32 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
32 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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created: 2026-06-13
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updated: 2026-06-13
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title: Watergate
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aliases:
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- Watergate Scandal
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tags:
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- Event
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- IntelligenceScandal
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- Nixon
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- CIA
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- 1970s
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category: "Intelligence Scandal"
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summary: "Watergate was the 1972 to 1974 political scandal, beginning with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee by operatives tied to the Nixon reelection campaign and the CIA, that culminated in President Nixon's resignation."
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start: 1972-06-17
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end: 1974-08-09
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location: "Washington, D.C."
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---
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Watergate was the political scandal that began with the June 17, 1972 arrest of five men who broke into the [[Democratic National Committee]] headquarters at the Watergate office complex in [[Washington, D.C.]], and that ended with the resignation of President [[Richard Nixon]] on August 9, 1974. The investigation exposed a wider pattern of covert operations, illegal surveillance, and obstruction of justice directed from the [[White House]].[^1]
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### The Burglars and the Intelligence Connection
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The burglars and their supervisors were drawn from the intersection of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], anti-Castro Cuban exile networks, and the Nixon campaign. [[E. Howard Hunt]], a veteran CIA officer, and [[James McCord]], a former CIA security official, organized the operation, and several of the burglars were Cuban exiles from the [[Bay of Pigs|Bay of Pigs invasion]] milieu. Hunt and [[G. Gordon Liddy]] had earlier run the White House "Plumbers" unit, whose 1971 burglary of [[Daniel Ellsberg]]'s psychiatrist used disguises and equipment supplied by the CIA's [[Office of Technical Service|Technical Services Division]].[^1][^2]
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### Investigation and Resignation
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Reporting in the *Washington Post*, an FBI investigation, and the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] revealed a secret taping system in the [[Oval Office]] and a fund used to buy the burglars' silence. After the Supreme Court ordered release of the tapes, which confirmed Nixon's role in the cover-up, the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment and Nixon resigned. The scandal directly preceded the [[Church Committee]] and Pike Committee investigations that exposed the broader history of intelligence abuses.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. *Final Report*. Government Printing Office, 1974.
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[^2]: Hougan, Jim. *Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat, and the CIA*. Random House, 1984.
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