KALAMAZOO, MI -- Forty years ago this weekend, Richard Nixon bid a tearful farewell to his staff and became the first and only U.S. president to resign.
It was the climax of a political drama that had been building for two years, starting with reports in June 1972 of an odd break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building complex.
The scandal didn't stop Nixon's landslide re-election that November. Soon after Nixon's second inauguration started the drip-drip-drip of eye-raising developments.
The resignations of John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman. Senate hearings to find out "what did the president know and when did he know it?" The Saturday Night Massacre. Nixon proclaiming, "I am not a crook." The fight over the White House tapes. The House impeachment proceedings. The release of the smoking gun tape. A grim-faced Nixon announcing he would resign. Gerald Ford taking over as president, telling Americans, "Our long national nightmare is over."
So what are legacies of Watergate? I have my own thoughts, but I also got some insights from Ed Martini, history professor at Western Michigan University. Our list:
1. Transparency in government.
Everybody who has ever taken advantage of Michigan's Open Meetings Act or the Freedom of Information Act should thank Richard Nixon. It's no coincidence that Michigan and many other states passed "sunshine" laws in the mid-1970s.
2. Campaign finance reform.
Embedded in the Watergate scandal were sketchy uses of campaign dollars -- such as paying blackmail to the Watergate burglars. Nixon's resignation inspired a flurry of campaign-finance laws. However, as Martini noted, "Any progress made on campaign finance in the 1970s has been completely eroded by now."
3. The imperial presidency.
Watergate proved no president is above the law. "It was a pretty powerful message for Congress to haul the president into court and get him to turn over the tapes," Martini said.
But, he added, "it's not hard to make the case that the imperial presidency is well and alive."
On the surface, Nixon was forced to resign because he blatantly abused presidential power and lied about it: His administration was committing illegal dirty tricks against Nixon's opponents, and trying to use the FBI and CIA to cover up those activities.
The larger context is Nixon's motivation: He was reacting to huge blowback from his unilateral decisions involving the Vietnam War and the bombing of Cambodia, Martini said. And while Watergate sent a strong message against dirty tricks, it did not curb the tendency of U.S. presidents to make unilateral decisions on foreign policy.
4. Public cynicism about government.
"Watergate was the moment when people lost faith in government," Martini said. "I tell my students that before Watergate, people didn't trust politicians but they trusted government. But after Vietnam and Watergate, people got to the point where they didn't trust politicians or government."
5. Power of the press.
Watergate was, arguably, the most important example of investigative journalism in U.S. history. Led by the Washington Post, it was the news media that uncovered the nefarious activities of the Nixon administration and brought them to light. It showed the importance of the media in keeping government honest and serving as a watchdog of democracy.
6. Power of technology.
Nixon wasn't the first president to have a taping system in the Oval Office, but he was the first to have those tapes made public.
The tapes were significant in two big ways. First, it proved the truth of the accusations against Nixon; without the tapes, it's likely Nixon would have survived Watergate.
Second, Nixon's White House tapes were the first time the American public got an unfiltered look at the inner workings of the White House and saw the disturbing disconnect between the public persona and the president in private. And it launched a closer scrutiny of every public official since. In the post-Watergate era, there is very little zone of privacy for those on the public payroll.
7. Thank God for Jerry Ford.
Think of the situation in 1973. If Nixon had resigned, we would have had President Spiro Agnew -- a corrupt politician under federal investigation for graft. Next in line after Agnew was House Speaker Carl Albert, who was being treated for alcoholism.
But in October '73, Agnew resigned and Nixon appointed Ford, an unassuming Grand Rapids congressman who became American's only unelected president. "Gerald Ford really took one for the team," Martini said.
RELATED STORY: 40th anniversary of Ford's inauguration.
8. The stain that won't go away.
Nixon had some huge accomplishments. He created the Environmental Protection Agency. He re-established relations to China. Title IX happened on his watch. But Watergate continues to overshadow his presidency, proving the point that people tend to be judged more by their worst actions than their best moments.
Asked if Watergate was a tragic chapter in American history, or one that shows the power of democracy, Martini says it's an open question.
"On one hand, justice was served," Martini said. "We had a president who abused power and he was brought down.
"But did we learn our lesson about the imperial presidency? Secrecy in government? What lessons did the public, did the press, did the government take away? The jury is still out."