Committee for the Re-Election of the President

Last updated

The Committee for the Re-election of the President (or the Committee to Re-elect the President, CRP, but often mocked by the acronym CREEP) [1] was, officially, a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign during the Watergate scandal. In addition to fundraising, the organization also engaged in political sabotage against Nixon's opponents, the various Democratic politicians running in the election.

Contents

History

Planning began in late 1970 and an office opened in the spring of 1971. Besides its re-election activities, CRP employed money laundering and slush funds, and was involved in the Watergate scandal. [2]

The CRP used $500,000 in funds raised to re-elect President Nixon to pay legal expenses for the five Watergate burglars. This act helped turn the burglary into an explosive political scandal. The burglars, as well as G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, John N. Mitchell, and other Nixon administration figures (Watergate Seven), were indicted over the break-in and their efforts to cover it up.

The acronym CREEP became popular due to the Watergate scandal. [3] [4]

Prominent members

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watergate scandal</span> 1970s political scandal in the US

The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972, break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., at the Watergate Office Building.

<i>All the Presidents Men</i> 1974 nonfiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

All the President's Men is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for The Washington Post. The book chronicles the investigative reporting of Woodward and Bernstein from Woodward's initial report on the Watergate break-in through the resignations of Nixon Administration officials H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman in April 1973, and the revelation of the Oval Office Watergate tapes by Alexander Butterfield three months later. It relates the events behind the major stories the duo wrote for the Post, naming some sources who had previously refused to be identified for their initial articles, notably Hugh Sloan. It also gives detailed accounts of Woodward's secret meetings with his source Deep Throat, whose identity was kept hidden for over 30 years. Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former managing editor of The New York Times, has called the work of Woodward and Bernstein "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Gordon Liddy</span> American FBI agent, lawyer and Watergate criminal (1930–2021)

George Gordon Battle Liddy was an American lawyer and FBI agent who was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeb Stuart Magruder</span> American businessman and political operative (1934–2014)

Jeb Stuart Magruder was an American businessman and high-level political operative in the Republican Party who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.

Herbert Warren Kalmbach was an American attorney and banker. He served as the personal attorney to United States President Richard Nixon (1968–1973). He became embroiled in the Watergate scandal due to his fundraising activities in the early 1970s, some of which supported undercover operatives directed by senior White House figures under Nixon. Kalmbach was convicted and served 191 days in jail for his part in the scandal, and lost his license to practice law for a time, although he was later reinstated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dean</span> American author, Watergate figure

John Wesley Dean III is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness. His guilty plea to a single felony in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution ultimately resulted in a reduced sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, Maryland. After his plea, he was disbarred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Plumbers</span> 1971 U.S. government covert group responding to the Pentagon Papers leak

The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week of the publication of the Pentagon Papers in June 1971, during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Its task was to stop and/or respond to the leaking of classified information, such as the Pentagon Papers, to the news media. The work of the unit "tapered off" after the bungled "Ellsberg break-in" but some of its former operatives branched into illegal activities while still employed at the White House together with managers of the Committee to Re-elect the President, including the Watergate break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal. The group has been described as Nixon's "fixers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Barker</span> Central Intelligence Agency officer (1917–2009)

Bernard Leon Barker was a Watergate burglar and undercover operative in CIA-directed plots to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Senate Watergate Committee</span> 1973 US Senate committee to investigate the Watergate scandal

The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, S.Res. 60, in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to investigate the break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and any subsequent cover-up of criminal activity, as well as "all other illegal, improper, or unethical conduct occurring during the controversial 1972 presidential election, including political espionage and campaign finance practices".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon C. Strachan</span> American lawyer (born 1943)

Gordon Creighton Strachan is an American attorney and political staffer who served as an aide to H.R. Haldeman, the chief of staff for President Richard Nixon and a figure in the Watergate scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Stans</span> American accountant, civil servant

Maurice Hubert Stans was an American accountant, civil servant, and political organizer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Commerce from 1969 to 1972. He served as the finance chairman for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, working for the re-election of Richard Nixon. He pleaded guilty to five counts for technical violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act that were revealed during the larger investigation into the Watergate scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Kleindienst</span> United States Attorney General (1972 to 1973)

Richard Gordon Kleindienst was an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Attorney General during the early stages of Watergate political scandal.

Hugh W. Sloan Jr. was treasurer of the Committee to Re-elect the President, Richard M. Nixon's 1972 campaign committee. Previously, he was an aide to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watergate Seven</span> People indicted after Watergate burglary

The Watergate Seven has come to refer to two different groups of people, both of them in the context of the Watergate scandal. Firstly, it can refer to the five men caught on June 17, 1972, burglarizing the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the Watergate complex, along with their two handlers, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, who were Nixon campaign aides. All seven were tried before Judge John Sirica in January 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mardian</span> American politician (1923–2006)

Robert Charles Mardian was a United States Republican party official who served in the administration of Richard Nixon, and was embroiled in the Watergate scandal as one of the Watergate Seven who were indicted by a grand jury for campaign violations. His conviction for conspiracy was overturned because of procedural unfairness and he was not subsequently retried.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Watergate scandal</span>

The Watergate scandal refers to the burglary and illegal wiretapping of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, in the Watergate complex by members of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, and the subsequent cover-up of the break-in resulting in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, as well as other abuses of power by the Nixon White House that were discovered during the course of the scandal.

<i>Silent Coup</i> Early 1990s book about Nixon Watergate scandal

Silent Coup is a book written by Len Colodny [1938 - 2021] and Robert Gettlin that proposed an alternate explanation for the Watergate scandal that led to the 1974 resignation of US President Richard Nixon. The first edition was published in 1991, followed by an expanded second edition in January 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Sandwedge</span> 1971 proposed American intelligence-gathering operation

Operation Sandwedge was a proposed clandestine intelligence-gathering operation against the political enemies of U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration. The proposals were put together by Nixon's Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, domestic affairs assistant John Ehrlichman and staffer Jack Caulfield in 1971. Caulfield, a former police officer, created a plan to target the Democratic Party and the anti-Vietnam War movement, inspired by what he believed to be the Democratic Party's employment of a private investigation firm.

Blind Ambition is a four-part American miniseries that aired on CBS from May 20, 1979 to May 23, 1979 focusing on the 1972–74 Watergate scandal and based on the memoirs of former White House counsel John Dean and his wife Maureen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Gemstone</span> Watergate scandal plans by G. Gordon Liddy

In the context of the Watergate scandal, Operation Gemstone was a proposed series of clandestine or illegal acts, first outlined by G. Gordon Liddy in two separate meetings with three other individuals: then-Attorney General of the United States, John N. Mitchell, then-White House Counsel John Dean, and Jeb Magruder, an ally and former aide to H.R. Haldeman, as well as the temporary head of the Committee to Re-elect the President, pending Mitchell's resignation as Attorney General.

References

  1. Joan Hoff (2010). L. Edward Purcell (ed.). Richard Milhous Nixon. Vol. Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary. Infobase Publishing. p. 351. ISBN   978-1-4381-3071-2.
  2. "Committee for the Re-Election of the President Collection: Frederic Malek Papers". Nixon Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  3. "Watergate scandal", Encyclopædia Britannica, by Rick Perlstein, June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  4. 100 Mistakes that Changed History: Backfires and Blunders That Collapsed Empires, Crashed Economies, and Altered the Course of Our World, by Bill Fawcett, Penguin, October 5, 2010, page 289. Retrieved June 15, 2019.