Watergate Chronology

1974

• January
  There are now ongoing calls for Nixon to resign and the Congress begins to seriously consider impeachment.

  TIME Magazine names Watergate Judge John Sirica as Man of the Year.

• February 6
  The House of Representatives votes to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether grounds exist for the impeachment of President Nixon.
  • Complete List of Members of the House Judiciary Committee

• March 1
  Nixon is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an indictment against seven former presidential aides.

• April 16
  Special Prosecutor Jaworski issues a subpoena for 64 White House tapes.

• April 30
  Nixon refuses to hand over the tapes, but provides more edited transcripts to the Judiciary Committee. He appears on national television to announce his decision to release the transcripts. There is public shock at the general tone of the conversations and the foul language used by Nixon and others. The expression "expletive deleted" enters the vocabulary.
  • Full Text of Nixon's Address to the Nation.

• May 9
  Impeachment hearings begin before the House Judiciary Committee.

• July 24
  The Supreme Court, by a unanimous vote of 8-0 (William Rehnquist abstaining) upholds the Special Prosecutor's subpoena, ordering Nixon to make the tapes available for the Watergate trials of his former subordinates. The case is known as United States v. Nixon.
  • The full text of the Supreme Court's decision.
  • Listen to some of the White House tapes.

• July 25
  Barbara Jordan, a Democratic Party member of the House Judiciary Committee, makes a famous speech reminding her colleagues of the constitutional basis for impeachment of the President.
  • Read Barbara Jordan's speech

• July 27
  The House Judiciary Committee adopts the first Article of Impeachment by a vote of 27-11, with 6 Republicans voting with the Democrats. The Article charges Nixon with obstruction of the investigation of the Watergate break-in.
  • Full text of the Articles of Impeachment.
  • Analysis of the Judiciary Committee's votes.
  • Listen to the announcement of the Committee's vote to Chairman Rodino.
  • Listen to Lawrence Hogan, a Republican member of the Committee

• July 29
  The House Judiciary Committee adopts the second Article of Impeachment that charges Nixon with misuse of power and violation of his oath of office.

• July 30
  The House Judiciary Committee adopts the third Article of Impeachment, charging Nixon with failure to comply with the House subpoenas.
  • Listen to the Impeachment Resolution being moved in the Judiciary Committee

• August 5
  Nixon releases transcripts of three conversation he had with Haldeman six days after the Watergate break-in. The June 23 tape becomes known as The Smoking Gun because it reveals that Nixon ordered the FBI to abandon its investigation of the break-in.

  Nixon releases three more tapes that prove he ordered a cover-up of the Watergate burglary on June 23rd 1972, six days after the break-in. The tapes show that he knew of the involvement of White House officials and the Campaign for the Re-election of the President, as well as revealing that Nixon ordered the FBI to abandon its investigation of the break-in.

  These tapes become known as The Smoking Gun The eleven Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who voted against impeachment say they will change their votes. It is clear that Nixon will be impeached and convicted in the Senate.

  • Transcript of the Smoking Gun tape

• August 7
  Three senior Republican congressmen meet with Nixon, advising him that his chances of avoiding impeachment by the House and removal from office by the Senate are "gloomy".

  Around the country, calls mount for Nixon's resignation, and speculation builds about Nixon's intentions.

  • A Law Professor at the University of Arkansas comments on Watergate.

• August 8
  In a televised address to the nation at 9pm, Nixon announces that he will resign.
  • Read Nixon's resignation speech.
  • Listen to Nixon resign (62k).
  • Listen to the complete resignation speech
  • Other Nixon soundbites from Webcorp.

  • What If Nixon Hadn't Resigned? - read the draft speech prepared by Ray Price in which Nixon would have vowed to fight on.

• August 9
  In the morning, Nixon delivers a farewell address to the White House.
  • Read Nixon's Address to the White House Staff and view some sections.

  Nixon departs the White House by helicopter.

  

  • Click here to view Nixon's departure.

  As he flies out of Washington, Richard Milhous Nixon resigns as the 37th President of the United States, the first President ever to do so. His resignation letter is submitted to the Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, at 11.35am and Gerald Ford is sworn in as President shortly afterwards.

  • View a picture of Nixon's resignation letter to the Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger.

  As Nixon resigned, the Watergate Special Prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, sent a memorandum recommending prosecution.

  • Memorandum from the Watergate Special Prosecutor, Leon Jaworski

  At around noon, Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president. Later, he nominates the former Republican Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, as vice-president. They become the nation's first unelected presidential duo.

• September 8
  In a surprise Sunday morning announcement, Ford grants a "full free and absolute" pardon to Nixon for "all offenses against the United States" committed between January 20, 1969 and August 9, 1974.
  • The full text of Ford's Address to the Nation and Nixon's response to the pardon.