Watergate affair

· a major United States political scandal that began with the burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic party’s campaign headquarters and that culminated in the first resignation of a US president
· the burglary was committed on June 17, 1972, by five men who were caught in the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate apartment and office complex in Washington, D.C.; their arrest uncovered a White House-sponsored plan of espionage against political opponents and a trail of complicity that led to many of the highest officials in the land
· on July 16, 1973, it was told the committee, on nationwide television, that Nixon had ordered a taping system to be installed in the White House to automatically record all conversations; Nixon refused to release the tapes, claiming they were vital to the national security, but US District Court Judge ruled that Nixon must give the tapes
· Nixon gave the tapes to the court, but some subpoenaed conversations were missing, and one tape had a mysterious gap of 18,5 minutes; experts determined that the gap was the result of five separate erasures; Nixon also released written transcripts of 42 more tapes; the conversations revealed an overwhelming concern with punishing political opponents
· rather than face almost certain impeachment, Nixon resigned on August 9, the first US president to do so