Did President Nixon Really Know?

A nationwide telephone poll of 1,037 voters conducted for TIME last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by Crossley Surveys, Inc., reveals that the American public is evenly divided on whether President Nixon knew of and approved in advance the Watergate burglary and bugging. But almost three out of five people surveyed refuse to believe his denials that he knew of the cover-up that followed.* While only one in four would approve of impeaching Nixon if he was merely aware of the coverup, nearly half believe that he should be removed from office if it is shown that he knew about the plot in advance. Of the people in the sample, 62% voted for Nixon in November. The questions:

Do you believe President Nixon knew in advance of the Watergate bugging and approved it?

Yes 41% No 41% No opinion 18% Do you believe President Nixon knew of the cover-up that followed?

Yes 58% No 25% No opinion 17% Democrats, who made up 36% of those polled, and Independents, who accounted for 38% of the sample, were more suspicious of the President than Republicans, who totaled 23%. Fully 52% of the Democrats and 42% of the Independents believed Nixon knew of the bugging in advance, while only 20% of the Republicans thought so. The opposition was even more willing to accuse Nixon of covering up; 68% of Democrats and 62% of Independents believed that he was aware of efforts to conceal White House involvement; 37% of Republicans felt he knew about such activities.

If President Nixon knew of the bugging in advance and approved it, do you think he should be removed from office through the process of impeachment?

Yes 44% No 42% No opinion 14% If President Nixon knew only about the cover-up that followed, do you think he should be removed from office through the process of impeachment?

Yes 24% No 63% No opinion 13% Democratic and Independent votes outnumbered Republican ones on the question of impeaching the President for prior knowledge of the bugging plot. Only 32% of the Republicans felt that removal from office would be justified in this instance, but 51% of Democrats and 44% of Independents thought so. A majority of all groups agreed that impeachment was unjustified if Nixon merely knew of the coverup; 77% of Republicans, 54% of Democrats and 62% of Independents voted no.

Do you think President Nixon is doing everything possible to get to the bottom of this scandal?

Yes 53% No 38% No opinion 9% Which of the following statements best describes how you think the Watergate scandal compares to other political scandals?

Much more serious 34% Somewhat more serious 26% No difference 27% Less serious 8% No opinion 5% Do you think the news media are treating President Nixon fairly on the Watergate issue?

Yes 60% No 28% No opinion 12% Nixon has clearly lost support among people who cast their ballots for him last November. When asked whether they would have voted for him if they had known then what they know now about Watergate, 70% of the Nixon voters said yes. While this change might not by itself have cost Nixon his victory, given many imponderables, it would have made the election a squeaker.

* The poll was substantially concluded before the President's latest and strongest denial on Friday.

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