-
Sam Ervin
In 1954, then-Vice President Richard Nixon appointed Ervin to a committee formed to investigate whether McCarthy should be censured by the Senate. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices, which investigated Watergate, was popularly known as the "Ervin Committee". -
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 until 1974, when he resigned from office, the only U.S. president to do so. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974 when he became the only president to resign He is also known for corruption and the Watergate scandal which resulted in the public losing trust in him and his resignation. -
25th Amendment
The 25th Amendment, proposed by Congress and ratified by the states in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, provides the procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation. The Watergate scandal of the 1970s saw the application of these procedures, first when Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president, then when he replaced Richard Nixon as president. -
Impeachment
The Constitution defines impeachment at the federal level and limits impeachment to "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States" who may be impeached and removed only for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors". -
Obstruction of Justice
Obstruction of justice is a criminal charge that is used to bring down politicians and other public officials—elected or appointed—who have knowingly attempted to disrupt criminal proceedings or otherwise interfere with the workings of the criminal justice system. Obstruction statutes were put in place to punish politicians and other powerful public officials who lie or attempt to “cheat the system,” and to prevent those transgressions from occurring. And, for the most part, they work, too. -
The CIA
The CIA or Central Intelligence Agency is the US government agency tasked primarily with gathering intelligence and international security information from foreign countries The controversial spy agency’s history dates back to World War 2 and it played a key role in US efforts to combat the Axis powers during that conflict and in the Cold War that followed Though shrouded in secrecy some CIA activities such as covert military and cybersecurity operations have drawn public scrutiny and criticism -
26th Amendment
What is the text of the 26th Amendment? The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. -
CRP (Committee to Reelect the President)
The Committee for the Re-Election of the President (also known as the Committee to Re-elect the President), officially abbreviated CRP but often mocked by the acronym CREEP, was a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's administration. -
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein was born on February 14, 1944, in Washington, D.C. He began part-time work at the Washington Star at the age of 16 and later dropped out of the University of Maryland to work full-time as a reporter. Bernstein made a historic name for himself when, along with Bob Woodward, he uncovered the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. -
Plumbers
Its task was to stop the leaking of classified information, such as the Pentagon Papers, to the news media. Its members branched into illegal activities while working for the Committee to Re-elect the President, including the Watergate break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal. -
Robert Woodward
While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Woodward was teamed up with Carl Bernstein; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. -
Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox. Archibald "Archie" Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and later as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. -
Saturday Night Massacre
The “massacre” stemmed from an inquiry into the notorious June 1972 break-in at the Watergate complex in which five Nixon operatives were caught trying to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Archibald Cox a Harvard law professor and former US solicitor general was tapped to investigate the incident in May 1973. He soon clashed with the White House over Nixons refusal to release over 10 hours of secret Oval Office recordings some of which implicated the president in the break-in. -
Watergate Hotel & Office Complex
The Watergate scandal began early in the morning of June 17, 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. Nixon took aggressive steps to cover up the crime afterward. -
The Begin of the Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal began early in the morning of June 17, 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. -
Spiro Agnew
Less than a year before Richard M Nixons resignation as president of the United States Spiro Agnew becomes the first US vice president to resign in disgrace. The same day he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of charges of political corruption. During Nixon's successful campaign Agnew ran on a tough law and order platform and as vice president, he frequently attacked opponents of the Vietnam War and liberals as being disloyal and un-American -
Alexander Butterfield
On July 16, 1973, former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield revealed for the first time during Senate Watergate hearings the existence of President Richard Nixon's secret recording system. -
The Tapes
According to President Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, on September 29, 1973, she was reviewing a tape of the June 20, 1972, recordings when she made "a terrible mistake" during transcription. Among the tapes released soon afterward was the “smoking gun.” It was a June 23, 1972, Nixon-Haldeman conversation in which the two cooked up a plan to tell FBI Director Patrick Gray to stop investigating the Watergate burglary because of national security implications. -
John Dean
Watergate trial. Dean pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice before Watergate trial judge John Sirica on October 19, 1973. He admitted supervising payments of "hush money" to the Watergate burglars, notably E. Howard Hunt, and revealed the existence of Nixon's enemies list. H. R. Haldeman. -
Gerald Ford
America’s 38th president, Gerald Ford (1913-2006) took office on August 9, 1974, following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (1913-1994), who left the White House in disgrace over the Watergate scandal. Ford became the first unelected president in the nation’s history. A longtime Republican congressman from Michigan, Ford had been appointed vice president less than a year earlier by President Nixon. He is credited with helping to restore public confidence in government -
Nixon Resigns
On this day in 1974, one day after the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford is sworn in as president, making him the first man to assume the presidency upon his predecessor’s resignation. He was also the first non-elected vice president and non-elected president, which made his ascendance to the presidency all the more unique.
