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Nixon's Political Life
This timespan goes from the date when Nixon was elected president to the Frost/Nixon interviews. -
Richard Nixon Becomes President
Richard Nixon, the former vice president who lost the run for presidency in 1960, is elected in 1968 and defeats Hubert Humphrey in a very close election. -
Policy of Vietnamization
Melvin Laird tells members at the National Security Council that the war was drawing to a point where we could implement more Vietnamese soldiers and retract the American soldiers. -
Nixon Goes Back On His Campaign Promise
Nixon goes back on his promise of ending the Vietnam War in his presidency with the policy of vietnamization when he gives the order to bomb North Vietnamese sactuaries to stop flow to supplies to Viet Cong. In addition, he also gives order to bomb the neutral countries of Cambodia and Laos. This is not seen by the public as an effort to end the war, and the public starts to lose faith in him ending the war and bringing peace to a nation that has had frequent antiwar demonstrations for years. -
Nixon Approves Plan to Expand Domestic Intelligence-Gathering by FBI and CIA
Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. He later rethinks his desicion and retracts his approval. With the domestic intelligence groups not expanded Nixon makes it easier later on to use one group against the other. -
The Pentagon Papers are published
The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers -- the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War. Pentagon Papers showed former presidents' policies and were believed to contain evidence likely to idict the presidents involved with the Vietnam War/ Nixon also feared that some of the pages might hold information that could hinder his current time in offic as well as his future run for second term. -
Nixon Establishes The White House Plumbers
The White House Plumbers become the president's assigned group to stop "leaks" (of information).They are people payed to go outside the boundaries of law and "take down" Nixon's enemies. -
Nixon's Enemy List
Nixon becomes paranoid after the Pentagon Papers, and sees people who might want to bring down his presidency everywhere. He creates this list as a way of placing names down that he will later try to discredit. The people on the list were his political adversaries and people who publically disagreed with him. -
Plumbers Burglarize Psychiatrist Office For Information on Daniel Ellsberg
The White House Plumbers burglarizes a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. They were looking for information that could disgrace him. This causes too much attention when the wreakage of the office is seen and Nixon disbands the "Plumbers". -
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Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Scandal occured when a group of five burglars break-in to the Democratic party's headquarters in Washington,D.C to plant electronic "bugs" in the office. However, an off-duty police officers catches them and they are arrested. The White House quickly begins to cover-up the event and tells the media that it was a third-rate burglary and so that they should lose interest in the event. -
Five Men Break Into Watergate Building
Five men are arrested in a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington. They are arrested after an efffort to plant electronic "bugs" in the Democratic Party's headquarters. -
"Five Held in Plot to Bug Democratic Offices Here" Washington Post Headline
The story reported to the public that a team of burglars had been arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee office complex in Washington. Washington Post takes an interest in the story that persists until the Nation gives the even the amount of publicity required. -
President Nixon and Ade H.R Haldeman Dicuss Watergate Affair
President Nixon and aide H.R. Haldeman discuss Watergate. Later, prosecutors find an 18-minute gap in tape of that conversation. -
President Nixon Gives Orders to His Chief Aid to Use CIA to Hold Back Inquiry by FBI
This conversation will eventually become the "smoking gun" tape that convicts the President of ordering the cover-up of the Watergate break-in and of obstructing justice to stop the public from realizing the truth of the scandal. -
Check Connects Burglars to White House through Re-election Committe Finances
On this day, a $25,000 check which given to the Nixon re-election campaign is found in the bank account of one of the Watergate burglars. Further investigation revealed that more money had been given to burglars to support their travel, living expenses, and purchases, from CREEP. This will later be a factor that created security measures of how campaigns could spend and use their money. -
FBI Realize Watergate Is Massive Campaign Of Political Spying and Sabotage Conducted BY CREEP
This begins to unravel the cover-up that those closest to Nixon are involved in the Watergate scandal. The fact that the President denies knowledge of these acts begins to look suspicious and journalists are on his trail to find out exactly who is responsible for the crime. -
Nixon Wins Re-Election
Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, and defeating the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South. Nixon wins but the crimes he committed to get re-elected are still being brought up and he will soon become unable to fend off the suspicions of the public and the Senate and House of Representaties. -
Watergate Committee is Televised
The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Nixon denies any prior knowledge of the break-in and any involvemnet in the legal proceedings against the burglars. -
Watergate Affair is a Full-blown National Scandal and Subject of Two Official Investigations
The public is now suspicious of the president and his tie to the Watergate break-in and seeing the investigation on TV has only made it clearer to them that the president lied when he called the break-in a "third-rate burglary". -
John Dean Admits to Have Discussed Watergate Cover-up with Nixon
John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, The Post reports. -
John Dean, the President's Lawyer Admits to Having Discussed Cover-up With President Many Times
John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times. He later goes to jail because of this, though he is known to have been the crucial component in bringing down the cover-up and the President's criminal activities. -
Alexander Butterfield Reveals That Nixon Recorded Oval Office Conversations
Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals at testimony in front of Senate committe that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices. -
Nixon cites "Executive Priviledge" and Refuses to Hand Over Tapes
Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor. -
Vice President Agnew is Forced to Resign
Vice President Agnew is forced to resign for taking bribes from Maryland crontactors while governor and as vice president. After Agnew, Nixon nominates Gerald Ford for the position of Vice President and Congress confirms the decision. -
"Saturday Night Massacre"
Cox refuses to compromise on the tapes, and Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns in protest. Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fires Cox. -
Nixon Maintains His "Innocence " in Watergate Scandal
Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case. He refuses to admit any prior knowledge to the crime or having anything to do with the cover-up. -
The White House Can't Explain 18 Minute Gap
The White House can't explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that "some sinister force" erased the segment. The minutes were erased to keep more incriminating material from being heard by the Watergate Committee. -
Nixon's State of The Union Address
Nixon talks about all the positive changes he has made in his presidencies. He talks of how he had brought more peace and stability and is working to pull out of the war honorably. He also talks about what he hopes to do in the rest of the years as president. This might be seen by others as a way to gain back the popularity that was lost with the scandal. -
The White House Releases Transcripts of Nixon Tapes
The White House releases more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insists that the tapes themselves must be turned over. However, the White House refuses citing "excecutive priviledge" of the president and his cabinet members. -
Supreme Court Rules Unanimously That Nixon Must Give Up the Tapes
The Supreme Court rules that Nixon must provide the tapes and documents subpoenaed by special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. They consequently ruled that "excecutive privilege" does not give Nixon the right to withhold evidence to possible criminal activity. -
House Judiciary Commitee Draws Up Three articles of Impeachment
House Judiciary Commitee approves the three articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, misuse of powers and violation of his oath of office and failure to comply with House subpeonas. -
"Smoking Gun" Tape is Revealed
The "Smoking Gun" Tape revealed that the president gave orders, six days after the Watergate break-in, to use the CIA to hold back an inquiry by the FBI. These words convicted Nixon of having an active part to the attempted cover-up and thus making his promises illegitamate. -
Nixon's Last Televison Appearance as President Where He Gives His Resignation and Frarewell Address
In His Farewell Addresss, Nixon admits to having made some judgements that were wrong but he insisted through his speech that he had always acted in what he believed was in the best interests of the country. He refuses to admitt that he broke the law and obstructed justice for his own benefit, when he ordered the "ex-plumbers" to break-in and then ordered the CIA to impede the FBI investigation and commencing the cover-up. -
Nixon resigns
After Nixon is frankly informed by Republican leaders that his impeachment by the full House of Representatives and removal by Senate was imminent, he decides to resign and save some face in front of the public. This only made the public doubt and hate him more for what he did with the Watergate affair. Nixon becomes the first president to resign and Gerald Ford becomes the first president in offiice to be elected solely on the vote of the Congress. -
President Ford Pardons Nixon
Ford granted him a "full, free, and absolute pardon", ending any possiblity of an indictment. By doing this Nixon could no longer be convicted of the crimes he committed while in office. -
The Nixon Interviews Begin
These interviews between Nixon and Sir David Frost. These augmented Nixon's written memoirs. However, the interviews only increase the public's view that Nixon had obstructed justice. These interviews became the subject of the film Frost/Nixon.
