The Break-In, the Cover-Up, and the Fall of a President
David .P
Edition 2
On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. At first, the break-in appeared to be a strange case of political espionage. But the men, the money, and the operation led investigators toward President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign—and eventually toward the White House itself.
What followed was far bigger than a burglary. Secret surveillance operations, hush-money payments, political enemies lists, covert White House units, congressional hearings, confidential sources, missing tape recordings, and a battle over presidential power slowly revealed a coordinated effort to conceal the truth.
As It Happened: Watergate — The Break-In, the Cover-Up, and the Fall of a President reconstructs the scandal through the people, evidence, money trails, recordings, investigations, and decisions that brought down a presidency. Follow the connections from the first covert operations to the June 1972 arrests, through the Senate hearings and Supreme Court showdown, and finally to Richard Nixon’s resignation.
The board gives you the evidence. The connections show how the story grew. And the deeper question remains for the reader to explore: when did a political operation become a constitutional crisis?
The Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., contained offices, apartments, and a hotel. In June 1972 the Democratic National Committee maintained its headquarters there. The name of the building would soon become shorthand for an entire political scandal. What began as a burglary inside one office suite ultimately exposed illegal political intelligence operations, campaign-finance abuses, obstruction of justice, misuse of government agencies, and efforts by senior members of the Nixon administration to conceal what had happened.
Democratic National Committee Headquarters — Watergate
The Democratic National Committee headquarters occupied offices inside the Watergate complex. Burglars targeted the offices in 1972 to photograph documents and install or service electronic surveillance equipment. The political purpose of the intrusion made it far more consequential than an ordinary burglary. Once investigators connected the men to President Richard Nixon's reelection organization, the break-in became the doorway into a much larger investigation.
Frank Wills was the security guard working at the Watergate office building on the night of June 17, 1972. During his rounds he noticed tape placed over a door latch so the door would not lock. After removing it, he later discovered that the tape had been replaced. Recognizing that something was wrong, Wills contacted police. His attention to a seemingly minor detail directly led to the arrest of the burglars inside the Democratic National Committee offices.
In the early hours of June 17, 1972, five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. They carried photographic equipment, electronic surveillance devices, cash, and burglary tools. Within days evidence began linking the men to President Richard Nixon's reelection organization. The arrests became the visible beginning of a scandal that would last more than two years and ultimately end Nixon's presidency.
James McCord — Watergate Burglar and CRP Security Coordinator
James W. McCord Jr. was one of the five men arrested inside the Watergate offices. A former CIA and FBI employee, he also worked as security coordinator for President Nixon's reelection organization. That connection immediately tied at least one burglar directly to the president's campaign apparatus. McCord later became even more important when he informed Judge John Sirica that political pressure and perjury had surrounded the case.
Bernard Barker was one of the burglars arrested at Watergate. A Cuban-American with previous involvement in anti-Castro activities and CIA-connected operations, Barker had worked with E. Howard Hunt. Financial records associated with Barker became part of the evidence that allowed reporters and investigators to trace money from the burglary operation back toward Nixon's campaign organization.
Eugenio Martínez was one of the five men arrested inside the Democratic National Committee offices. Like several members of the burglary team, he was a Cuban exile associated with anti-Castro activities. His participation reflected the network of operatives recruited by E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy for political intelligence work.
Virgilio González was a locksmith and one of the five burglars arrested at Watergate. His role within the team included helping the group gain physical access to the Democratic National Committee offices. His arrest helped establish that the burglary had been a coordinated political-intelligence operation rather than the work of ordinary thieves.
Frank Sturgis was another member of the five-man burglary team arrested at Watergate. A veteran of anti-Castro activity and covert political networks, he was connected to E. Howard Hunt's group of operatives. The identities and associations of the arrested men pointed investigators toward a political operation with connections far beyond the building itself.
E. Howard Hunt — Watergate Organizer and White House Plumber
E. Howard Hunt was a former CIA officer who later worked for the White House and became associated with the covert unit commonly called the White House Plumbers. Hunt helped organize the Watergate operation and had connections to several of the Cuban-American burglars. His role connected Watergate to earlier political intelligence and covert operations associated with the Nixon administration.
G. Gordon Liddy was a former FBI agent who worked with President Nixon's reelection organization and helped design covert political-intelligence operations. Together with E. Howard Hunt, he played a central role in planning the Watergate operation. Liddy proposed an elaborate intelligence program involving surveillance and other illegal or highly questionable activities.
The Committee to Re-Elect the President, commonly abbreviated CRP and sometimes mockingly called CREEP, was the campaign organization working to secure Richard Nixon's reelection in 1972. Money, personnel, and political operations connected to Watergate led investigators repeatedly toward the committee. Its links to the burglars and planners transformed the scandal from a criminal case into a political crisis.
John Mitchell — Former Attorney General and Nixon Campaign Chairman
John Mitchell had served as Richard Nixon's attorney general before becoming chairman of the president's reelection campaign. As Watergate investigations expanded, Mitchell emerged as one of the most important senior figures associated with the campaign organization and the handling of political intelligence operations. He was eventually convicted on charges connected to the Watergate cover-up.
Investigators and reporters traced money found on or connected to the Watergate burglars through financial records toward Nixon's reelection operation. Campaign funds, checks, bank accounts, and intermediaries demonstrated that the burglary team had not financed itself independently. The money trail became one of the earliest pieces of evidence showing that the scandal extended beyond the five men caught inside the DNC offices.
After the arrests, money was raised and delivered to defendants and their associates. These payments became known as hush money because they were connected to efforts to maintain silence and protect higher-level figures from exposure. The handling of these payments later became central to allegations of obstruction of justice. Discussions about raising, delivering, and explaining the money appeared repeatedly in testimony and presidential recordings.
Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States and was campaigning for reelection when the Watergate burglary occurred. Nixon won an overwhelming electoral victory in November 1972 even as questions about Watergate continued. Over the following two years, evidence increasingly focused on efforts inside his administration to contain the investigation. The release of White House tapes eventually demonstrated his participation in obstruction-related activity, leading to the collapse of political support for his presidency and his resignation on August 9, 1974.
H. R. Haldeman was President Nixon's powerful White House chief of staff and one of the president's closest aides. His conversations with Nixon became crucial evidence because many were recorded by the White House taping system. Haldeman participated in discussions about containing the FBI investigation after the Watergate break-in. He later resigned and was convicted of crimes associated with the cover-up.
John Ehrlichman was one of President Nixon's most influential senior advisers. He had oversight of domestic policy and was closely connected to several controversial White House operations, including activities associated with the Plumbers. As investigations widened, Ehrlichman's role in the administration and the larger pattern of political intelligence activities came under intense scrutiny.
John Dean served as White House counsel under President Nixon. During the early months of the scandal, Dean became deeply involved in managing the administration's response and efforts to contain exposure. In 1973 he broke with the White House and became a critical cooperating witness. His televised Senate testimony described a broad cover-up and alleged that Nixon had participated in discussions about it.
June 23 1972 Nixon-Haldeman Smoking Gun Conversation
On June 23, 1972, only six days after the Watergate arrests, President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed using the CIA to persuade the FBI to limit its investigation by invoking supposed national-security concerns. The conversation was secretly recorded. When the tape was finally released in August 1974, it showed Nixon participating in an effort to interfere with the investigation almost immediately after the burglary. The recording became known as the smoking-gun tape.
Bob Woodward was a young Washington Post reporter assigned to the Watergate story. Working closely with Carl Bernstein, he pursued financial records, campaign connections, interviews, and confidential sources that revealed links between the burglars and Nixon's political organization. Woodward also had a confidential relationship with senior FBI official Mark Felt, later revealed as the source nicknamed Deep Throat.
Carl Bernstein — Washington Post Watergate Reporter
Carl Bernstein partnered with Bob Woodward in the Washington Post's Watergate investigation. Bernstein developed sources within the campaign organization and government, helping trace money and responsibility beyond the men arrested at the Watergate offices. The pair's reporting gradually exposed a network of political intelligence activities and cover-up efforts.
The Washington Post continued investigating Watergate after the burglary, publishing stories that linked the crime to Nixon's campaign and revealed broader political intelligence operations. The paper faced strong criticism and pressure from the administration. Its reporting was not the sole mechanism that exposed Watergate, but it played a major role in keeping the story visible while criminal investigations and congressional inquiries developed.
W. Mark Felt was a senior FBI official who secretly provided Bob Woodward with guidance and confirmation during the Watergate investigation. For decades he was known only by the nickname Deep Throat. Felt helped Woodward assess information and understand where the investigation was leading. His identity remained secret until 2005.
Benjamin Bradlee was executive editor of the Washington Post during Watergate. He supervised the newsroom while Woodward and Bernstein pursued the story and made decisions about publishing reports that directly challenged the Nixon administration. Bradlee demanded verification and multiple-source confirmation for major claims.
In February 1973 the United States Senate created the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, commonly known as the Senate Watergate Committee. Chaired by Senator Sam Ervin, the committee investigated the 1972 campaign and related wrongdoing. Its nationally televised hearings transformed Watergate into a public political drama and eventually revealed the existence of a secret White House taping system.
Senator Sam Ervin — Chairman of Senate Watergate Committee
North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin chaired the Senate Select Committee investigating Watergate. His questioning style and emphasis on constitutional principles made him one of the most visible public figures of the hearings. Under his leadership the committee pursued testimony and White House evidence, including the presidential recordings once their existence became known.
Senator Howard Baker — Watergate Committee Vice Chairman
Republican Senator Howard Baker served as vice chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. He became associated with one of the investigation's defining questions: what did the president know, and when did he know it? Baker's participation helped give the committee a bipartisan character.
John Dean's Senate testimony in June 1973 was one of the turning points of Watergate. Dean described meetings, conversations, hush-money problems, and efforts to obstruct the investigation. Most importantly, he directly implicated the president in discussions connected to the cover-up. The later discovery of White House recordings created a way to test his account against Nixon's own conversations.
Alexander Butterfield — Revealed Nixon White House Taping System
Alexander Butterfield was a former Nixon White House aide whose testimony produced one of the most explosive revelations of the Watergate investigation. In July 1973 he confirmed that President Nixon had installed an automatic recording system in White House offices. Suddenly the central dispute over who had said what was no longer dependent entirely on memory.
President Nixon used a voice-activated recording system that secretly captured conversations in locations including the Oval Office. During Watergate it became devastating evidence. Once Alexander Butterfield revealed its existence, investigators demanded recordings that could confirm or contradict testimony. Nixon's prolonged fight to control the tapes turned the scandal into a constitutional confrontation.
After learning about the taping system, investigators sought recordings of conversations relevant to Watergate. Nixon resisted, relying on claims of executive privilege and separation of powers. The resulting legal battle raised a central constitutional question: could a president withhold evidence needed in a criminal proceeding because the material consisted of private presidential conversations?
Harvard law professor Archibald Cox was appointed special prosecutor to investigate Watergate. Cox pursued evidence independently of the White House and issued subpoenas for presidential recordings. Nixon attempted to avoid producing the tapes through a compromise involving summaries. Cox rejected that arrangement, and Nixon then ordered that Cox be fired.
On October 20, 1973, President Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also refused. Solicitor General Robert Bork, then acting attorney general, carried out the president's order and dismissed Cox. The sequence became known as the Saturday Night Massacre and generated intense public and congressional outrage.
Elliot Richardson — Attorney General During Saturday Night Massacre
Elliot Richardson was attorney general when Nixon ordered that special prosecutor Archibald Cox be dismissed. Richardson had committed to protect the prosecutor's independence. Rather than violate that commitment, he refused Nixon's instruction and resigned.
William Ruckelshaus — Deputy Attorney General Watergate
William Ruckelshaus served as deputy attorney general during the Saturday Night Massacre. After Elliot Richardson refused to dismiss Archibald Cox, Nixon's order passed to Ruckelshaus. He also refused to carry it out. His departure left Solicitor General Robert Bork next in the Justice Department chain of command.
Robert Bork — Acting Attorney General Who Fired Archibald Cox
Robert Bork was solicitor general when the Saturday Night Massacre unfolded. After Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus refused to dismiss Archibald Cox, Bork became acting attorney general and carried out the president's order. Cox's dismissal produced a political firestorm.
Leon Jaworski succeeded Archibald Cox as Watergate special prosecutor. Jaworski continued seeking recordings needed for criminal proceedings. His office eventually took the tapes dispute to the Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon. That effort produced the ruling that forced Nixon to surrender evidence that included the smoking-gun conversation.
Investigators discovered an approximately eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in a recording of a June 20, 1972, conversation between Nixon and H. R. Haldeman. Nixon's secretary Rose Mary Woods said she had accidentally erased part of the tape, though technical questions and the extraordinary length of the gap fueled suspicion. No definitive reconstruction has established what was erased.
What Was Said During the Watergate 18½-Minute Tape Gap?
The missing section of the June 20, 1972, Nixon-Haldeman recording remains one of Watergate's enduring unanswered questions. Because the conversation occurred only days after the break-in, investigators wondered whether the erased section concerned the developing scandal. Whatever was said during those minutes has never been conclusively recovered.
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Chapter 41
United States v. Nixon — Supreme Court Watergate Case
United States v. Nixon was the Supreme Court case that resolved the confrontation over the president's refusal to surrender subpoenaed tape recordings. On July 24, 1974, the Court unanimously rejected Nixon's claim that a generalized assertion of executive privilege could block production of evidence required for a criminal trial. The ruling became a landmark statement that presidential power is subject to law.
Release of the Watergate Smoking Gun Tape — August 1974
After losing the Supreme Court case, Nixon was required to surrender additional recordings. Among them was the June 23, 1972, conversation with H. R. Haldeman showing that Nixon had participated in an effort to use the CIA to interfere with the FBI's Watergate investigation. The recording directly contradicted Nixon's long-standing public position and caused his remaining political support in Congress to collapse.
House Judiciary Committee Watergate Impeachment Investigation
In February 1974 the House of Representatives authorized the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether grounds existed to impeach President Nixon. Over the following months the committee examined evidence from Watergate and related abuses of presidential power. By late July it had approved three articles of impeachment.
Watergate Articles of Impeachment Against Richard Nixon
The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against President Nixon in July 1974. The first charged obstruction of justice in connection with Watergate. The second charged misuse of presidential powers. The third focused on refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas. Nixon resigned before the full House voted on the articles.
What Did Richard Nixon Know and When Did He Know It?
This became the defining question of Watergate. Evidence has never established that Nixon personally ordered the June 17 burglary itself. The decisive issue became his conduct afterward: when did he learn the details, and what did he do to protect himself and others? The June 23 recording demonstrated that within six days of the arrests Nixon was participating in a plan to obstruct the FBI investigation.
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Chapter 46
Richard Nixon Resignation Address — August 8 1974
On the evening of August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon addressed the nation and announced that he would resign the presidency the following day. By then the smoking-gun tape had destroyed his remaining congressional support, and impeachment and removal appeared virtually certain.
Richard Nixon Presidential Resignation Letter — August 9 1974
On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon signed a brief letter resigning the office of president of the United States. Nixon thereby became the first U.S. president to resign the presidency. The document marked the formal end of the Watergate political crisis for the Nixon administration, though investigations and prosecutions continued.
Gerald Ford had become vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in an unrelated scandal. When Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States. Ford inherited a government deeply damaged by Watergate and immediately faced the question of how the country should deal with Nixon's potential criminal liability.
Gerald Ford Pardon of Richard Nixon — September 8 1974
On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for federal offenses Nixon had committed or might have committed while president. Ford argued that the country needed to move beyond Watergate. The decision was extraordinarily controversial and prevented any federal criminal prosecution of Nixon for conduct during his presidency.
What Did Watergate Change About American Government?
Watergate changed American politics, journalism, campaign regulation, and public attitudes toward executive power. It demonstrated the importance of congressional investigation, independent courts, law-enforcement institutions, investigative journalism, and internal government witnesses. At the same time, it produced a lasting increase in political distrust.
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Chapter 51
White House Plumbers Special Investigations Unit
The White House Special Investigations Unit, commonly called the Plumbers, was created in 1971 after the leak of the Pentagon Papers. Its mission was to stop unauthorized disclosures of classified information and investigate perceived threats to the Nixon administration. E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy became associated with the unit. The Plumbers established a culture of covert political operations before the June 1972 Watergate burglary ever occurred.
Daniel Ellsberg was a former military analyst who provided journalists with the Pentagon Papers, a classified government study of United States decision-making in Vietnam. Their publication in 1971 deeply angered President Nixon and senior White House officials, who feared additional leaks. The administration's reaction to Ellsberg helped produce the White House Plumbers unit and led to illegal covert activity that foreshadowed Watergate.
Daniel Ellsberg Psychiatrist Office Break-In — 1971
On September 3, 1971, operatives connected to the White House Plumbers broke into the Beverly Hills office of psychiatrist Dr. Lewis Fielding, who had treated Daniel Ellsberg. The operation sought information that might damage Ellsberg publicly or assist the administration's response to the Pentagon Papers leak. Nothing useful was obtained. The burglary demonstrated that illegal political intelligence operations had begun well before Watergate.
Charles Colson — Nixon White House Special Counsel
Charles Colson served as special counsel to President Nixon and became known as one of the administration's most aggressive political operatives. He was closely associated with White House efforts to counter political enemies and leaks. Colson had connections to E. Howard Hunt and the political environment from which the Plumbers emerged. He later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with efforts to damage Daniel Ellsberg.
Operation Gemstone — Liddy Political Intelligence Plan
Operation Gemstone was the name associated with G. Gordon Liddy's proposed political intelligence program for President Nixon's reelection effort. The original proposals were extremely broad and included electronic surveillance, infiltration, disruption, and other covert tactics. Senior campaign officials rejected or reduced portions of the plan, but a smaller political intelligence operation continued. The Watergate break-ins grew out of this environment and planning.
The famous June 17 arrest was not the first entry into the Democratic National Committee offices. In late May 1972, a team connected to Hunt and Liddy successfully entered the Watergate offices. Electronic surveillance equipment was installed and documents were photographed. The later June burglary was partly an attempt to repair or improve surveillance equipment and collect additional intelligence.
Electronic listening equipment was installed inside the Democratic National Committee offices during the earlier Watergate operation. One target was the telephone of DNC official Spencer Oliver. Problems with the surveillance equipment contributed to the decision to return to the offices in June 1972. The wiretap makes clear that the operation was political espionage rather than an ordinary burglary.
Jeb Stuart Magruder — Nixon Campaign Deputy Director
Jeb Stuart Magruder was deputy director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President and one of the campaign officials closely connected to the political intelligence operation that produced Watergate. He initially participated in efforts to conceal the truth, but later pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors. His testimony helped investigators understand how proposals for political intelligence moved through the reelection campaign's leadership.
Hugh Sloan served as treasurer of President Nixon's reelection committee. He became an important source of information about campaign finances and the movement of money associated with political intelligence operations. Sloan cooperated with investigators and reporters. His information helped illuminate the campaign money trail leading toward higher-level officials.
On November 7, 1972, Richard Nixon won reelection in one of the largest electoral landslides in American history, defeating George McGovern and carrying 49 states. The victory occurred while Watergate was already under investigation but before the full extent of the cover-up was publicly understood. Nixon's enormous political strength at the moment of reelection makes the collapse of his presidency less than two years later especially striking.
Federal Judge John J. Sirica presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars. Sirica became suspicious that the defendants were protecting others and pressed aggressively for the full story behind the burglary. His sentencing approach created strong incentives for cooperation. One of the most important breakthroughs came when James McCord wrote Sirica a letter alleging political pressure and perjury surrounding the case.
In March 1973, Watergate burglar James McCord sent Judge John Sirica a letter stating that defendants had been pressured to plead guilty and remain silent, that perjury had occurred during the trial, and that higher-level political figures were involved. The letter shattered the idea that the burglary could be contained as the isolated work of the men arrested inside the DNC offices.
The Nixon administration maintained lists of political opponents and discussed using government power against people considered hostile to the president. Investigations uncovered efforts involving federal agencies and other instruments of government. These abuses expanded Watergate beyond the burglary and cover-up and became important evidence supporting the House Judiciary Committee's charge of abuse of presidential power.
Rose Mary Woods — Nixon Secretary and 18½-Minute Tape Gap
Rose Mary Woods was President Nixon's longtime personal secretary. During examination of the White House tapes, investigators discovered an eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in a June 20, 1972, conversation between Nixon and H. R. Haldeman. Woods said she had accidentally erased part of the recording while transcribing it. Technical examination later indicated multiple erasures, and responsibility for the entire missing section was never conclusively established.
The June 17 burglary is the event that gave Watergate its name, but the larger pattern began earlier. The response to the Pentagon Papers produced the Plumbers, the Ellsberg psychiatrist burglary demonstrated a willingness to use illegal covert tactics, and Operation Gemstone brought those methods into electoral politics. Watergate can therefore be understood not simply as one failed burglary, but as the exposure of a broader pattern of surveillance, secrecy, retaliation, and abuse.
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