Watergate

Nixon Elected President

Nov 5, 1968

Richard Nixon, the 55-year-old former vice president who lost the presidency for the Republicans in 1960, reclaims it by defeating Hubert Humphrey in one of the closest elections in U.S. history.

Nixon inaugurated

Jan 21, 1969

Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States.

Nixon Approves

Jul 23, 1970

Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA, and other agencies. He has second thoughts a few days later and rescinds his approval.

The Plumbers

Sep 3, 1971

The White House "plumbers" unit - named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration - burglarizes a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.

Watergate Hotel

Jun 17, 1972

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.

The Start of Denial

Jun 19, 1972

A security aide is among the Watergate burglars, The Washington Post reports. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to the operation.

Payment

Aug 1, 1972

A $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar.

Figured Out

Oct 10, 1972

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.

Nixon Re-elected

Nov 7, 1972

Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60 percent of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGover.

Guilty

Jan 30, 1973

Former Nixon aides Gordon Liddy and James McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty.

More Resigning

Apr 30, 1973

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 Tapes

Jul 13, 1973

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 Refuses

Jul 23, 1973

Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate Committee or the special prosecutor.

Saturday Night Masacre

Oct 20, 1973

Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.

Missing Conversations

Dec 7, 1973

The White House can't explain an 18 ½-minute gap in one of the tapes. Chief of Staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that someone erased the segment.

Nixon Resigns

Aug 8, 1974

Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. Vice President Gerald Ford assumes the country's highest office. He will later pardon Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate case.