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Nixon elected
Nixon is first elected as President in November of 1968 and Inaugurated in January of 1969, making him the 37th President. During his campaign he had promised to pull America out of the Vietnam war and have the Vietnamese take a more active role in the war. This process was known as Vietnamization. -
Bombing in Cambodia and Laos
In an attempt to destroy Viet Cong supply lines, Nixon begins an undercover bombing operation in Cambodia and Laos. Before doing this he did not consult Congress, as he was supposed to when beginning an act of war on a neutral nation. The nation did not find out about the bomgings until May 9, 1969. -
Pentagon papers published
Daniel Ellsberg, an official in the Pentagon, began giving the New York Times confidential documents from files in the Pentagon. These were dubbed the Pentagon Papers and contained top-secret information about the Vietnam war, which Nixon had promised to end in his first campaign. The papers showed that in the summer of 1968 we started losing the war. -
Plumbers break into psychiatrist's office
Nixon put together a secret group of trusted officials to carry out covert opperations and "plug leaks", thus they were named the Plumbers. Their first target was Daniel Ellsberg who Nixon felt was his greatest threat. In an attempt to discredit Ellsberg the Plumbers broke into and trashed Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. Following this the Plumbers are dissassembled. -
CREEP formed
CREEP was Nixon's Comittee to Re-elect the President, that was mainly used as a fundraising comittee for Nixon's campaign. Some of the money was later used in less legal acts. It was similar to the Plumbers and had many of the same members. -
Watergate break-in
Five men were arrested in the Watergate hotel and offices, home of the Democratic National Comittee. They were trying to bug some of the main offices, particularly the Lawrence O'Brien, the chairmen of the DNC. One of the men was Eugenio Martinez, already found to be involved in the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. The other four were Edward Martin, Frank Sturgis, Virgilio Gonzales, and Bernard Barker. -
CREEP money found as bribe
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, reporters for the Washington Post began investigating the break-in at Watergate. They found that $25,000 had been deposited in Bernard Barker's personal bank account through a check given to Kenneth Dahlberg, the campaign finance chairman in the Midewest. He then claimed to have given the check to Maurice stans, the treasurer of CREEP. -
FBI links Watergate to CREEP
FBI agents find that the Watergate break-in is part of an extensive spying and sabotage campaing by CREEP against the Democratic Party. Agents found that hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to CREEP had been set aside for a campaign to discredit specific Democratic candidates. This included stalking members of the candidate's families, forging letters supposedly written by the candidates, and other things. -
Nixon re-elected
Nixon is re-elected in a landslide victory with over sixty percent of the popular votes, leading to 520 electoral votes. His democratic oponent, George McGovern only got two states and 17 electoral votes. -
Four White House officials leave
Four of the top officials in nixon's cabinet, H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst left their positions because of the scandal. Previously the Defense Secretary, Elliot Richardson was appointed to replace Kleindienst as the Attorney General. Nixon gave Richardson "absolute authority" in dealing with the Watergate investigation. -
Senate hearings
In the Senate, televised hearings for Watergate begins. Archibald Cox is chosen by the Senate to be the prosecutor in the case. The hearings are set to go over not only the break-in at Watergate, but also any problems from the 1972 election, and any allegations against Nixon and white house employees. -
3 white house officials leave
After Nixon orders Archibald Cox to make no effort to obtain tapes of all his conversations and phone call, Cox refuses and Attorney General Elliot richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resign. Nixon abolishes the position of Special Prosecutor, and turns the Watergate investigation over to the Department of Justice. After the announcement of the departures, the offices of Ruckelshaus, Cox, and Richardson are sealed off by FBI agents "at the request of the White House". -
Nixon turns over transcripts
When the Senate Watergate Commitee put the tapes of Nixon's converstaions under subpoena, he turned over 1,254 pages of an edited transcript. These were made public along with a White House summary that stated these would prove the President's innocence. However the House Judiciary Commitee rules that the tapes themselves must be turned over. -
Articles of Impeachement pass
The three Articles of Impeachment for Nixon are passed by the House Judiciary Committee. The first two are both passed with twenty-seven of the thrity-eight votes, and the second one with twenty three. The articles basically say that he has in various ways failed to carry out what he swore to do in taking the Presidential Oath of Office. He is charged with obstruction of Justice. -
Nixon Resigns
Nixon becomes the first American president to resign from office. His Vice President Gerald Ford took office and will remain there for the next 2 1/2 years of his term. Ford later pardons Nixon of all crimes.
