Watergate Chronology

June 17, 1972

-break-in at democratic national headquarters in watergate complex in DC

-McCord, Sturgis, and three Cubans apprehended by DC police

August 29, 1972

-Nixon stated that white house counsel john dean, at direction of president, conducted a complete investigation of al leads that might involve any present members of the white house staff or in govt

-cleared any involvement of white house staff or in his administration

September 15, 1972

godron liddy (employed by Committee to re-elect the president), howard hunt, and 5 burglars apprehended in watergate are indicted

October 5, 1972

Nixon stated that FBI had conducted an intensive investigation of watergate

October 10, 1972

Washington Post reveals that watergate break-in was part of a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the President’s re-elected and directed by white house and re-election officials

November 7, 1972

Nixon and Agnew re-elected with 61% vote

January 11, 1973

Senator sam ervin (D, NC) agrees to head a senate investigation of watergate

January 26-28, 1973

gallup poll puts the president’s popularity at a high of 68%

Feburary 7, 1973

senate votes unanimously to establish a committee with 4 dems and 3 repubs to investigate watergate and other 1972 campaign abuses

January 30, 1973

G. Gordon Liddy and Frank McCord are convicted for the break-in

March 2, 1973

-Nixon explained that Dean had access to FBI interviews in July and August 1972 because he had conducted an investigation at the behest of the president

-Nixon promised to cooperate with the senate select committee

March 19, 1973

Frank McCord writes Judge Sirica a letter charging that perjury was committed at watergate trial, that defendants were pressured to plead guilty and keep quiet, that higher-ups were involved, and fear for his life

March 23, 1973

Sirica makes public McCord’s letter and gives provisional sentences to four of the watergate defendants to encourage them to talk to a grand jury

April 30, 1973

-white house annouced resignations of H.R Haldeman and John Erlichman (white house aides), and Richard Kleindienst (attorney general)

-white house counsel John Dean was fired after refusing to resign

-Nixon gives first speech on watergate

May 17, 1973

televised senate watergate hearings begin

May 18, 1973

Archibald Cox named special prosecutor by attorney general Eliot Richardson

June 25, 1973

John Dean testifies before watergate committee and says that Nixon was involved in the cover-up of the burglary from the beginning

July 16, 1973

Alexander Butterfield (former presidential appointments secretary) reveals white house taping systemJ

July 25, 1973

Nixon says tapes will not be released to Cox because it would “jeopardize independence of the 3 branches of government”

August 22, 1973

Nixon in 1st press conference in months, declares watergate “water under the bridge” and accepts all the blame for the white house climate that led to the break-in and cover-up

October 10, 1973

Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns

October 12, 1973

Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to be VP

October 20, 1973

-Cox defends his decision not to compromise with the President on the tapes issue and emphasizes that he will not resign

-Nixon instructed Richardson, attorney general, to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox

-Richardson resigns rather than do it, as does William Ruckelshaus, deputy attorney general

-Solicitor general Robert Bork carries out directive

-Press Secretary Ron Ziegler announced that the President had abolished the watergate special prosecution force

October 23, 1973

-representatives of the white house were due to be in court to answer to a court order calling for the tapes and other documents to be turned over to judge Sircia who would give them to the watergate special prosecutor, Cox

-white house says it will release the tapes Cox sought

October 30, 1973

the house judiciary committee starts consideration of possible impeachment proceduresNo

November 3, 1973

gallup poll record Nixon’s lowest approval rating at 27%

November 17-20, 1973

Nixon seeks support for his embattled presidency

November 27, 1973

Gerald Ford confirmed by Senate as VP

February 6, 1974

house votes 410-4 to proceed with impeachment probe and to give the house judiciary committee broad subponea powers

March 1, 1974

seven key former Nixon administration and campaign officials are indicted by a grand jury for allegedly conspiring to cover up the watergate burglary

March 7, 1974

-Ehrlichman, Colson, and five others are indicted by a federal grand jury in the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office (Ellsberg leaked pentagon papers to the NYT)

-Pentagon papers were top secret history of vietnam war revealing lots of deception of public, put together by the department of defense

April 3, 1974

IRS says Nixon owes over 400k in back taxes and interest penalties totaling another 33k because IRS finds that president’s deduction for donation of his VP papers was made after the date such contributions were prohibited

April 30, 1974

white house releases 1,239 pages of edited transcripts and they reveal brutally frank white house discussions on watergate and administration and political personalities

May 9, 1974

house judiciary committee begins formal hearings on the possible impeachment of the president

May 24, 1974

special prosecutor Leon Jaworski appeals directly to the supreme court to decide whether the president can withhold evidence in the criminal cases of his former aides, and one week later the court agrees to hear the case, bypassing the US court of appeals

July 24, 1974

supreme court, ruling unanimously, that Nixon has no right to withhold evidence in criminal proceedings

-orders him to turn over 64 white house tapes of watergate discussions, 63 of them between the president and key aides

-president agrees to turn over the tapes

-after 10 weeks of evidence gathering, house judiciary committee begins debate on articles of impeachment

July 27, 1974

judiciary committee, 27-11 vote, recommends Nixon be impeached

July 29, 1974

committee votes 28-10 for a second article, alleging the president’s misuse of his power to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens

July 30, 1974

committee adopts, 21-17, a third article for defying the committee’s subpoenas, rejecting articles involving secret bombing of Cambodia (26-12), and on tax fraud and unconstitutional receipt of emoluments from the federal government for his private homes (26-12)A

August 5th, 1974

-three new transcripts recounting convos on June 23, 1972 between Nixon and Haldeman are released, revealing Nixon personally ordered a cover-up of facts of watergate within 6 days after the illegal entry into the DNC

-transcripts completely undermine president’s previous insistence that he was uninvolved in the cover-up and show that he directed efforts to hide the involvement of his aides through a series of orders to conceal details about the break-in known to himself but not to the FBI

August 6, 1974

house minority leader John Rhodes (R-Ariz) tells news conference he will vote for article I, charging Nixon with obstruction of justice

-All 10 repub members of the house judiciary committee who had voted against impeachment announce that they would vote in facor of at least the obstruction of justice article

August 8, 1974

in his 37th address to the nation, Nixon announces that he will resign effective at noon, August 9