W
atergate became the scandal that overshadowed the early seventies and resulted in the first-ever Presidential resignation. Resulting from the investigative work of two “Washington Post” reporters and a dedicated Senate Committee, the truth surrounding a burglary on June 17, 1972, revealed a plot to spy, spurn, and destroy the Democratic Presidential Campaign. The cover-up reached the upper echelons of the national government, and was the first instance in American history when the President of the United States betrayed the American people for political gain.
Timeline
Senate Watergate Committee: Hearings Begin
18 May 1973
Tape Controversy: Alexander Butterfield testifies
13 July 1973
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: G. Gordon Liddy
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: John Ehrlichman
Tape Controversy: Supreme Court Ruling
Other: Alexander Butterfield reveals Nixon recordings
13 July 1973
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: James W. McCord Jr.
Other: Richard Nixon resigns
8 Aug 1974
Impeachment & Resignation: Pres. Nixon resigns
8 Aug 1974
Other: Senate Watergate Committee hearings televised
18 May 1973
Other: Supreme Court rules that Nixon must turnover tapes
24 July 1974
Other: House Judiciary passes article of impeachment
27 July 1974
Other: Saturday Night Massacre
20 Oct 1973
Watergate Burglary: Place
Democratic Headquarters, Watergate building, Washington, D.C.
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: H.R. Haldeman
Senate Watergate Committee: Hearings End
27 June 1974
Other: Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook."
17 Nov 1973
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: John Dean
White House Officials Punished or Resigned: Attorney General Richard Kleindienst
Other: Nixon Reelected in landslide victory
7 Nov 1972
Impeachment & Resignation: House passes impeachment charges
27 July 1974
Watergate Burglary: Date
17 June 1972
Other Facts
Men Arrested
Virgilio Gonzalez, Bernard Barker, James W. McCord, Jr., Eugenio Martinez, and Frank Sturgis
Attorney General Richardson
Resigns
William D. Ruckelshaus
Deputy Attorney General; resigns
Archibald Cox
Fired; office of the special prosecutor abolished
Reporters
Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward
Informant
"Deep Throat," Mark Felt (identity not revealed until 2005)
