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Nixon disconnects the Taping System in the White House
Nixon reportedly orders the White House taping system disconnected. -
Men caught bugging the offices at the Watergate hotel
Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex. -
Money was found in a Watergate burglar's account
A $25,000 cashier’s check, apparently for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar, the Washington Post reports. -
The break-in is connected to Nixon
FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon reelection effort, the Post reports. -
Nixon is reelected
Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60%of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota. -
People convicted of the scandal
Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain. -
Staffers in the White House resign or get fired over the scandal
Nixon’s top White House staffers, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired. -
The Hearings start to get aired
The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. -
John Dean exposes the cover-up
John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, the Post reports. -
Alexander Butterfield exposes Nixon's recordings
Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971, Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices. -
Nixon doesn't give the tape recordings up
Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor. -
More people either get fired or resign
Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress. -
“I am not a crook” speech
Nixon declares, “I’m not a crook,” maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case. -
Parts of the tapes are erased
The White House can’t explain an eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in one of the subpoenaed [court-ordered] tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that “some sinister force” erased the segment. -
The White House tried to avoid turning in the actual 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. -
Nixon is forced to turn in the tapes
The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president’s claims of executive privilege. -
The first Article of Impeachment is passed
House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.
