science

Nixon wiretaps

Nixon wiretaps is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nixon wiretaps rather than just read about it. In short: In the United States, the Nixon wiretaps were the wiretapping of the phones of 17 journalists and federal government employees suspected of leaking information during the Nixon administration. The wiretaps were active between May 1969 and February 1971.

Key takeaways

Nixon wiretaps belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nixon wiretaps to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nixon wiretaps from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In the United States, the Nixon wiretaps were the wiretapping of the phones of 17 journalists and federal government employees suspected of leaking information during the Nixon administration. The wiretaps were active between May 1969 and February 1971. National Security Council staff member Alexander Haig selected many of the targets and received the results of many of the wiretaps. The motivation for the wiretap program was concern from National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger about leaks of classified information.

Motivation The motivation for the wiretap program was concern from National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger about leaks of classified information. Some of the classified information leaked included the Cambodia campaign (a secret bombing campaign against Cambodia during the Vietnam War), and internal discussions about how forcefully to respond to the 1969 EC-121 shootdown incident (where North Korea shot down an American spy plane). After the creation of the program, the Nixon administration found the wiretaps useful for gathering political intelligence.

Creation On April 29, 1969, a meeting between Kissinger, Nixon, Attorney General John N. Mitchell, and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover resulted in a decision to use national security wiretaps. Hoover wrote the appropriate requests and sent them to Mitchell. During a congressional hearing, Kissinger initially denied involvement but then later admitted involvement, and Mitchell denied involvement but his initials on the paperwork were confirmed by a laboratory to be authentic. FBI domestic intelligence official William C. Sullivan was also involved, and Kissinger's aide Alexander Haig would go to Sullivan's office to read the wiretaps.

Identification of leakers The wiretaps did not uncover any serious leaks. Haig stated that the wiretaps revealed Daniel Davidson, a National Security Council staffer, to be a leaker. Using this information, Haig confronted Davidson, and Davidson left.

Aftermath The wiretaps were probably legal, but were controversial. Word of the wiretaps eventually spread to National Security Council staffers and various people that had been wiretapped. FBI deputy director Mark Felt eventually told Time Magazine about the wiretaps, which informed the public. In 1973, new FBI director William Ruckelshaus was informed of missing wiretap records from the FBI files and started an inquiry. The inquiry interviewed around 40 persons, lasted seven days, and generated a 15 page report. This report was probably shared with the Senate Judiciary Committee during closed door hearings about whether to impeach Nixon during the Watergate scandal. The files had been taken to the White House, and were eventually found in White House Counsel John Ehrlichman's files. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigated these wiretaps in a closed session in September 1973. In sealed testimony, Haig testified about the wiretaps to a grand jury during the Watergate scandal. Haig eventually became Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, but his appointment to this position was controversial due to this wiretap incident.

List of wiretapped individuals The following 17 individuals were wiretapped:

William Beecher - journalist at The New York Times Henry Brandon - journalist at the London Sunday Times Daniel Davidson - National Security Council staff member Morton Halperin - National Security Council staff member Marvin Kalb - journalist at CBS Anthony Lake - National Security Council staff member Winston Lord - National Security Council staff member James McLane - White House staffer Richard M. Moose - National Security Council staff member Richard F. Pedersen - Department of State Robert E. Pursley - Department of Defense William Safire - White House speech writer John Sears - White House staffer Hedrick Smith - journalist at The New York Times Richard Sneider - National Security Council staff member Helmut Sonnefeldt - National Security Council staff member William H. Sullivan - United States Ambassador to Laos

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nixon wiretaps

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nixon wiretaps claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nixon wiretaps before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nixon wiretaps ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nixon wiretaps

In research: Nixon wiretaps appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nixon wiretaps in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nixon wiretaps is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1969 controversies in the United States, 1969 in American politics, 1969 scandals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nixon wiretaps outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nixon wiretaps in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nixon wiretaps means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nixon wiretaps out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nixon wiretaps in simple terms?

Why does Nixon wiretaps matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nixon wiretaps?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nixon wiretaps.