The Watergate Scandal

The Watergate Affair, is the worst political scandal in U.S. history. It led to the resignation of the president, Richard M. Nixon, after he became implicated in an attempt to cover up the scandal. "The Watergate Affair" refers to the break-in and electronic bugging in 1972, of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate apartment, and office building complex in Washington D.C. The term was applied to several related scandals. More than thirty administration officials, campaign officials, and financial contributors pleaded guilty or were found guilty of breaking the law. Nixon faced possible indictment after his resignation, received from his successor, Gerald Ford, a full pardon for
His testimony suggested that other top White House aides were involved in the clandestine activities. In March and April, Nixon met often with top aides to plan responses to the Gray revelations and to prepare for the investigations. On March 23, Judge Sirica read a letter from McCord charging that witnesses had committed perjury at the trial and that the defendants had been pressured to plead guilty for them to remain silent. McCord, hoping to avoid a severe sentence, cooperated with investigators and implicated Dean and Magruder, in the break-in. Investigators were also told that Mitchell had approved the break-in, and that transcripts of conversations, taped at the DNC, were given to Strachan for delivery to Haldeman, and Ehrilchman had ordered them to be destroyed. On April 30, Nixon announced the resignation of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned rather that prosecute men he knew. Nixon and Elliot Richardson, the new attorney general, approved the creation of a special prosecutors office, headed by Archibald Cox of the Harvard Law School. The Senate's Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, under the chairmanship of Senator Sam Ervin, opened public hearings in May. Dean's testimony linked Nixon to the cover-up. Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell denied wrongdoing and defended the president. The testimony