U.S. President Richard Nixon submitted his letter of resignation on Aug. 9, 1974 in order to save himself from the humiliation of being impeached and thrown out of office. Only two other presidents, Andrew Johnson (1867) and Bill Clinton (1998), faced impeachment, but both were acquitted in their Senate trials. Nixon knew he faced conviction because the Watergate hearings that commenced on May 17, 1973, produced credible testimony implicating him in a coverup of a break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee located at the Watergate office complex in June 1972 by burglars in the pay of the Republican Committee to Re-elect the President.

One aide revealed the existence of the notorious White House tapes that recorded his every word in the Oval Office, sprinkled liberally with profanities and paranoid musings, reinforcing negative perceptions about Nixon's character. The final blow was delivered on July 24, 1974, when the Supreme Court rejected Nixon's assertion of executive privilege in blocking release of the White House tapes subpoenaed by a special prosecutor.

Watergate has become synonymous with disgrace, wrongdoing and abuse of power, so much so that it is now common to add the "-gate" suffix to any scandal of the day. The media became more aggressive in questioning authority, inspired by the investigative reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that brought to light numerous insider revelations that played a key role in Nixon's downfall.