In June 1972, a bungled burglary at Washington's Watergate complex led to revelations about broader abuses of presidential power and ultimately to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. The Watergate soon lent its suffix to a wide array of other scandals. And the charges of an "imperial presidency" stemming from Watergate-era excesses led Congress to reshape the statutory relationship between the executive and legislative branches in areas ranging from budgetary policy to foreign affairs. In this course we will look both at Watergate itself and at what it wrought. What actually happened in 1972, and what led up to it? How have subsequent "-gates" followed or diverged from the Watergate template? Did Congress succeed in reining in the presidency?
 
 

    The Nixon Presidential Materials Project at the National Archives
    Watergate timeline
    The Washington Post "Revisiting Watergate" site
    The Washington Post collection of Watergate tapes 
     Miller Center (U. Va.) links to Nixon biography, tapes, speeches
    Watergate.info (excellent overview, with useful links)
    Watergate-History.com (good collection of links)
    C-SPAN collection of tapes and other links
    Stephen Ambrose on Oliver Stone's Nixon

Writing Resources:
For tips on writing, consult...
    Dickinson resources:
           Dickinson Writing Center
           Prof. Russ Bova
           Prof. Stephanie Anderson

    Other on-line resources:
           From Steve Van Evera's Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science
           APSA Style Guide
           The Harvard Writing Center
           Writing with Sources

    Print resources:
        Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
        Hacker, A Writer's Reference
        Turabian, A Manual for Writers...
        The Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed)

Links to On-Line Readings:
The Constitution of the United States, as amended
    [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html]
The Federalist, papers 51, 69-73
    [http://hamilton.law.ou.edu/hist/federalist/]

Michael Lind, "The Out-of-Control President," New Republic (August 14, 1995)
Bradley's NPR report on "The Balance of Power" (RealPlayer audio file)

Richard Nixon, selected speeches
    For a broader collection, see here.
Nixon conversations of 3/23/71 (milk money), 4/19/71 (ITT), 10/8/71 (Kennedy/Diem)
Transcript of the "cancer on the presidency" conversation with John Dean (3/21/73)

Articles of impeachment: Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton

Boston Globe, "Lawmakers Vie to Spend Defense Bill," (May 9, 2002)
Bert Johnson, "A Primer on Campaign Finance Reform"
John Kessel, “The Presidency and the Political Environment,” White House 2001 Project (report #5).
G. Calvin MacKenzie and Judith Labiner, "Opportunity Lost"
Kathryn Olmstead, Challenging the Secret Government, pp. 1-9 [Library E-Book available through library catalog]

National Journal, "Campaign Finance Reform: Under Fire" (May 18, 2002)
New York Times, "After September 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty" (August 4, 2002); and see also the
    American Bar Association (ABA) dialogue site
New York Times, "Court Backs Open Deportation Hearings..." (August 27, 2002)
Jack Rakove, "Who Declares a War?"
Washington Post, "Deficit Estimate Signals New Round..." (July 13, 2002)

Congressional Documents:
War Powers Resolution (1973) {Public Law 93-148}
S.J. Res. 23 (September 14, 2001) {Public Law 107-40}

U.S. Supreme Court cases:
 Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
 Colorado GOP v. FEC (1996)
 Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
 Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer (1952)
 Morrison v. Olson (1988)

Readings for the course will include works of history, memoir, political science, and popular culture, along with court cases and original archival materials (including the famous Watergate tapes).   Books are available at the Dickinson College Bookstore, or through on-line booksellers:

Louis Fisher, Constitutional Conflicts Between Congress and the President, 4th ed. (Kansas, 1997)
Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 3rd ed. (St. Martin’s, 2000)
Stanley Kutler, The Wars of Watergate (Norton, 1992)
Stanley Kutler, ed., Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes (Free Press, 1997)
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President’s Men (Touchstone, 1994) - recommended

Additional readings (marked with an asterisk below) are on reserve; for your convenience, arrangements will be made to provide these readings on-line as well through Blackboard, but be aware that you are responsible for them regardless of any potential technical difficulties.   Articles marked with (#) in the syllabus are only available on-line, and may be accessed through the course website address above.  Note that on-line reserves can only be accessed using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, not Netscape.  No one seems to know why.

Part I. Introduction.

September 3.  Introductory session.

September 5.  The Basics of Presidential Power.
 (#) The Constitution of the United States, as amended
 (#) The Federalist, papers 51, 69-73
 skim Fisher, Ch. 1
 Assignment: 1 page summary of Federalist #51

September 6.  Political Morality: Special Meeting with Alan Wolfe at 7 a.m. (HUB sideroom)

September 10.  What was Watergate?
 Kutler, Abuse of Power, introduction (pp. xiii-xxiii)

September 12. The Constitutional Balance over Time: Who’s in Charge?
 (*) Charles O. Jones, “The Constitutional Balance,” in Separate But Equal Branches, 2nd ed. (Chatham House, 1999),
        pp.3-22.
 (*) Arthur Schlesinger, The Runaway Presidency,” Atlantic Monthly (November 1973)
 (*) Richard Nixon, In the Arena, Ch. 21
 (#) Michael Lind, “The Out-of-Control Presidency,” New Republic (August 14, 1995)
 (#) Barbara Bradley, “Balance of Power,” National Public Radio (August 22, 2002)
 Assignment: Required short paper

September 17. Library Session.  Meeting place TBA.

September 19.  Writing workshop.  Familiarize yourself with Hacker.

September 24.  Before Watergate: The 1960s and the Nixon Elections.
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 9-74, 155-60
 (*) William Safire, Before the Fall (Da Capo Press, 1975), “Us and Them”, pp. 307-15
 (*) Barton Bernstein, “The Road to Watergate and Beyond: The Growth and Abuse of Executive Authority Since 1940,”     Law and Contemporary Problems 40 (Spring 1976): 58-86.
 

Part II. Watergate.

September 26, October 1.  Dirty Tricks and Police Powers
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 77-125, 187-211
 Abuse of Power, Conversations of 6/17/1971 (p. 3); 7/1/71 (pp. 7-11); 7/2/71 (17-8); 9/8-10/71 (28-30); 9/13-14/71 (31-3); 9/18/71 (34-7); 8/3/72 (112-16); 5/14/73 (489-93); 5/16/73 (507-15); 5/23/73 (547-9)
 (#) Conversation of 10/8/71 on Kennedy/Diem, from Washington Post website
 Assignment: optional short paper #1 due (10/1)

October 3, 8, 10.  The Cover-Up.
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 212-320
 (*) Conversations of 9/15/72, 3/21/73, 3/22/73
 Abuse of Power, conversations of 6/20-23/72 (pp. 47-70); 6/30/72 (78-85); 7/20/72 (99-102); 9/15/72 (146-51); 3/16/73 (238-9); 3/21/73 (247-59); 5/11-12/73 (474-80); 5/18/73 (526-33)
 (*) Ward Just, “A Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C.,” from The Congressman Who Loved Flaubert (Little, Brown, 1973)
 (#) MacKenzie, G. Calvin and Judith Labiner, “Opportunity Lost: The Rise and Fall of Trust and Confidence in Government after September 11,” Brookings Institution (May 30, 2002)
 Assignment: optional short paper #2 due (10/10)

October 15, 17, 29.  The Cover-up Unravels: Congress, Courts, and Media
 All the President’s Men (film, book) - evening viewing TBA
 (*) Edward Epstein, Between Fact and Fiction (Vintage, 1975), “Did the Press Discover Watergate?” pp. 19-32

 Kutler, Wars, pp. 323-550
 Abuse of Power, conversations of 4/25/73 (pp. 329-35); 4/30/73 (379-86); 5/1-3/73 (393-96); 5/18/73 (526-32); 7/12/73 (630-39)
 (#) Richard Nixon, selected speeches on Watergate

 Fisher, Ch. 6
 Abuse of Power, conversation of 3/16/73 (pp. 232-4)
 (*) H.L. Pohlman, U.S. v. Nixon in Constitutional Debate in Action (HarperCollins, 1995)
Assignment: optional short paper #3 due (10/29)

October 22-24.  Fall Pause.

October 31. Researching Watergate
 Visit to Nixon Presidential Materials Project, College Park, Maryland.
  (#) Joan Hoff, “Researchers’ Nightmare: Studying the Nixon Presidency,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 26 (Winter 1996): 259-75.
 

Part III. The World After Watergate.

November 5.  Election Day.  Library session: Meet in Caliber Classroom.
Assignment: optional short paper #4 due (11/5)

November 7.  Guided work on research project.

November 12.  Executive Corruption: The Independent Counsel Act and Impeachment
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 553-85
 Review Fisher, pp. 177-81
 (#) Morrison v. Olson (1988)
 (#) Articles of impeachment: Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton
 (#) Nancy Kassop, “The Clinton Impeachment: Untangling the Web of Conflicting Considerations,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 30 (June 2000): 359-73.

November 13.  Common Hour and evening.  Clarke Center events on privacy.

November 14. TBA.

November 19.  Men of Zeal: Presidential Staffing and Campaigning
 (*) Matthew J. Dickinson, Bitter Harvest (Cambridge, 1997), Ch. 1 (pp. 19-42)
 (#) John Kessel, “The Presidency and the Political Environment,” White House 2001    Project (report #5).
 Abuse of Power, conversation of 6/14/72 (pp. 41-2)
 (#) Conversations of 3/23/71 (milk money), 4/19/71 (ITT) on Post website
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 579-81
 (#) Bert Johnson, “A Primer on Campaign Finance Reform”
 (#) “Campaign Finance Reform: Under Fire,” National Journal (June 13, 2002)

November 21. The Balance of the Budget.
 Fisher, Ch. 7
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 594-95
 (#) Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
 (#) "Lawmakers Vie to Spend Defense Bill," Boston Globe (May 9, 2002)
 (#) "Deficit Estimate Signals New Round in Budget Fight With Hill," Washington Post (July 13, 2002)

November 26.  Foreign Relations and the War Power.
 review Federalist #70
 Fisher, Ch. 9 (skim Ch. 8)
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 595-607
 (#) Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer (1952)
 (#) War Powers Resolution (1973)
 (#) Senate Joint Resolution 23 (2001)
 (#) Jack Rakove, “Who Declares a War?” New York Times (August 4, 2002)

November 28.  Thanksgiving Recess.

December 3. Secrecy and Covert Operations: Foreign and Domestic
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 585-94
(#) Kathryn Olmstead, Challenging the Secret Government, pp. 1-9 [Library E-Book]
(*) Taking the Stand: The Testimony of Lt. Col. Oliver North (Pocket, 1987), pp. 9-27, 739-45
(#) “After September 11, a Legal Battle over Limits of Civil Liberty,” New York Times (August 4, 2002)
(#) “Court Backs Open Deportation Hearings in Terror Cases,” New York Times (August 27, 2002)

December 5. Conclusion: The World After Watergate.  Did the System Fail, or Succeed?
 Fisher, Ch. 10
 Kutler, Wars, pp. 607-21
 
 

RESEARCH PAPERS DUE DECEMBER 9 by 5 p.m. in my office.

Grading for this course will be based on three main factors, each counting for one-third of your final grade:

• Course participation, including attendance and the class presentation described below.  Participation generally means not only (a) offering insights, but (b) asking thoughtful questions and (c) active, respectful listening.  You probably prefer one of these three styles of engagement, but are expected to learn and use all three.   On-time attendance is required.  Note that you are expected to have read the assigned pages at least once by the date indicated, and be prepared to discuss them intelligently with other members of the seminar.  Periodically during the semester I will chat with you about your performance to date in this area. This is a small class, and its success depends on every student being engaged.  (This counts double for the sessions led by your peers in the last third of the semester.)

• Short papers.  You will have two very short diagnostic writing assignments early in the course, then choose two of four topics for additional papers (about 4 pages) during the first half of the course.  You may rewrite these papers if you choose, and you are urged to do so.  Rewritten paper grades will be averaged with the original grade.

• Research paper.   The second half of the course will be driven by your research into the development of presidential-congressional relationships after Watergate in a variety of subject areas.  Groups of two or three students will be in charge of leading class discussion on a given topic, as well as for developing individual research papers (10-15 pages) on a topic approved by me.  It is expected that these papers will parallel the work done in preparing for leading discussion.  A core set of necessary (though not sufficient) additional readings on each subject will be distributed to those students responsible for a given session.  The paper is due at the end of the course, on December 9.
 

All assignments must be typed and legible.  Please proofread.  Grammar and style count, as does citation: we will use the APA style of documentation (see Hacker, pp. 142ff.)   College rules regarding plagiarism are found in the student handbook: it is your responsibility to read, understand, and abide by them.  You are strongly encouraged to use the Writing Center, located in the library (“our” writing center staffer is noted below).

Late assignments will not be accepted unless an extension is sought in advance; extensions will be granted only in cases of documented emergency.
 
 

Other course resources:

Writing Center liaison: Vincent Sammartine (245-1620; sammarti@dickinson.edu)
Library liaison: Steve McKinzie (245-1601; mckinzie@dickinson.edu)