| NOVEMBER 5, 1968 | Richard Nixon defeats Hubert Humphrey to win the presidency with 43.4% of the popular vote |
| JANUARY 20, 1969 | Nixon inaugurated as 37th President |
| MAY 12, 1969 | The first of 17 "national security" wiretaps on White House aides and media is installed following leaks to the papers about the secret bombing of Cambodia |
| JUNE 13, 1971 | The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers, highly sensitive and politically damaging security documents regarding America's involvement in Vietnam, leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg (Click here to read excerpts of the Pentagon Papers) |
| SEPTEMBER 3-4, 1971 | White House aides G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt supervise a "national security"-based burglary of Ellsberg's psychiatrist office |
| JUNE 17, 1972 | Five men are arrested after breaking in to the DNC national headquarters in the Watergate office building |
| JUNE 20, 1972 | The President and his advisor H.R. Haldeman discuss the arrests. A portion of this conversation was obliterated on the White House tapes by an 18-and-a-half minute gap |
| NOVEMBER 7, 1972 | Nixon and Vice-President Agnew are re-elected over George McGovern, garnering 60.8% of the popular vote |
| JANUARY 8-30, 1973 | Trial of the 7 men indicted for the Watergate burglary. All enter guilty pleas except for Liddy and head burglar James McCord, both of whom are convicted |
| FEBRUARY 7, 1973 | The Senate votes 70-0 to establish a select committee to investigate Watergate |
| MARCH 21, 1973 | Crucial meeting between the President and his counsel John Dean, who discussed the cover-upways to silence those involved, and the allocation of "hush money" to certain players, most notably to E. Howard Hunt |
| MARCH 23, 1973 | Judge John Sirica receives a letter from James McCord stating that the burglars were under political pressure to plead guilty and remain silent, that perjury was committed at the trial, and that the burglary was approved by high-ranking White House officials |
| APRIL 30, 1973 | Nixon announces the resignations of Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, and Dean's dismissal |
| MAY 17, 1973 | The Senate Watergate Committee, chaired by North Carolina Democrat Sam Ervin, begins its nationally televised hearings |
| MAY 18, 1973 | Archibald Cox named Special Prosecutor |
| JUNE 25-29, 1973 | Dean testifies before the Senate Committee, implicating the President |
| JULY 16, 1973 | Testifying before the Watergate Committee, White House aide Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a taping system in the White House |
| JULY 25, 1973 | Nixon, citing executive privilege, refuses to turn over subpoenaed tapes |
| OCTOBER 10, 1973 | Vice-President Agnew resigns for tax evasion; Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace him |
| OCTOBER 20, 1973 | The infamous Saturday Night Massacre: Cox fired, Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resign |
| MARCH 1, 1974 | The Grand Jury indicts Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Chuck Colson, and 3 others in the cover-up. Nixon is named an unindicted co-conspirator, although this information is kept secret at the time |
| APRIL 30, 1974 | Nixon releases 1,254 pages of edited transcripts of White House tapes, although he still refuses to release the actual tapes |
| JULY 24, 1974 | The U.S. Supreme Court rules 8-0 that Nixon must turn over the 64 subpoenaed tapes to the Special Prosecutor |
| JULY 27-30, 1974 | The House Judiciary Committee passes three articles of impeachment against the President, charging him with obstruction of justice in attempting to cover-up Watergate |
| AUGUST 9, 1974 | President Richard Nixon becomes the first president in U.S. history to resign from office. Gerald R. Ford becomes President |
