Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a serious scandal during and after the 1972 presidential election.
A United States President, Richard Nixon, was running for election against Democrat George McGovern. Afterwards, Frank Wills, a security guard, discovered clues that former FBI and CIA agents broke into the offices of the Democratic Party and George McGovern months before the election. They secretly listened to phone lines and stole several important documents.
When these men were found, they were discovered to have been associated with Nixon. He had helped them cover all the evidence of the scandal, and may have even hired the men to begin with. The Washington Post was a newspaper which played a big role in exposing the misdoings, specifically aided by reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. This showed the public that Nixon was not as trustworthy as he seemed.
Nixon chose to resign from office on August 9, 1974 because he wished not to be impeached. This means that he might have been charged with crimes. The U.S. Congress could not impeach him if he resigned. After this, Gerald Ford became his vice-president because Spiro T. Agnew (Nixon's first vice-president) had to resign as well after unrelated charges of accepting bribes and avoiding taxes. Ford then became the President by default of Nixon using his power under the 25th Amendment to the U.S Constitution. Ford pardoned Nixon for all of his crimes later on. The name "Watergate" comes from the hotel in Washington, D.C. where the first crime and break in took place, and is often associated with political scandals.
Other resources
Watergate Scandal Media
A view of the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., with the Howard Johnson's motel to the left, with legal notation from the trial of the White House Plumbers
Nixon giving his staple V sign in Pennsylvania during his 1968 campaign[1]
Retired CIA officer E. Howard Hunt and former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy (pictured 1964) were the handlers of the five Watergate burglars.[2]
A Sony tape-recorder used by Nixon to record all conversations in the Oval Office
Eugenio Martínez, one of the Cuban burglars
The Watergate Complex and its parking garage entrance (pictured 1982), through which the Plumbers first broke into the Democratic National Committee office on May 28, 1972
Chapstick radio microphones discovered in E. Howard Hunt's White House safe after the burglary
Address book of Bernard Barker, discovered in a room at the Watergate Hotel, June 18, 1972
Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, 2024
After the burglary, Martha Mitchell was kidnapped and sedated.
Part of the "Smoking Gun" tape of Nixon and Haldeman discussing how to pressure the CIA into stopping the FBI investigation
Disney's Contemporary Resort Arriving Monorail Teal
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