(Featured image courtesy of “whowhatwhy.org” )
The act that felled the President two years later, was committed in June of 1972
The break-in was conducted by five men, and a grand jury found ex-FBI man G. Gordon Liddy and ex-CIA man E. Howard Hunt culpable for organizing and executing the break-in.
The affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex on Saturday, June 17, 1972. The FBI investigated and discovered a connection between cash found on the burglars and a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the official organization of Nixon’s campaign. In July 1973, evidence mounted against the president’s staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee. The investigation revealed that Nixon had a tape-recording system in his offices and that he had recorded many conversations.
The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by members of the Nixon administration, the commencement of an impeachment process against the president, and Nixon’s resignation. The scandal also resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were top Nixon officials.
‘The Post’ and the forgotten security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in
It was 30 minutes after midnight on June 17, 1972, when Frank Wills, a security guard patrolling the parking garage at the Watergate office complex in Washington, noticed masking tape covering locks on a stairwell door.
Wills thought perhaps the maintenance crew had taped the doors to keep them from locking. The 24-year-old ripped off the tape, then went for his shift break across the street to the restaurant at the Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge for carryout.
A little more than an hour later, Wills was making another round, when he noticed the tape had reappeared.
Suspicious, Wills called police and reported a burglary in progress at the Watergate. The guard, who worked the midnight-to-7 a.m. shift for $80 a week, had discovered what would become the biggest political corruption scandal in U.S. history — so big that it led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon.
