It's June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the DNC, located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This robbery was connected to President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. Historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising "hush money" for the burglars, trying to stop the FBI from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members. In August 1974, after his role in the Watergate conspiracy had finally arose, the president resigned. Gerald Ford, his successor, immediately discharged Nixon for all the crimes he "committed or may have committed" while in office. Nixon was never prosecuted; the Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading many Americans to think more about the presidency. 1972, republican Nixon (1913-1994) was running for reelection. In May 1972, members of Nixon's Committee to reelect the president broke into the Democratic National Committee's Watergate headquarters, stole copies of top-secret documents and bugged the office's phones. The wiretaps failed to work properly. June 17th these burglars were caught preparing to break into the office with a new microphone, a security guard noticed that they had taped the building's locks. Then the guard called the police, who had arrived just in time to catch them. It was not first clear that the burglars were connected to Nixon, although he did raise some suspicions. Detectives found copies of the reelection Committee's White House phone number among the burglar's belongings. Nixon then gave a speech that he swore that his White House staff was not involved in the robbery, which most voters believed. In November Nixon was reelected. Nixon was not being truthful; this crime was more serious than the robbery itself. It abused presidential power and a deliberate obstruction of justice. Seven conspirators were charged relating to the Watergate Scandal. Five pleaded guilty and avoided trial; the other two were convicted in January 1973. Senate Cox wanted to obtain the tapes. Some of Nixon's aides, including Counsel John Dean, testified about the president's crimes; testifying that Nixon had secretly taped every conversation that took place in the Oval Office. When Cox refused to stop demanding these tapes, Nixon ordered that he be fired. (This is known as the Saturday Night Massacre.) August 5th, Nixon released these tapes, providing tons of evidence against the scandal. Nixon was then resigned on August 8th, six weeks after the new president Gerald Ford was sworn in. He dropped any crimes Nixon committed but his aides were convicted of very serious offenses and were sent to prison. Nixon never admitted to committing any crimes but his abuse of presidential power will affect Americans forever.