On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on national television, effective the next day, stemming from the Watergate Scandal. President Nixon became the first president to resign from office and the Watergate Scandal will likely be remembered as one of the worst political scandals in U.S. history.

In June 17, 1972, burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters located at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington D.C. The burglars were eventually found, identified, and arrested for multiple crimes. The five burglars were (i) Bernard Barker, (ii) Eugenio Martinez, (iii) Frank Sturgis, (iv) James McCord, and (v) Virgilio Gonzalez. In addition to these men, G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt were also arrested for involvement in the burglary.

Washington Post investigative reporter, Bob Woodward, attended the burglars’ arraignments at court and overheard references about the CIA. Intrigued, Woodward investigated the information further. After some research and tips, Woodward was able to determine that these men were part of Nixon’s re-election campaign.

As the controversy grew and became more complex, Woodward teamed up with reporter Carl Bernstein to report the scandal. The reporters uncovered information suggesting that knowledge of the break-in, and attempts to cover it up, was led by members within the CIA, FBI, Justice Department, and even the White House. Woodward and Bernstein also received information from a source known as “Deep Throat” who refused to identify himself. Woodward would meet Deep Throat in undisclosed locations, and according to Woodward, Deep Throat only confirmed information that Woodward already had from other sources.

In August 1972, Nixon stated that no one he employed was involved in Watergate. On September 15, 1972, the fiver burglars, along with Liddy and Hunt, received indictments.

On November 7, 1972, Nixon was re-elected president in one largest victory margins in U.S. history. In January 1973, the seven indicted men involved with Watergate were tried in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. Five pleaded guilty and McCord and Liddy were convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping.

Still, suspicions grew in Washington that more people were involved. The U.S. Senate voted to continue investigations and a grand jury continued to hear witnesses. Through these investigations many other government officials were indicted. And eventually, Nixon was implicated through the process. Prosecutors, led by special prosecutor Archibald Cox, subpoenaed tapes from Nixon. But Nixon refused to hand over the tapes claiming presidential immunity. Then, the District Court ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes. Nixon appealed the order. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s ruling and ordered that Nixon hand over the tapes.

Nixon then told Attorney General Richardson to fire the prosecutors going after Nixon’s tapes. Richardson resigned instead. Nixon then gave the same order to Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, who also refused. So, Nixon fired him. Finally, Nixon’s Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox. These actions by Nixon were referred to as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” and created the first serious thoughts to impeach Nixon.

Nixon finally agreed to hand the tapes over to the court. However, the tapes smelled of foul play and one tape contained an 18-minute gap. Electronics experts on the case said erasures caused the gap. Now, many believed that the tapes were deliberately tampered with. It was all downhill from there for Nixon.

The House of Representatives opened impeachment hearings on Nixon in May 1974. And even Nixon’s strongest supporters backed down from helping the president upon the release of further tapes that revealed more of Nixon’s involvement in Watergate Scandal. Nixon faced near certain impeachment and removal from office in August 1974.

On this day, August 8, 1974, President Nixon addressed the American people in a nationally televised address and resigned from the office of president, effective the next day. Vice President, Gerald Ford, took Nixon’s role as President the following day. Ford then pardoned Nixon one month later in an effort to move the country beyond the Watergate Scandal.

INTERESTING NOTE: In 2005, Deep Throat’s identity was revealed to be former Deputy Director of the FBI William Mark Felt, Sr.