page_title: Watergate Babies
hierarchical_section_title: Watergate Babies
caption_attribution_description: English: A photo of the Watergate Complex taken from a DC-9-80 inbound to Washington National Airport on January 8, 2006.
context_page_description: Watergate Babies are Democrats first elected to the United States Congress in the 1974 elections, following President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal, on August 9, 1974.
  Tom Downey of New York was the youngest among the "babies", aged 25 upon his election, the minimum age at which one may serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Future Senators Chris Dodd, Tom Harkin, Paul Simon, Paul Tsongas, Max Baucus, and Bob Krueger were also elected to Congress in this election cycle. In November 1974, Democrats picked up 49 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate. This group greatly increased the strength of Northerners and liberals in the House Democratic Caucus. They teamed up with some more senior liberals to strike a blow against the seniority system and overthrew three committee chairmen whom they viewed as too conservative and/or too old to represent the Democratic Party in these prominent positions: William Poage, Wright Patman and F. Edward Hébert.
  Patrick Leahy, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, is the only Watergate Baby still serving.
  "Watergate Babies" can also apply to those Democrats elected to state or local office in 1974.
context_section_description: Watergate Babies are Democrats first elected to the United States Congress in the 1974 elections, following President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal, on August 9, 1974.
  Tom Downey of New York was the youngest among the "babies", aged 25 upon his election, the minimum age at which one may serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Future Senators Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Paul Simon (D-Illinois), Paul Tsongas (D-Massachusetts), Max Baucus (D-Montana), and Bob Krueger (D-Texas) were also elected to Congress in this election cycle. In November 1974, Democrats picked up 49 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate. This group greatly increased the strength of Northerners and liberals in the House Democratic Caucus. They teamed up with some more senior liberals to strike a blow against the seniority system and overthrew three committee chairmen whom they viewed as too conservative and/or too old to represent the Democratic Party in these prominent positions: William Poage, Wright Patman and F. Edward Hébert.
  Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, is the only Watergate Baby still serving.
  "Watergate Babies" can also apply to those Democrats elected to state or local office in 1974. "Democrats made substantial state legislative gains in a large number of states in 1974, the Watergate election," the political scientist Malcolm Jewell wrote. Numerous states passed sweeping ethics and public disclosure reforms in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. The Center for Public Integrity has compiled a state by state account of governmental political corruption watchdogs, many with roots in the post-Watergate era. A prominent Watergate baby of 1974 who served as Governor of California for a second stint from 2011 to 2019 is Jerry Brown.
  "Watergate Babies" has also been used to apply to journalists who entered journalism because of their fascination with the Watergate scandal. "Watergate," David Baumann wrote, "also created a generation of journalists who were not willing to accept politicians at their word. If the journalists who helped uncover the scandal, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, could expose the crimes of a president, then certainly there were crooked politicians elsewhere. Those journalists believed in investigative reporting and became watchdogs who attempted to keep politicians honest.
caption: Watergate complex
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