A Presidential Election and Third-Rate Burglary

Chapter 1 details how Protestants reported throughout the summer and fall 1972 on the presidential election in a restrained way common to much of the twentieth century for Christians’ involvement in politics. Watergate barely touched the surface of public opinion, especially within Christian institutions. But the way Protestants characterized President Nixon predicted how they would respond to Watergate in the coming months, as they grew increasingly bolder in their claims. They already held strong opinions about the president, with both supporters and detractors. The lines between his benefactors and detractors had already been drawn in 1972.

Conclusion

The resignation of Richard M. Nixon as president of the United States on August 8, 1974, brought immediate reactions from liberal to moderate to conservative Protestants that paralleled one another more than at any other time during the Watergate crisis. To be sure, differences persisted in how they viewed Christian moral and ethical participation in politics, as is revealed by the close look provided in this chapter. But the actual moment of resignation brought a sigh of relief, as well as a desire to move the nation beyond this divisive episode. But August 8 lacked a sense of finality because many unresolved issues continued to trouble Christians, the solutions to which divided conservatives and liberals. Protestants thus decided not to exit the political stage in their commentary despite Nixon’s departure, and they remain enmeshed in it to this day.

The Church as Prophet versus Praying for Those in Authority

After establishing Christian participation in Watergate by October 1973 to incorporate stronger morality in the political process, Protestants solidified recognizable positions, and their responses grew more urgent from November 1973 to April 1974. Chapter 4 describes how those already opposed to the president ramped up their attacks and were joined by the previously more cautious. Even conservatives, who long supported President Nixon, began to question the value of his leadership. They persisted with pietism and their support of him but more circumspectly, describing his sins as no greater or lesser than those of the average American. But too much unethical and illegal activity had come to light to ignore, and so conservatives altered their views more significantly than other Protestants. In doing so, their political activity became more pronounced and matched that of their liberal counterparts.

Introduction

The introduction explains the historiography and importance of studying Christian reactions to Watergate. It details the specific Protestants studied, their backgrounds, and their general theological and political outlooks that informed their moral and ethical stances on Richard Nixon and Watergate; this includes a range from theologically liberal to conservative viewpoints, as well as a similar spectrum regarding political opinions. The introduction also provides an overview of the history surrounding these events, from the initial break-in at the Democratic offices in the Watergate complex to the resignation of President Nixon in August 1974.

A Favorable President or Most Dangerous Man?

Watergate expanded in scope from July to October 1973, as investigations implicated more White House officials. This chapter provides an account of how Christian political commentary expanded with it. Just as Americans invested more attention into the matter, so, too, did Protestants. Conservatives, especially evangelicals, remained reluctant to condemn, singled out only those already convicted or who had confessed, and clung to a belief President Nixon played no part in Watergate. Already hostile liberal Protestants intensified their rhetoric against Nixon. They called for a collective Christian outcry to force change and restore morality in government. Other Protestants lived somewhere between these two camps and addressed Watergate in other ways. No matter where they fell, they all ramped up their involvement in the political turmoil as it grew in intensity.

The Bleep Heard round the World

No period during Watergate moved as quickly as mid-1974. In May, judicial action forced President Nixon to release damaging transcripts of private taped conversations. By July, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Nixon must release the actual recordings, which was followed by the House Judiciary Committee passing the first three articles of impeachment with the charge of obstruction of justice. The content of the tapes proved the smoking gun to many because of conversations the president had within a week of the initial Watergate break-in, exposing how early he knew about it. Like Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who changed their vote as a result of the tapes, conservatives joined liberals within Protestantism to now condemn the president, though they continued to differ about their theological outlooks.

A Fading Issue or Sinister Plot?

Chapter 2 describes how Christian concern about Watergate gradually built following President Nixon’s reelection in November 1972 and through summer 1973, as Protestants became more involved in politics. Previously held but divergent convictions about Nixon shaped these responses even as a consensus emerged that misbehavior had occurred. As moral and spiritual leaders, Protestants reacted in ways that illustrate their own belief systems and understanding of how to assert their authority. But a nation founded upon religious liberty found a Christian community divided over how and where to profess that power as Watergate unfolded in these early stages. Through remarks about the president, general commentaries, and a debate about Christianity and the public realm, Protestant America conversed about Watergate at a time it grew into an urgent matter. These months saw a slow shift from the relative nonpartisan nature of American Christianity in the mid-twentieth century to the more overt politics of the twenty-first century.