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The fall of Richard Nixon was not an inevitable outcome of the Watergate crimes. A presidency armed with the vast powers of the executive branch, a commanding electoral mandate, and a willingness to operate outside the law possesses formidable tools for its own survival. That the scandal culminated in resignation rather than impunity stands as a testament to the resilience of American democratic institutions. The Watergate crisis became a live-fire exercise in the system of checks and balances, testing each branch of government and a free press in unprecedented ways. The ultimate resolution was not the work of a single…
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The Watergate scandal constitutes a 26-month sequence of events that progressed from a specific criminal act to a systemic constitutional crisis. This chronology documents the key actions, investigations, and revelations that led from the arrest of five burglars at the Democratic National Committee headquarters to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. The narrative is one of escalating legal and political pressure, where initial denials were systematically dismantled by journalistic investigation, congressional hearings, judicial rulings, and ultimately, the evidence contained within the White House’s own recording system. Phase I: The Foundation of Covert Operations (1971 – May 1972) The June…