Watergate was a political scandal that took place between 1972 and 1974 and led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Five burglars broke into the Democratic Party's National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel office building on June 17, 1972. The police discovered that the men had hidden wiretaps in the offices. Later evidence was found that tied the men to people in the White House and in the Committee to Re-elect the President.

Nixon tried to cover up his administration’s involvement in the burglary and other CIA-led illegal operations against the President’s opponents by obstructing the FBI’s investigation into the Watergate break-in. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, reporters from the Washington Post, conducted their own investigation into the scandal and kept the public’s attention focused on the matter. They were aided by their mysterious informant, Deep Throat, whose identity remained a secret for over 30 years. It was revealed in 2005 that the informant was W. Mark Felt, the second-in-command at the FBI during the early 1970s.

In February 1973, the Senate formed a committee to investigate the Watergate scandal. The testimony of John Dean, Nixon's former White House Counsel, revealed the existence of secret White House tape recordings. That sparked a major political and legal battle between Congress and President Nixon. In late July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted to accept three of four proposed Articles of Impeachment. The Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release more White House tapes. One of the tapes became known as the 'smoking gun' tape because proved that Nixon had been involved in the Watergate cover-up as far back as June 23, 1972. On August 8, 1974, Nixon resigned during a nationally televised speech. Several of Nixon’s former aides were convicted of crimes related to the scandal, but Nixon was pardoned of all possible crimes by President Gerald Ford.

The Watergate scandal led to new laws that changed campaign financing. It also eventually led to the Freedom of Information Act. Since the scandal, the media has become more aggressive in reporting on the activities of politicians.