---
aliases:
- Watergate Scandal
category: Intelligence Scandal
created: 2026-06-13
end: 1974-08-09
location: Washington, D.C.
start: 1972-06-17
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.
tags:
- Event
- IntelligenceScandal
- Nixon
- CIA
- 1970s
title: Watergate
updated: 2026-06-13
---

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.](/places/washington-dc/), and that ended with the resignation of President [Richard Nixon](/people/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]

### The Burglars and the Intelligence Connection

The burglars and their supervisors were drawn from the intersection of the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), anti-Castro Cuban exile networks, and the Nixon campaign. [E. Howard Hunt](/people/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 invasion](/events/bay-of-pigs/) milieu. Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy had earlier run the White House "Plumbers" unit, whose 1971 burglary of [Daniel Ellsberg](/people/daniel-ellsberg/)'s psychiatrist used disguises and equipment supplied by the CIA's [Technical Services Division](/organizations/office-of-technical-service/).[^1][^2]

### Investigation and Resignation

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](/events/church-committee/) and Pike Committee investigations that exposed the broader history of intelligence abuses.[^1]

[^1]: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. *Final Report*. Government Printing Office, 1974.
[^2]: Hougan, Jim. *Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat, and the CIA*. Random House, 1984.