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Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States on November 5, 1968.
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President Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States.
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David Young and Egil Krogh wrote a memo suggesting the formation of the "White House Plumbers" in response to the leak of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg. The White House Plumbers were a covert White HOuse special investigations unit established during the Nixon presidency. They were tasked to stop the leaking of classified information.
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A couple of men that were a part of teh White House Plumbers, Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy, break into the offices of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist Lewis Fielding looking for material that might discredit Ellsberg. This was under the direction of John Ehrlichman and his staff withing the White House. This was the Plumber's first major operation.
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By this time, the Plumbers were assigned to the Committee to Re-Elect the President, but were frustrated with the lack of assignments. Any plans they suggested were being rejected by CREEP. Liddy and Hunt, two members of CREEP, complained to the White House, specifically Charles Colson. Colson set events that would lead to the Watergate break-ins a few months later.
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J. Edgar Hoover dies and L. Patrick Gray is appointed the new FBI director.
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Some Plumbers are arrested at 2:30am in the process of burglarizing and planting surveillance bugs in the DNC offices at the Watergate Building Complex.
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Based on a tip, Bob Woodward submits a report in the Washington Times that one of the burglars had Howard Hunt in his address book and possessed checks signed by him and Hunt was connected to Charles Colson.
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Hunt, Liddy and the Watergate burglars are indicted by a federal grand jury.
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Richard Nixon is re-elected as President.
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The Senate Watergate Committee begins nationally televised hearings.
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Alexander Butterfield, deputy assistant to Nixon, reveals that all conversations and phone calls in Nixon's office have been taped since 1971. Nixon in the next few days orders all White House taping systems be disconnected.
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Nixon fires special prosecutor Cox. Ruckelshaus and Elliot Richardson refuse to comply and resign.
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Nixon gives "I'm not a crook" speech at a televised press conference at Disney World. A few months later Herbert Porter, a Nixon campaign aide, please guilty to perjury.
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Nixon is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an indictment against seven former presidential aides.
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Impeachment hearings begin for Nixon before the House Judiciary Committee.
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House Judiciary Committee passes articles of impeachment. The "smoking gun" of the recordings is released that detail how Nixon was planning to block investigations.
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Nixon resigns as President and Gerald Ford becomes President.
