The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States stemming from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. Effects of the scandal eventually led to the resignation of the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, on August 9, 1974. This remains the only resignation of any US President. It also resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction, and incarceration of several Nixon administration officials. Watergate: Twentieth Century Constitutional Crisis addresses the formation and activities of the Nixon White House Special Investigations Unit, their pre-Watergate activities, the Watergate burglaries and subsequent arrests, the White House reactions and cover-up related activities, the FBI and Dept of Justice investigations, and the formation of the Speical Prosecutor and Watergate Special Prosecution Force investigations, as well as the Senate Select hearings on Watergate and the House presidential impeachment hearings, as well as Richard Nixon's resignation and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon.
In five short, dramatic chapters, bolstered by primary sources, including edited selections from the actual transcripts, students will learn how this one incident affected American history, politics and journalism.