(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. This week in our series, we conclude the story of the thirty-seventh president of the United States, Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon's first term ended with the hope for a complete American withdrawal from the war in Vietnam. Yet Americans were still angry about the war and its economic effects on life at home. Inflation and unemployment were both high. Some political observers thought Nixon would not win a second term. Nixon, however, was sure the American people would support him. He did not actively campaign in the state primary elections leading up to the Republican nominating convention. He focused much of his attention on foreign policy -- including his historic trip to China in February nineteen seventy-two. In May he traveled to Austria, the Soviet Union, Iran and Poland. In Moscow, he signed the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or SALT, with the Soviets. But back in Washington, something happened. It was a small incident, but one that would have a huge effect.
On June seventeenth, nineteen seventy-two, five men wearing surgical gloves broke into the headquarters of the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee offices were located in one of the buildings in a complex called Watergate. Police caught the burglars and, at the time, the incident did not seem very important. But the men carried papers that linked them to top officials in the Nixon White House. The question was: Did the president know what was going on? Nixon denied any wrongdoing. In time, the Watergate break-in would lead to a congressional investigation. But, in the summer of nineteen seventy-two, attention focused on the presidential nominating conventions. Democrats met in Miami Beach, Florida, and chose George McGovern, a senator from South Dakota, as their candidate for president. The Republicans also met in Miami Beach and, as expected, nominated Richard Nixon for a second term. McGovern, a liberal, attacked Nixon for his policies on Vietnam. However, Nixon easily won the nineteen seventy-two election. He defeated McGovern, carrying forty-nine of the fifty states. But the shadow of Watergate would not go away. Two young reporters for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, had been following the story since the break-in.
In early nineteen seventy-three, they found evidence that linked the break-in to White House officials. The evidence also showed that these officials tried to use government agencies to hide the connection. The burglars had been financed with money connected to the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Pressure grew for a full investigation. In April, President Nixon ordered the Justice Department to carry it out. Attorney General Elliot Richardson appointed law professor Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to lead the investigation. "The committee will come to order." In May, a special Senate committee began its own investigation. A former White House lawyer, John Dean, provided the major evidence. "It is my honest belief that, while the president was involved, he did not realize, or appreciate at any time, the implications of his involvement. And I think that, when the facts come out, I hope the president is forgiven." By July, the public learned that President Nixon had made tape recordings of some of his discussions and telephone calls. The Senate committee asked him for some of the tapes. Nixon refused. He said the president of the United States has a Constitutional right to keep such records private. A federal judge, John Sirica, ordered the president to surrender the tapes. Lawyers for the president took the case to the Supreme Court. The high court supported Sirica's decision.
After that, pressure increased for Nixon to cooperate. In October, he offered to provide written transcripts of parts of the recordings. Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor, rejected the offer. So Nixon ordered Attorney General Richardson to dismiss him. Richardson -- the nation's top law enforcement officer -- refused. Instead, he resigned, as did his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, when Nixon ordered him to fire Cox. "The Watergate drama has taken a half-year to unfold. The president's unique actions in firing two popular and respected members of the Executive Branch, and forcing a third to quit, took less than eight hours. The impact of all this, clearly colossal, and yet to be measured." Jerry Landay, reporting for ABC News. The incident happened on a Saturday night and became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre." Nixon then had acting Attorney General Robert Bork dismiss Cox, and the president eliminated the office of special prosecutor. He gave the Justice Department the responsibility of continuing the investigation. President Nixon had another political problem, in addition to Watergate. In late nineteen seventy-three, his vice president, Spiro Agnew, was forced to resign. A court had found Agnew guilty of violating tax laws. President Nixon asked Gerald Ford to become the new vice president. Ford was a longtime member of Congress from Michigan.
By that time, some members of Congress were talking about trying to remove Nixon from office. Was the president covering up important evidence in the Watergate case? Was he, in fact, guilty of crimes? In April nineteen seventy-four, Nixon surrendered some of the recordings of conversations in his office. However, three important ones were missing. The Nixon administration tried to explain, saying the tape machine had failed to record two of those conversations. The third recording, it said, had been erased accidentally. This became known as the famous "eighteen-minute gap." Many Americans did not believe these explanations. Two months later, the Supreme Court ruled that a president cannot hold back evidence in a criminal case. It said there is no presidential right of privacy in such a case. Congress moved ahead with efforts to bring charges against the president. "Congress has no alternative now but to institute impeachment proceedings." In July nineteen seventy-four, a committee in the House of Representatives proposed to impeach Nixon. That is, put the president on trial in the Senate. If Nixon were found guilty of crimes connected to the Watergate case, he would be removed from office.
Finally, Nixon surrendered the last of the documents sought by congressional investigators. These documents appeared to provide proof that the president had ordered a cover-up of evidence in the Watergate burglary. Every president promises to protect and defend the Constitution. The congressional investigation showed that Nixon had repeatedly misused government agencies in an effort to hide wrongdoing and punish his critics. The hearings also showed that he had tried to block the investigation. On August eighth, nineteen seventy-four, Richard Nixon spoke to the nation. His long struggle to remain in office was over. "Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow." By resigning, Nixon avoided impeachment and possible imprisonment. Never before had an American president resigned. On August ninth, Nixon's vice president, Gerald Ford, was sworn-in as the nation's thirty-eighth president.
Soon after becoming president, Gerald Ford made a surprise announcement. "I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station. But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me, though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person. My concern is the immediate future of this great country." He pardoned Richard Nixon. Many Americans criticized Ford for doing this. But the new president believed he had good reason. Ford wanted to deal with the other problems facing the nation. He did not want Watergate to go on and on. But the investigation did go on. A number of officials in the Nixon administration went to prison. The effects of Watergate on public opinion and public policy would be felt for years to come. For example, Congress passed laws designed to prevent an administration from using its power to punish opponents. Nixon's abuses also led Congress to order government agencies to provide more information about their intelligence gathering activities.
Nixon's actions violated the basic trust between the American public and their elected officials. It led to more aggressive reporting by a new generation of journalists hoping to follow in the footsteps of Woodward and Bernstein. Their coverage of Watergate won a Pulitzer Prize -- one of journalism's top awards -- and led to a movie based on their book "All the President's Men." It starred Robert Redford as Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein. Jason Robards played Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. "But do any of them have an axe?" "No." "Personal, political, sexual, is there anything at all on Mitchell?" "No." "Then can we use their names?" "No." "When is somebody going to go on the record in this story? You guys are about to write a story that says the former attorney general, the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in this country, is a crook! Just be sure you're right." The presidency of Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.be angry about 对某事生气；为……生气
My mother won't be angry about whether I can win the match.
我能否赢得比赛，我妈妈都不会生气。
2.focus on 关注；专注于
Their talks are expected to focus on arms control.
他们的会谈预计会集中讨论军备控制问题。
3.go away 离去；消失
This lotion will make the hurt go away.
这种护肤液能使疼痛消失。。
4.in addition to 除……之外；除了
In addition to the tractor, we have acquired a new rice transplanter.
除了拖拉机，我们又添了一台插秧机。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目，我是史蒂夫·恩伯。在本周的节目中，我们将结束讲述理查德·尼克松总统的故事。理查德·尼克松第一个任期结束时，希望美国能彻底退出越南战争。然而，美国人仍然对战争及其对国内人民生活的经济影响感到愤怒，通货膨胀和失业率都很高。一些政治观察家认为尼克松不会赢得连任。然而，尼克松确信美国人民支持他。在共和党提名大会之前，他并未积极参加州初选，而是把大部分注意力集中在外交政策上，包括他1972年2月对中国进行历史性访问。5月，他访问了奥地利、苏联、伊朗和波兰。在莫斯科，他与苏联签署了第一个战略武器限制条约（SALT）。但在华盛顿，发生了一些事件。这是一个小事件，但将产生巨大的影响。
1972年6月17日，五个戴着手术手套的人闯入民主党总部。民主党全国委员会的办公室，位于一座名为“水门事件”建筑群中的一座大楼里。警方抓到了窃贼，当时，这起事件似乎并不十分重要。但这些人携带的文件，将与尼克松白宫的高级官员联系起来。问题是：总统知道发生了什么吗？尼克松否认存在任何不当行为。水门事件最终将导致国会的调查。但是，在1972年夏天，注意力集中在总统提名大会上。民主党人在佛罗里达州迈阿密海滩开会，选择了南达科他州参议员乔治·麦戈文作为总统候选人。共和党人也在迈阿密海滩会面，正如预期的那样，提名理查德·尼克松连任。松赢得了1972年的选举。他击败了麦戈文，在50个州中赢得了49个州。但是水门事件的阴影不会消失。《华盛顿邮报》的两位年轻记者，鲍勃·伍德沃德和卡尔·伯恩斯坦，自窃听事件发生后就一直在关注此事。
在1973年初，他们发现了这次闯入事件与白宫官员之间有关的证据。证据还显示，这些官员试图利用政府机构掩盖其中的联系。窃贼的资金来源于与重新选举总统的委员会有关的资金。展开全面调查的压力越来越大。4月，尼克松总统下令司法部开始进行调查。律师埃利奥特·理查森将军任命法学教授阿奇博尔德·考克斯，作为特别检察官负责此次调查。“委员会将采取行动。”5月，参议院的特别委员会开始自己进行调查。前白宫律师约翰·迪恩提供主要证据。“我诚恳地认为，虽然总统参与其中，但他没有意识到他的参与所带来的影响。我认为，当事实出来时，我希望人们能原谅总统。”到7月时，公众得知尼克松总统已经对他的一些讨论和电话进行录音。参议院委员会向他要了一些录音，尼克松表示拒绝。他说，美国总统在宪法上有权对这些记录保密。联邦法官约翰·西里卡命令总统交出录像带，总统的律师将此案提交最高法院，高等法院支持西里卡的判决。
在那之后，要求尼克松合作参与调查的压力越来越大。10月，他提出提供部分录音的书面记录。特别检察官阿奇博尔德·考克斯拒绝该提议。所以，尼克松命令司法部长理查森对他进行革职。美国最高执法官员理查森表示拒绝。他反而辞职了，他的副手威廉·鲁克肖斯也辞职了，当时尼克松命令他解雇考克斯。“水门事件花费半年时间展开，总统采取了独特的行动，解雇了两名受欢迎、受人尊敬的行政部门成员，并迫使第三人辞职，这一行动耗时不到8小时。该事件的所有影响，显然是巨大的，而且尚待衡量。”杰瑞·兰迪，美国广播公司新闻报道。该事件发生于周六晚上，后来被称为“周六晚大屠杀”。尼克松随后让代理司法部长罗伯特·博克将考克斯解雇，总统也取消了特别检察官的职位。他让司法部负责继续调查。除了水门事件，尼克松总统还有另一个政治问题。在1973年底，他的副总统斯皮罗·阿格纽被迫辞职，法庭裁定阿格纽违反税法。尼克松总统要求杰拉尔德·福特担任新的副总统，福特是密歇根州的国会议员。
那时，一些国会议员正在讨论试图让尼克松下台，总统是在掩盖水门事件的重要证据吗？他真的犯罪了吗？1974年4月，尼克松交出了他办公室的一些谈话录音。然而，有三个重要的录音丢失。尼克松政府试图解释，称录音机未能录下其中两次谈话。据说，第三段录音是被意外删除的。这被称为著名的“18分钟间隔”。许多美国人不相信这些解释。两个月后，最高法院裁定总统在刑事案件中不能隐瞒证据。最高法院表示，在这种情况下，总统没有隐私权。国会继续不懈余力地起诉总统。“国会现在别无选择，只能启动弹劾程序。”1974年7月，众议院的一个委员会提议弹劾尼克松。也就是说，让总统在参议院受审。如果尼克松被判犯有与水门事件有关的罪行，他将遭遇革职处理。
最后，尼克松交出了国会调查人员寻找的最后一份文件。这些文件似乎证明，总统下令掩盖水门事件的证据。每一位总统都承诺保护和捍卫宪法。国会的调查显示，尼克松曾多次滥用政府机构职权，试图掩盖不法行为，惩罚批评他的人。听证会还显示，他曾试图阻止调查。1974年8月8日，理查德·尼克松向全国发表讲话。他为继续留任而进行的长期斗争已经结束。“在水门事件漫长而艰难的时期，我觉得自己有责任坚持不懈，尽一切努力完成你们选举我出任总统的任期。然而，在过去几天里，我清楚地看到，我在国会已经没有足够强大的政治基础，来为继续这项努力辩护。因此，我将于明天中午辞去总统职务。”尼克松辞职，避免了弹劾和可能的监禁。从来没有一位美国总统辞职。8月9日，尼克松的副总统杰拉尔德·福特宣誓就任美国第38任总统。
在成为总统后不久，杰拉尔德·福特出人意料地宣布了这个消息。“我深信所有美国人都享有平等的正义，无论他们现在或以前的地位如何。但我最关心的并不是理查德·尼克松的最终命运，尽管它确实深深地困扰着每一位正直和富有同情心的人。我关心的是这个伟大国家的未来。”他赦免了理查德·尼克松，许多美国人批评福特这样做。但是新总统认为，他有充分的理由。福特想解决美国面临的其他问题，他不希望水门事件继续下去。但是，调查确实在继续。尼克松政府的一些官员被判入狱。水门事件对公众舆论和公共政策的影响将持续数年。例如，国会通过了旨在防止政府利用权力惩罚反对者的法律。尼克松的滥用职权，还导致国会命令政府机构提供更多有关其情报收集活动的信息。
尼克松的行为破坏了美国公众和他们选出的官员之间的基本信任，这导致新一代记者更加积极地进行报道，他们希望追随伍德沃德和伯恩斯坦的脚步。他们对水门事件的报道赢得了普利策奖，这是新闻界的最高奖项之一，并根据他们的书《总统班底》改编了一部电影，由罗伯特·雷德福德饰演鲍勃·伍德沃德，达斯汀·霍夫曼饰演卡尔·伯恩斯坦，詹森·罗伯兹扮演《华盛顿邮报》执行主编本·布拉德利。“但他们中有人有斧头吗？”“没有。”“个人方面、政治方面、性方面，米切尔有什么线索吗？”“没有。”“那我们能使用他们的名字吗？”“没有。”“什么时候会有人在这个故事中出现？你们要写一篇报道，描述这个国家最高级别的执法官员，前司法部长是个骗子！只是要确定你是对的。”尼克松的继任者杰拉尔德·福特，将是我们下期节目要讲述的故事。
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