- 21 January 1969
Having won the presidency for the Republicans, Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States.
- 13 June 1971
The New York Times and Washington Post begin publishing the Pentagon Papers - The Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam war.
- 3 September 1971
The White House 'plumbers' unit - named for their orders to prevent leaks in the administration - burgles a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
- 17 June 1972
"The White House Plumbers" (five men) are arrested at 2:30 am, trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel.
- 10 October 1972
FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon re-election effort.
- 7 November 1972
Nixon is re-elected in one of the largest landslides in American political history.
- 30 January 1973
Former Nixon aides are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident.
- 30 April 1973
Nixon's top White House staff members, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.
- 18 May 1973
Senate Watergate Committee begins its nationally televised hearings.
- 3 June 1973
John Dean tells Watergate investigators that he has discussed the cover-up with Nixon at least 35 times.
- 13 June 1973
Former Presidential Appointments Secretary Alexander Butterfield reveals that all conversations and telephone calls in Nixon's office have been taped since 1971.
- 18 July 1973
Nixon orders White House taping systems to be disconnected.
- 23 July 1973
Nixon refuses to turn over Presidential tapings to Senate Watergate Committee or the Special prosecutor.
- 20 October 1973
"The Saturday Night Massacre" - Nixon fires the Special Prosecutor: Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.
- 17 November 1973
Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.
- 7 December 1973
The White House can't explain an 18-minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes.
- 30 April 1974
The White House releases edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes but the House Judiciary Committee insists the actual tapes must be turned over.
- 24 July 1974
The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the President's claims of executive privilege.
- 27 July 1974
The House Judiciary Committee takes the momentous step of recommending that the President be impeached and removed from office, charging "misuse of government agencies," such as the FBI, CIA, and IRS during the course of the Watergate cover-up.
- 8 August 1974
Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes the country's highest office. He will issue an unconditional pardon for any offenses Nixon may have committed as President.
- May 2005
Former FBI Deputy Head Mark Felt was revealed to be the anonymous source "Deep Throat," who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate affair.
