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Politics

Watergate timeline: From the crime to the consequences

Associated Press

Tags: Government, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, politics, Robert Bork, John Dean
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FILE - President Nixon sits in his White House office on Aug. 16, 1973, as he poses for photographer after delivering a nationwide television address dealing with Watergate. Nixon repeated that he had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in and was not aware of any cover-up. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 3, 1973, file photo, the Senate Watergate Committee hearings continue on Capitol Hill in Washington, with from left, Sen. Lowell Weicker, Jr; Sen. Edward Gurney, Fred Thompson, Sen. Howard H. Baker; Rufus Edmisten, Sen. Sam Ervin; Sam Dash, and Sen. Joseph Montoya. Testifying is Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - President Richard Nixon tells a group of Republican campaign contributors, he will get to the bottom of the Watergate scandal during a speech on May 9, 1973 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Duricka, File)
FILE - In this April 29, 1974, photo, President Richard Nixon points to the transcripts of the White House tapes after he announced during a nationally-televised speech that he would turn over the transcripts to House impeachment investigators, in Washington. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - John D. Ehrlichman, a key figure in the Watergate scandal, is surrounded by reporters outside the U.S. District Court in Washington, Feb. 22, 1975. Ehrlichman was convicted of conspiracy and perjury and served 18 months in prison. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Richard Helms, former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency testifies before the Senate Watergate Committee in Washington, on Aug. 2, 1973. (AP Photo)
FILE - Former FBI officials, Mark Felt, left, and Edward S. Miller, appear at a news conference, on April 15, 1981, in Washington, after learning that President Ronald Reagan had pardoned them from their conviction of unauthorized break-ins during the Nixon administration's search for opponents during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
FILE - Special Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski speaks with reporters outside U.S. District Court in Washington, May 16, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

AP1973

FILE - President Nixon sits in his White House office on Aug. 16, 1973, as he poses for photographer after delivering a nationwide television address dealing with Watergate. Nixon repeated that he had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in and was not aware of any cover-up. (AP Photo, File)

WASHINGTON – A timeline of the Watergate scandal, from the crime to the fall of a president:

June 17, 1972: Five men are arrested in a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel and office complex in Washington.

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June 20, 1972: President Richard Nixon and aide H.R. Haldeman discuss Watergate. Later, prosecutors find an 18-minute gap in tape of that conversation.

Sept. 15, 1972: Seven men, including two former White House aides, are indicted in the Watergate break-in.

Jan. 11-30, 1973: Five of the men plead guilty to conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. Two stand trial and are convicted.

April 30, 1973: Haldeman and Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman resign. White House aide John Dean is fired.

July 16, 1973: Testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee reveals that all of Nixon’s White House conversations were taped.

July 24, 1973: The Supreme Court rules that Nixon must provide the tapes and documents subpoenaed by special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.

Oct. 20, 1973: Cox refuses to compromise on the tapes, and Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns in protest. Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fires Cox. This becomes known as the Saturday Night Massacre.

July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court rules Nixon must hand over the tapes.

July 27-30, 1974: The House Judiciary Committee approves three articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, misuse of powers and violation of his oath of office, and failure to comply with House subpoenas.

Aug. 5, 1974: The “smoking gun” tape becomes public. In the recording of a June 23, 1972, conversation, Nixon is heard approving a proposal from his chief of staff to press the FBI to drop its investigation of the Watergate break-in six days earlier. Republicans who had intended to support Nixon in an impeachment trial abandon him.

Aug. 9, 1974: Nixon resigns.

Sept. 8, 1974: President Gerald Ford pardons Nixon.

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