Hoover Institution Library & Archives (Stanford, CA) — The Hoover Institution Library & Archives has unveiled Un-Presidented: Watergate and Power in America, a new exhibition that illustrates the historic Watergate scandal from the perspectives of those who uncovered, investigated, and prosecuted it, leading to the first-ever resignation of an American president. The exhibition is on display in the Lou Henry Hoover Gallery in Hoover Tower at Stanford University through Sunday, August 11.
Fifty years ago, a political scandal reaching the highest levels of power in the United States government tested the foundations of American liberal democracy and its executive office. Named for a complex of office buildings and residences in Washington, DC, the Watergate affair involved a bungled break-in in June 1972 at the Democratic Party’s National Committee headquarters located there. The break-in was secretly sponsored by officials in President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign committee.
The cover-up that followed resulted in investigative news reports, the appointment of a special prosecutor, televised Senate hearings, and ultimately, impeachment proceedings against Nixon and criminal convictions of top White House and campaign aides.
Drawing on documents, illustrations, books, and photographs from the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Un-Presidented explores how the organs of a functioning democracy—including judicial processes, a free press, and legislative oversight—bring accountability and fight corruption even among the most powerful citizens of the nation.
Eric Wakin, deputy director of the Hoover Institution and Everett and Jane Hauck Director of Library & Archives, said, “The fiftieth anniversary of Watergate reminds us of a moment in American history when our institutions, and the checks and balances of our system, eventually proved capable of addressing malfeasance. The Hoover Institution Library & Archives is proud to collect, preserve, and display some of the valuable archival material that tells the story of the Watergate scandal from the perspectives of individuals who were involved. Visitors to the exhibition gallery will walk away with an understanding of what was perhaps the most important American political crisis of the twentieth century.”
The exhibition includes a comprehensive history of Watergate and profiles of many of the key players, including the burglars, White House and campaign aides indicted in the coverup, the prosecutors who issued criminal charges, prosecution witnesses, investigative journalists who covered the events as they unfolded, and the wives of the men ensnared in the scandal.
Un-Presidented also explores crucial archival evidence. In July 1973, White House aide Alexander Butterfield revealed in Senate testimony the existence of Nixon’s White House taping system. The litigation and legislation that followed this watershed moment ultimately determined who is the owner of presidential records—a legal legacy that continues to loom over contemporary American politics.
Objects in the exhibition include never-before-displayed sketches drawn by Nixon aide John Ehrlichman during the Watergate trials; memoranda on campaign strategy and clandestine operations from the collection of Jeb Magruder, deputy director of the Committee for the Re-election of the President; trial notes on perjury taken by Nixon aide Robert Mardian; a series of drawings of Watergate figures created by artist Edward Eugene Herron; and correspondence written to and about the wives of the indicted conspirators of the Watergate scandal.
“There is perhaps no better place than an archive to host an exhibition on the watershed moment that was Watergate,” said Jean McElwee Cannon, research fellow and curator for North American Collections at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. “In addition to representing an era of American political crisis and a test of democratic institutions, Watergate was a testament to the power of archival evidence when searching for truth. Without the tapes, documents, and photographs scrutinized by journalists and legislators in the Watergate era, the American public may never have known the truth behind the scandal. The Hoover Institution is proud to carry on a tradition of providing open access to information. We hope visitors to our gallery will come away with an enhanced understanding of the people and events of Watergate and the lasting historical impact the Nixon era has had on American politics and society.”
To accompany the exhibit, Library & Archives will be hosting an educational speaker series. Confirmed speakers include John Roy Price, former White House aide and author of The Last Liberal Republican: An Insider’s Perspective on Nixon’s Surprising Social Policy (May 8); Luke Nichter, professor of history at Chapman University, renowned expert on the Nixon White House tape recordings, and author of The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968 (June 17); and Heath Hardage Lee, biographer and author of the upcoming book, The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady (August 8). Visit Hoover.org/events for more information and updates.
Un-Presidented: Watergate and Power in America is free and open to the public and can be viewed in person in Hoover Tower at Stanford University. Visitors may also view concurrent exhibitions featured in the Hoover Tower rotunda and gallery spaces.
Exhibition Dates and Location
February 12– August 11, 2024
Lou Henry Hoover Gallery, Hoover Tower, Stanford University
Open to the public weekdays, 10am–4pm. Click here to learn more about how to visit the Hoover Tower and its gallery spaces and to keep up to date about schedule changes due to holidays, Stanford football games, or other events.
Click here for more information visit on Un-Presidented: Watergate and Power in America.
HOOVER INSTITUTION LIBRARY & ARCHIVES
Founded by Herbert Hoover in 1919, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives is dedicated to documenting war, revolution, and peace in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. With nearly one million volumes and more than six thousand archival collections from 171 countries, Hoover supports a vibrant community of scholars and a broad public interested in the meaning and role of history. For more information on the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, visit Hoover.org/library-archives.
For coverage opportunities, contact Jeffrey Marschner, 202-760-3187, jmarsch@stanford.edu.
