Nixon's men broke into the wrong office, got caught by a security guard, and triggered a cover-up so clumsy it brought down the presidency — all to fix an election he was already winning.
In the early hours of June 17, 1972, five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. They had been sent by operatives linked to President Nixon's reelection campaign to plant listening devices and photograph documents — despite Nixon being so far ahead in polls that the operation served no logical purpose.
The break-in was discovered not by investigators but by a night security guard named Frank Wills, who noticed tape covering door latches in the parking garage. He removed the tape; when he found it replaced on his next round, he called the police. The most consequential burglary in American political history was foiled by a $80-a-night watchman.
Nixon did not order the break-in, but he did orchestrate the cover-up — and that's what destroyed his presidency. Within days of the arrests, he was on tape directing the CIA to obstruct the FBI's investigation. The administration paid hush money, destroyed evidence, and fired a special prosecutor. The cover-up was far more damaging than the crime.
Two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, followed the story when nearly everyone else dropped it. Their source — a senior FBI official named Mark Felt, known only as 'Deep Throat' for 30 years — fed them critical information in parking garage meetings. The reporting won the Post a Pulitzer Prize and became the template for investigative journalism.
The crisis came to a head over Nixon's secret Oval Office taping system. Nixon refused to release the tapes, was ordered to by the Supreme Court, and when he finally complied, one tape contained an 18½-minute gap — apparently erased. The 'smoking gun' tape, released days before his resignation, revealed Nixon had personally ordered obstruction of justice just six days after the break-in.
On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first and only U.S. president to resign from office. In total, 69 people were charged in connection with Watergate, and 48 were convicted. Nixon was pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford — a decision that likely cost Ford the 1976 election but spared the country a presidential criminal trial.