Reply #45: I just read All the Presidents men...

[Emboldened Chimp]

Watergate was reported vigorously by the Washington Post all throughout the summer of '72. Some of their stories got front page treatment. From what I could gather, it was reported on consistently by other newspapers, and eventually television, before the election. However, the Post got nailed in October with a story that said Hugh Sloan identified the names of the pay masters in a grand jury. The WP was summarily smeared for trying to help McGovern. It wasn't until after the election (about six months) that things really fell apart for Nixon. The Post was vindicated and the story came out full force and stayed at the forefront for over a year. Nixon even pleaded in his '74 SOTU address, "Please, no more Watergates." It would be another six months until he resigned. It was a slow leaker, but everyone knew about it.