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The Roots of Watergate
The Watergate scandal led to the only time in the nation’s history when the president of the United States was forced to resign from office. It began on the morning of June 17, 1972, when a young Washington Post reporter named Bob Woodward was assigned to cover a seemingly insignificant but bizarre incident. -
The Break Ins
Trying to help the president, Nixon’s advisers ordered five men to break into the Democratic Party’s headquarters at the Watergate complex and steal sensitive campaign information. They were also to place wiretaps on the office telephones. While the burglars worked, a security guard spotted a piece of tape holding a door lock. The guard removed the tape, but when he passed the door later, he saw that it had been replaced. He quickly called police, who arrived shortly and arrested the men. -
The Trial Begins
In early 1973, the Watergate burglars went on trial. Under relentless prodding from federal judge John J. Sirica, McCord agreed to cooperate with the grand jury investigation and to testify before the newly created Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. The chairman of the committee was Democratic senator Sam J. Ervin from North Carolina. McCord’s testimony opened a floodgate of confessions. Presidential counsel John Dean, who had testified in June 1973, confessed that form -
Tapes As Evidence
The answer appeared on July 16. White House aide Alexander Butterfield testified that Nixon had ordered a taping system installed in the White House to record all conversations to help him write his memoirs after leaving office. The tapes would tell the committee what Nixon knew and when he knew it—if the president released them. -
Nixon Refuses to Cooperate
At first, Nixon refused to hand over the tapes, pleading executive privilege, the principle that White House conversations should remain confidential to protect national security. Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox took Nixon to court in October 1973 to make him give up the tapes. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox, but Richardson refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Richardson’s deputy to fire Cox, but he, too, resigned. Nixon’s solicitor general, Robert Bork, finall -
Agnew Resigns
The fall of 1973 proved disastrous for other reasons as well. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace after investigators found that he had taken bribes while governor of Maryland and while serving in office in Washington. Gerald Ford, Republican leader of the House of Representatives, became the new vice president. -
Nixon Resigns
A tape revealed that Nixon had ordered the CIA to stop the FBI probe into the Watergate burglary on June 23, 1972. Impeachment and conviction were inevitable. On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned in disgrace. Vice President Gerald Ford took office as president of the United States after Nixon’s resignation. He urged Americans to put the scandal behind them, saying, “Our long national nightmare is over.” On September 8, 1974, Ford announced a full pardon for Nixon. Ford’s pardon of Nixon drew publ
