USA - A Divided Union: Watergate

PowerPoint and four worksheets that examines the causes and consequences of Watergate. Material covered includes Richard Nixon’s personality, the key events of the scandal and the roles of Nixon, CREEP, the Plumbers, FBI informant Deepthroat, the Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, James McCord, White House lawyer John Dean, Federal Prosecutor Archibald Cox, Congress, President Gerald Ford and President Jimmy Carter. The consequences of Watergate for American politics, journalism and Nixon himself including key laws passed by Congress in the wake of Watergate.

Activities include

• Source analysis activity to establish Nixon’s personality.
• Reading and comprehension activity to identify any actions by Nixon or his supporters that were illegal or might make him unpopular with the American public during Watergate.
• Matching activity to connect key groups and individuals with their role in the scandal.
• Pupils to label a visual web of the scandal to show how the key figures were connected to each other.
• A linking activity to match the new laws passed by Congress in the wake of Watergate with their purpose.
• Pupils to use their knowledge of the scandal to judge who emerged from Watergate as winners of losers and complete a table of supporting evidence.
• Ranking activity on who was most responsible for the end of Nixon’s presidency with several sources to stimulate discussion.
• Optional 8 mark question on the effects of Watergate that could be set for homework.

Designed for the teaching of Edexcel iGCSE History 4HI1 Paper 1 Depth Study 7 A Divided Union: civil rights in the USA, 1945-74.
Lesson Length: 2hrs depending on pace.