“Gavel-to-Gavel”: The Watergate Scandal and Public Television

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The Watergate Coverage

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting holds the full run of NPACT's coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings. Each day is divided into 2-7 parts that can be accessed by clicking on the hyperlinked numbers. To watch a specific person testify, click on their name. Transcripts from the hearings (although not of the commentary before and after) are available through HathiTrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org/) by clicking on the volume and book number listed. For a PDF of the full episode guide, click here.

Week One

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
1 5/17/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 1 Episode Guide Robert C. Odle, Bruce Kehrli, Sgt. Paul W. Leeper First broadcast begins, Senators open the hearings
2 5/18/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 1 Episode Guide Officer Carl M. Shoffler, James McCord McCord claims offered executive clemency

Week Two

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
3 5/22/73 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 v. 1 bk. 1 Episode Guide James McCord, John J. Caulfield
4 5/23/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 1 Episode Guide John J. Cualfield, Anthony T. Ulasewicz, Gerald Alch
5 5/24/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 1 Episode Guide Gerald Alch, Bernard L. Barker, Alfred C. Baldwin

Week Three

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
6 6/5/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Sally Harmony, Robert Reisner MacNeil shares positive feedback from viewers
7 6/6/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Hugh W. Sloan, Jr.
8 6/7/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Hugh W. Sloan, Jr., Herbert L. Porter Porter explains his loyalty to Nixon

Week Four

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
9 6/12/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Herbert Porter, Robert W. Barker , Maurice H. Stans
10 6/13/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Maurice H. Stans
11 6/14/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 2 Episode Guide Jeb S. Magruder Magruder explains why he participated

Week Five

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
12 6/25/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 3 Episode Guide John W. Dean “Cancer on the Presidency”
13 6/26/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 3 Episode Guide John W. Dean
14 6/27/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 3 Episode Guide John W. Dean
15 6/28/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 4 Episode Guide John W. Dean “What did the President know, and when did he know it?”
16 6/29/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 4 Episode Guide John W. Dean

Week Six

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
17 7/10/73 5 1 (missing), 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 4 Episode Guide John N. Mitchell Testifies that he withheld information from Nixon
18 7/11/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 5 Episode Guide John N. Mitchell
19 7/12/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 5 Episode Guide John N. Mitchell , Richard A. Moore
20 7/13/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 5 Episode Guide Richard A. Moore

Week Seven

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
21 7/16/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 5 Episode Guide Richard A. Moore, Alexander P. Butterfield, Herbert W. Kalmbach Presidential tapes revealed
22 7/17/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 5 Episode Guide Herbert W. Kalmbach
23 7/18/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide Anthony T. Ulasewicz, Frederick C. LaRue
24 7/19/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide Frederick C. LaRue, Robert C. Mardian
25 7/20/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide Robert C. Mardian, Gordon C. Strachan

Week Eight

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
26 7/23/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide Gordon C. Strachan Nixon refuses to hand over tapes, Committee votes to serve a subpoena
27 7/24/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide John D. Ehrlichman Testified to approving Ellsberg break-in
28 7/25/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 1 bk. 6 Episode Guide John D. Ehrlichman
29 7/26/73 2 1, 2, (last 2 missing) v. 1 bk. 7 Episode Guide John D. Ehrlichman Committee votes to take Nixon to court
30 7/27/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 7 Episode Guide John D. Ehrlichman

Week Nine

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
31 7/30/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (missing) v. 1 bk. 7 Episode Guide John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. Haldeman
32 7/31/73 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 v. 1 bk. 8 Episode Guide H. R. Haldeman
33 8/1/73 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 v. 1 bk. 8 Episode Guide H. R. Haldeman
34 8/2/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 8 Episode Guide Richard M. Helms, Robert E. Cushman
35 8/3/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 9 Episode Guide Vernon A. Walters, L. Patrick Gray III

Week Ten

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
36 8/6/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 9 Episode Guide L. Patrick Gray
37 8/7/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 9 Episode Guide Richard G. Kleindienst, Henry E. Petersen

Week Eleven

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
38 9/24/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 1 bk. 9 Episode Guide E. Howard Hunt
39 9/25/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 1 bk. 9 Episode Guide E. Howard Hunt
40 9/26/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 2 bk. 10 Episode Guide Patrick J. Buchanan

Week Twelve

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
41 10/3/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 2 bk. 10 Episode Guide Donald H. Segretti
42 10/4/73 4 1, 2, 3, 4 v. 2 bk. 11 Episode Guide Martin D. Kelly, Robert Benz

Week Thirteen

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
43 10/9/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 2 bk. 11 Episode Guide John R. Buckley
44 10/10/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 2 bk. 11 Episode Guide Michael W. McMinoway, Frederick J. Taugher, Kenneth Hickman
45 10/11/73 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 v. 2 bk. 11 Episode Guide Richard Stearns, Frank Mankiewicz

Week Fourteen

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
46 11/6/73 2 1, (2, 3, 4 missing), 5 v. 2 bk. 12 Episode Guide Truman Campbell, Michael Heller, Tim lee Carter, Pual Brindze, Jeremiah P. Sullivan
47 11/7/73 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 v. 3 bk. 13 Episode Guide William H. Marumoto, John J. Priestes
48 11/8/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 3 bk. 13 Episode Guide Benjamin Fernandez

Week Fifteen

Episode # Date # of tapes Parts Transcript Episode Guide Witnesses Key Moments
49 11/13/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 3 bk. 13 Episode Guide Matthew E. Clark, Jr., Robert Bartlome
50 11/14/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 3 bk. 13 Episode Guide Orin E. Atkins, Claude C. Wild Jr.
51 11/15/73 3 1, 2, 3 v. 3 bk. 13 Episode Guide Camilo Fabrega, Neal Robinson, George A. Spater, Russel DeYoung

Next: The Impeachment Coverage

The Committee for the Watergate Hearings

Exhibit Sections

The Watergate Scandal, 1972-1974
Watergate and Public Broadcasting
Cast of Characters
The Watergate Coverage
The Impeachment Coverage
Additional Resources
Resource:

Curator

Amanda Reichenbach

Junior Fellow, Library of Congress

Additional Resources

The final report of the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities
Bill Moyers' Essay on Watergate
"Covering Watergate: 40 Years Later With MacNeil And Lehrer (Video)"
"Covering Watergate: 40 Years Later With MacNeil And Lehrer (Transcript)"
"The Watergate Files," online exhibit at the Gerald R. Ford Library & Museum
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Brownell, K. (2020). Watergate, the Bipartisan Struggle for Media Access, and the Growth of Cable Television. Modern American History, 3(2-3), 175-198.