What was the Watergate scandal during Nixon's presidency?

The Watergate
scandal was arguably the most serious political crisis in the history of the United States. It
dragged on for two years, and the public watched the daily proceedings on TV. By 1974, President
Richard Nixon's position was untenable. Facing certain impeachment, he resigned from the
presidency in August 1974. Nixon had been just second chief executive to face impeachment; the
first to confront this threat was Andrew Johnson during the Reconstruction era. (Since Nixon,
two additional presidents have faced impeachment, including the current one, Donald
Trump.)

The Watergate story began in mid-1972 with the burglary of the
Democratic National Committee headquarters; the burglars were attempting to wiretap the
facility. The criminals were directly or indirectly linked to Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the
President (CREEP). Seven men were convicted, but one of them wrote a letter to the judge in
which he claimed a conspiracy with ties to Nixon.

By 1972, Nixon had become
paranoid. He was obsessed with secrecy, and his obsession was exacerbated by the pressures of
the Vietnam War. The New York Times' coverage of the Vietnam War and the
release of the Pentagon Papers made him increasingly insecure.

Investigations, which lasted for two years, revealed that Nixon was guilty of numerous
crimes. Evidence of his guilt was recorded on White House tapes, which were eventually released.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, reporters with the Washington Post,
uncovered the details of the Watergate affair.

Nixon was pardoned by his
successor, but many others were sent to prison. Watergate did serious damage to the public's
faith in their government.