Purposes of this paper are to analyze youth's reactions to Watergate, look at the effects of age, class, and sex upon Watergate orientations, study the impact that school has had on these adolescent perceptions, and speculate about the American political future with these images in mind. Data are obtained from a questionnaire survey of 370 eighth and eleventh grade students. Among the findings are the following: (1) the older students are more informed; (2) in both age groups, students whose fathers are manual laborers have less knowledge of Watergate than do students whose fathers are professionals; (3) no association is found between sex and response pattern; (4) adolescents do not report schools as their most accurate source of information; (5) the older students will enter the political system far less willing to accept traditional patterns of trust and confidence; however, the informed negativism of the older group is accompanied by an increase in the sense of efficacy. The results of a teacher survey about class discussions of Watergate are also included. Questionnaire items, computation procedures, and references are provided in the appendices. (Author/RM)