IV. Watergate files, 1972-1974

Extent:
73 box(es) and (36.25 linear feet)
Scope and content:

The United States Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, known as the Ervin Committee, was created in late 1972 by a nonpartisan 77-0 vote. The committee was ordered to investigate the Watergate break-in and cover-up as well as other matters relating to the 1972 presidential campaign. The mandate of the Senate was to investigate thoroughly and hold hearings on the break-in of the Democratic National headquarters at Watergate, the political espionage and sabotage of candidates' campaigns-the so-called "dirty tricks"-and all aspects of campaign financing in the 1972 presidential campaign.

Both Republican and Democratic leadership selected the committee members and gave them broad powers to subpoena witnesses and records as they probed the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, DC. Senator Sam J. Ervin, D-NC, a former state Supreme Court Justice before coming to the United States Senate in 1954, chaired the special panel. Tapped for service on Ervin's committee were Republicans Howard H. Baker, Jr. of Tennessee, Edward J. Gurney of Florida, and Lowell P. Weicker Jr. of Connecticut, along with Democrats Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, Joseph M. Montoya of New Mexico, and Herman E. Talmadge of Georgia.

The Watergate files reflect Talmadge's involvement with serving on the Senate Select Committee and include committee and subject files, witness information, and proceeding reports. Committee files contain correspondence, legal documents, lists, memorandums, and reports relating to committee business, political espionage, and the Bellino subcommittee. The Bellino subcommittee was composed of Senators Talmadge, Edward Gurnery and Daniel Inouye, and was created to investigate allegations that Carmine Bellino had spied on Republican party campaign officials during the 1960 presidential campaign on behalf of the Democratic party. Major correspondents include Chairman Sam Ervin, Richard Nixon, George Bush, George Schultz, and Carmine S. Bellino.

The subject files consist of witness summaries, statements, exhibits, and correspondence. Materials pertain to illegal campaign contributions by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Braniff Airways, ITT anti-trust and milk pricing cases, and the Responsiveness Program, an attempt to make government departments more "responsive" to the political needs of Nixon's re-election campaign. The witness files contain biographical sketches, statements, witness summaries, and correspondence of committee witnesses including H. R. Haldeman, John Dean, and John Ehrlichman. Also includes questions asked by Talmadge during the hearings.

Contents

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