AMERICAN MOSAIC - Watergate, Nixon, 'Deep Throat': What Was

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Watergate, Nixon, 'Deep Throat': What Was That All About?
By Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver²

Broadcast: Friday, June 17, 2005

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Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

I'm Doug Johnson. On our program this week:

A first! We answer three listener questions in one show…

Who was President Roosevelt?

What was Watergate?

And, when is Father's Day? Also, some songs to celebrate it!

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Franklin Roosevelt

Our first question comes from a listener in Vietnam. Phung Thehai asks for information about former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, especially during World War Two. Steve Ember tells about F.D.R., one of the most influential³ American leaders.

STEVE EMBER: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president four times. He served more than twelve years, longer than any other president.

He led the nation through its worst economic crisis, the period known as the Great Depression. He also led the nation though one of its worst wars. And, he dealt with a personal crisis. He lost the use of his legs from the disease polio. He became known by the first letters of his full name - F.D.R.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in eighteen eighty-two to a rich and important family in New York State. He married Eleanor Roosevelt in nineteen-oh-five. They were distant relations. They had six children.

Mister Roosevelt was a member of the Democratic Party. He entered politics in nineteen ten as a member of the New York state legislature.

In nineteen thirty-two he was elected president. The United States was in a severe economic depression. Roosevelt promised to put Americans back to work. He created a program of reform that included job creation. It was called "The New Deal."

But, in the late nineteen thirties, another crisis was growing more serious every day. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi⁴ party in Germany threatened central Europe. Japanese forces carried out new aggression⁵ in Asia and the Pacific area.

World War Two began in nineteen thirty-nine when Germany invaded Poland. Americans hoped Britain, France and other allies would defeat Nazi Germany and Fascist⁶ Italy. Yet Congress passed a law declaring the United States would remain neutral.

But on December seventh, nineteen forty-one, Japanese planes attacked the American naval⁷ base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. F.D.R. was serving his third term as president. The United States was forced to enter the war. President Roosevelt worked closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the war effort.

F.D.R. was re-elected president in November, nineteen forty-four. But he did not live to see the victory of the Allies and the end of World War Two. He died a few months later, on April twelfth, nineteen forty-five.You can hear more about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's life and work on the Special English program People in America on Sunday.

Watergate

 
Richard Nixon
HOST: Another question this week involves historical events that have been in the news recently. Abdullah El-Fakhri of Libya wants to know about Watergate. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Watergate scandal is the name given to illegal activities designed to help President Nixon win re-election in nineteen seventy-two. These included stealing, violating campaign finance laws and attempting to use government agencies to harm political opponents. They also included trying to keep these actions secret.

About forty people were charged with crimes linked to Watergate. Some were high-level government officials. Most were found guilty in court or admitted their guilt⁸.

President Richard Nixon and his supporters were members of the Republican Party. These activities became known as Watergate because the first illegal act took place in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. Police arrested five men for breaking into the national offices of the Democratic Party on June seventeenth, nineteen seventy-two.

One of the men was the security chief of the Committee to Re-Elect the President. A spokesman for President Nixon denied that anyone who worked for the president was involved. But two reporters found evidence that presidential assistants helped pay for sabotage⁹ and spying against candidates for the nineteen seventy-two Democratic Party presidential nomination¹⁰.

Other evidence was discovered later. It included a voice recording¹¹ that proved President Nixon ordered his assistants to hide evidence of illegal activities by his re-election committee. Congress began steps to remove the president from office for hiding evidence and using presidential power illegally. President Nixon resigned on August ninth, nineteen seventy-four.

 
Bob Woodward, right, and Carl Bernstein in 1973.
Two young reporters from the Washington Post newspaper started the investigation¹² that led to the president's resignation. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became famous for these reports about Watergate. They wrote a book about their investigation called "All The President's Men".

In the book, they told about a secret source who provided them with important information. They called him "Deep Throat." And they promised to keep his name a secret until after he died.

 
Mark Felt
Three weeks ago, a man named Mark Felt told the world that he was "Deep Throat." In the early nineteen seventies, Mister Felt was the assistant chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He said that he secretly helped the reporters because other high level government officials were trying to hide information about Watergate, not bring it out into the open.

Father's Day

Our final question today comes from a student in China. Si Zheng heard our program about Mother's Day in May. He wants to know when Father's Day began and how we celebrate it in the United States.

Americans honor their fathers on the third Sunday in June. So Father's day is Sunday. Many children will give their fathers gifts they made at school. Others might help prepare a special meal. Some fathers may even receive a gift of clothes, tools, electronic devices or something else purchased at a store.

Two years ago, the famous American singer Luther Vandross remembered his dad with a song. Here is "Dance With My Father."

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A woman named Sonora Dodd came up with the idea of Father's Day in nineteen-oh-nine. She was listening to a speech in church about Mother's Day. Missus Dodd thought about her father. He had fought in the American Civil War. Later, he had raised six children after his wife died during childbirth.

Sonora Dodd wanted a special day to honor men like her father. He was born in June. So she decided¹³ to hold the first Father's Day celebration in June of nineteen ten in Spokane, Washington.

Sonora Dodd loved her father. Listen now to a song by Paul Simon that celebrates such a relationship. Here is "Father and Daughter."

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In nineteen twenty-four President Calvin Coolidge gave his support to the idea of Father's Day as an official holiday. But Congress did not approve it until almost fifty years later. President Nixon signed a law to establish Father's Day in nineteen seventy-two.

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

Our show was written Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who also was our producer. Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

5 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

6 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

9 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

10 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。