Editing Watergate complex (section)

==Name origins==
[[File:C&O Canal water gate with Watergate complex in background.jpg|thumb|The [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal|Chesapeake and Ohio canal]] terminus at milepost zero. The photo shows the remains of [[Waste weir|Waste Weir]] #1, and where the [[gravity dam]] used to be. The "Watergate West" building is in visible in the background.]]
The name "Watergate" relates to numerous aspects of its physical and historical context. The name "Watergate" and the [[suffix]] "[[List of "-gate" scandals|-gate]]" have since become synonymous with and applied by journalists to controversial topics and scandals in the United States<ref name=Trahair1994>{{cite book |last=Trahair |first=R.C.S. |title=From Aristotelian to Reaganomics: A Dictionary of Eponyms With Biographies in the Social Sciences |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1994 |isbn=0-313-27961-6}}</ref><ref name=SmithRichter1993>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Ronald D. |last2=Richter |first2=William Lee |title=Fascinating People and Astounding Events From American History |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1993 |isbn=0-87436-693-3}}</ref><ref name=LullHinerman1997>{{cite book |last1=Lull |first1=James |last2=Hinerman |first2=Stephen |title=Media Scandals: Morality and Desire in the Popular Culture Marketplace |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-231-11165-7}}</ref><ref name=Hamilton1992>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Dagmar S. |contribution=The Nixon Impeachment and the Abuse of Presidential Power |title=Watergate and Afterward: The Legacy of Richard M. Nixon |editor-first1=Leon |editor-last1=Friedman |editor-first2=William F. |editor-last2=Levantrosser |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1992 |isbn=0-313-27781-8}}</ref> and elsewhere, even in places that do not have English as the main language.<ref name=Marirrodriga2008>{{cite news |url=http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2008/11/04/actualidad/1225753214_850215.html |url-access=registration |first=Jorge |last=Marirrodriga |date=November 4, 2008 |language=es |title=El 'valijagate' sigue dando disgustos a Cristina Fernández |trans-title=The 'valijagate' continues to give Cristina Fernández annoyance |newspaper=EL PAÍS Internacional |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222153324/http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2008/11/04/actualidad/1225753214_850215.html |archive-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref>

The complex sits near the eastern terminus of the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]], which operated from 1831 to 1924 and is now a [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park|National Historical Park]]. The remains of the gravity dam across [[Rock Creek (Potomac River tributary)|Rock Creek]], as well as [[Waste Weir]] #1 are at this site.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davies|first=William E.|title=The Geology and Engineering Structures of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal: An Engineering Geologist's Descriptions and Drawings |url=http://www.candocanal.org/histdocs/Davies-book.pdf|year=1999 |location=Glen Echo, Maryland |publisher=C&O Canal Association|access-date=July 21, 2014 |page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725154533/http://www.candocanal.org/histdocs/Davies-book.pdf |archive-date=July 25, 2014}}</ref> Land once owned by the canal company was part of the {{convert|10|acre|ha|adj=on}} site purchased in 1960 by the project's developer, Rome-based [[Società Generale Immobiliare]] (SGI).<ref name="projectsite">{{cite news |title=Watergate East Online |publisher=Watergate East Online |url=http://watergateeast.org/history1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818052847/http://watergateeast.org/history1.html |archive-date=August 18, 2012 }}</ref>

In his 2018 book ''The Watergate: Inside America's Most Infamous Address'', author [[Joseph Rodota]] gave three accounts of the origin of the name, based on sources inside the development team: Author and playwright [[Warren Adler]], while working as a publicist for the developers, came up with the name; Nicolas Salgo, a New York financier who suggested the original site to Societa Generale Immobiliare, acquired the name from Marjory Hendricks, owner of the Water Gate Inn; and three local executives—Giuseppe Cecchi, an employee of Societa Generale Immobiliare, Nicolas Salgo and Royce Ward—came up with the name, inspired in part by the Water Gate Inn, and recommended it to executives in the Rome office for approval. According to Rodota, the earliest use of the name Watergate in the surviving files of Societa Generale Immobiliare is a June 8, 1961, memorandum authored by Giuseppe Cecchi, summarizing an early meeting with officials of the future [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] about the proposed project.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Watergate |last=Rodota |first=Joseph |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|year=2018 |isbn=978-0062476647}}</ref>

In his 2009 book ''Presidential Power on Trial: From Watergate to All the President's Men,'' William Noble wrote that the Watergate "got its name from overlooking the 'gate' that regulated the flow of water from the [[Potomac River]] into the [[Tidal Basin]] at flood tide."<ref name="noble">{{cite book |title=Presidential Power on Trial: From Watergate to All the President's Men |first=William |last=Noble |page=8 |publisher=Enslow Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=9780766030589 |quote=It got its name from overlooking the 'gate' that regulated the flow of water from the Potomac River into the Tidal Basin at flood tide. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yr8wCjuchI8C&pg=PT9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131213349/https://books.google.com/books?id=yr8wCjuchI8C&pg=PT9 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 }}</ref> That gate (near the [[Jefferson Memorial]]) is about {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} downriver from the Watergate complex.

Another namesake, the "Water Gate Inn" restaurant (1942–1966), operated on the site for more than two decades before the Watergate complex was built.<ref name="saharch">{{cite book |title=Watergate 1963 – 1967, architect Luigi Moretti |via=SAH Archipedia |editor-first1=Gabrielle |editor-last1=Esperdy |editor-first2=Karen |editor-last2=Kingsley |location=Charlottesville |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2012 |url=http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DC-01-FB15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022123102/http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DC-01-FB15 |archive-date=October 22, 2014 }}</ref>

===Watergate steps performance stage===
[[File:Watergate stairs.jpg|thumb|Watergate steps]]
In 2004, ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' writer John Kelly argued that the name was most directly linked to the "Water Steps" or "Water Gate", a set of ceremonial stairs west of the [[Lincoln Memorial]] that led down to the Potomac.<ref name="Kelly">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60120-2004Dec12.html |last=Kelly |first=John |title=Answer Man: A Gate to Summers Past |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 13, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604164401/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60120-2004Dec12.html |archive-date=June 4, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="AIAGuide" /><ref name="steps">{{cite book |title=Washington DC |first1=Becca |last1=Blond |first2=Aaron |last2=Anderson |publisher=Lonely Planet |edition=3rd |date=April 1, 2007 |page=80 |isbn=9781740597999 |quote=Its curious name derives from an unrealized 1930s plan to build a ceremonial water gate in the Potomac, a stairway onto which visiting dignitaries could disembark. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQjvYlY-wzYC&pg=PA80 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131213337/https://books.google.com/books?id=HQjvYlY-wzYC&pg=PA80 |archive-date=January 31, 2017}}</ref> The steps had been originally planned as a ceremonial gateway to the city and an official reception area for dignitaries arriving in Washington, D.C., via [[water taxi]] from Virginia, though they never served this function.<ref name="Kelly" /> Instead, beginning in 1935, a floating performance stage on the Potomac River was anchored to the base of the steps. It was the site for open-air concerts and the audience could sit on the stairs.<ref name="Kelly" /><ref name="AIAGuide" /> Up to 12,000 people would sit on the steps and surrounding grass to listen to symphonies, military bands, and operas. The barge concerts ended in 1965 when jet airliner service began at [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|National Airport]] and the noise impaired the venue's viability.<ref name="Spot" /><ref name="Kelly" /><ref name="AIAGuide" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Taps for Watergate Barge |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 1, 1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Port of No Return for Watergate Barge |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 12, 1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hume |first=Paul |title=The Jets Played The Finale |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 27, 1971}}</ref>

The music venue was depicted in scenes in the motion pictures ''[[Houseboat (film)|Houseboat]]'' (1958)<ref name="Spot" /> and ''[[Born Yesterday (1950 film)|Born Yesterday]]'' (1950).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042276/locations |title=Born Yesterday (1950) Filming Locations |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=September 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220081019/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042276/locations |archive-date=February 20, 2018 }}</ref>