From: Subject: Watergate Chronology Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 21:58:21 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/Watergate%20Chronology.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 Watergate Chronology

Watergate Chronology

Principal Cast of Characters:

    John D. Ehrlichman: President Nixon's Domestic = Adviser

    H. R. Haldeman: White House Chief of Staff

    John W. Dean: Presidential Counsel

 

1970 =96 After the New York Times disclosed secret = bombings in=20 Cambodia, illegal telephone taps are placed on several newsmen and = government=20 employees suspected of leaks

 

1971 =96 White House Special Investigations Unit, known as = the=20 "Plumbers" created

=96 Break in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg=92s psychiatrist, under = the=20 direction of John Ehrlichman

(Ellsberg had been responsible for leaking the "Pentagon Papers" to = the press=20 in March. This was a secret government document detailing the process by = which=20 JFK and LBJ Administrations had entered and fought the war in=20 Vietnam)

 

1972 =96 By spring, Ehrlichman commands team of "dirty = tricksters"=20 who perform various acts of sabotage against prospective Democratic = presidential=20 candidates

June 17: Watergate break in, organized by the Committee to = Re-elect=20 the President (CREEP)

June 20: Nixon meeting with H. R. Haldeman; 18 =BD minutes of = tape later=20 mysteriously disappear

June 23: The "smoking gun" =96 Nixon orders Haldeman to = tell the=20 FBI "Don=92t go any further into this case, period!" FBI to be told that = national=20 security issues are involved.

=96 Haldeman gives $400,000 to intermediary who will pay the = Watergate burglars=20 to remain silent

August: Nixon announces that Counsel to the Pres. John Dean = has=20 conducted a thorough investigation of the break in which revealed no=20 Administration involvement =96 In reality, no such report existed

Sept. Grand Jury indicts five Watergate burglars, two = plumbers

 

1973 =96 Jan.: Watergate trial begins

Feb. 7: Senate establishes investigative committee under = chairmanship=20 of NC Sen. Sam Ervin

Mar. 21: John Dean warns Nixon that "We have a cancer...close = to the=20 Presidency...."

Late March: Watergate burglar James McCord sends letter to = Judge=20 Sirica revealing that he has been paid off and promised a pardon for = silence =96=20 Sirica calls for further investigation

April: Head of the FBI resigns after admitting he=92d = destroyed=20 important documents related to the case

Apr. 30: Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Attorney General Kleindienst = resign =96=20 John Dean blamed for all by Nixon, fired =96 Elliot Richardson becomes = new=20 Attorney General

May 17: Ervin Committee begins televised hearings

Under Senate pressure, Attorney Gen. Elliot Richardson appoints a = special=20 prosecutor, Archibald Cox

June: John Dean testifies before the Senate, implicates Nixon = in the=20 Watergate cover-up

July: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of White = House=20 tapes, beginning a year- long battle for control of them

Oct.: VP Spiro Agnew resigns after confessing to having = falsified tax=20 returns =96 Fined $10,000, receives three-year suspended sentence

Oct. 20: "Saturday Night Massacre" =96 After Special = Prosecutor=20 Cox wins a court ruling that he should have access to the tapes, and = after Cox=20 refuses Nixon=92s offer of tape summaries, Nixon fires Cox =96 In the = process, Atty.=20 Gen. Richardson resigns, Assist. Atty. Gen.William Ruckelshaus fired

Massive public protest, calls for resignation, impeachment

Oct. 23: Nixon Admin. announces that some tapes will be = yielded

Nov. : New special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, is named; will = prove to=20 be no more pliable than Cox had been

Pressed by charges of personal financial improprieties and tax = evasion, Nixon=20 declares "I am not a crook."

Public learns of 18 =BD-minute gap in one of the nine released Nixon = tapes

Dec. : House Judiciary Committee begins hearings to determine = if=20 grounds exist for impeachment =96 Seek evidence of Nixon=92s personally = breaking the=20 law

 

1974 =96 March 1: Grand jury indicts Haldeman, = Ehrlichman,=20 Mitchell, and others for involvement in the Watergate cover-up =96 Nixon = is named=20 an "unindicted coconspirator"

April : Sirica demands Nixon turn over more tapes; Nixon = releases=20 edited transcripts of tapes, with many cuts and alterations =96 Filled = with=20 instances of "expletive deleted" =96 Nixon=92s popularity continues to = plunge

By now, majority of Americans favor impeachment

May 20: Nixon appeals Sirica=92s demand for subpoenaed tapes = to the=20 Supreme Court

July 24 : In United States v. Nixon, Supreme Court rules = unanimously=20 that Nixon must turn over tapes

July 27 : Beginning today, House Judiciary Comm. approves = three=20 articles of impeachment

Aug. 6 : Before full house votes, Nixon releases tapes =96 One = contains=20 the "smoking gun" conversation with Haldeman of June 23, 1973 =96 Tapes = also=20 reveal Nixon ordering hush money, urging aides to lie to grand jury

In early Aug., 66% of American people had favored impeachment; with = tapes=92=20 release, figure rises still higher

Aug. 7 : Republican Congressional leaders confirm to Nixon = that=20 impeachment and removal from office seem certain

Aug. 8 : In a nationally televised address, Nixon announces = his=20 attention to resign

Aug. 9 : Nixon leaves office

In his inaugural address, President Gerald Ford announces that "Our = long=20 national nightmare is over."

Sept. 8: President Ford grants Nixon a "full, free, and = absolute"=20 pardon for any offenses he might have committed while President

 

Eventually, more than 70 people associated with the various scandals = are=20 convicted and punished.