972 at the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee:
. Bernard L. Barker - a realtor from Miami, Florida. Former Central Intelligence Agency operative. Barker was said to have been involved in the Bay of Pigs incident in 1962.
. Virgilio R. Gonzales - a locksmith from Miami, Florida. Gonzalez was a refugee from Cuba, following Castro's takeover.
. James W. McCord - a security co-ordinator for the Republican National Committee and the Committee for the Re-election of the President. McCord was also a former FBI and CIA agent. He was dismissed from his RNC and CREEP positions the day after the break-in.
. Eugenio R. Martinez - worked for Barker's Miami real estate firm. He had CIA connections and was an anti-Castro Cuban exile.
. Frank A. Sturgis - another associate of Barker from Miami, he also had CIA connections and involvement in anti-Castro activities.
The five men were charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications.
The burglars were indicted by a Grand Jury on September 15, as were:
G. Gordon Liddy - from Washington, counsel to the Finance Committee to Re-elect the President, a former FBI agent, former Treasury official, and former member of the White House staff. During the investigation, Liddy refused to answer questions and was fired from his job.
E Howard Hunt Jr. - from Washington, a former White House consultant and CIA employee. Hunt was a writer of espionage novels and had worked on declassifying the Pentagon Papers.
August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned, making Gerald Ford The 38th president, and amidst speculation if Nixon would be brought up on criminal charges, Ford pardoned Nixon. This was only a minor scandal, and other as being the clumsy President, Ford will be remembered as the man who pardoned Nixon.
Tomorrow, The Iran Contra Affair, to G. W. Bush.
ABA607