Watergate

The most infamous political scandal in US history that resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon and his VP Spiro Agnew in 1974. It centered around a burglery at the Watergate hotel in Washington by the president's operatives to dig up information on his political enemies. The scandal later used a political enemies hit list, firings in the executive branch, wiretapping, threats, the IRS, and intimidation directed toward Nixon's enemies. During Nixon's endictment he refused to surrender tapes to the FBI that he knew would have resulted in his prosecution. Once Nixon knew there were enough votes in the House to impeach him and enough in the Senate to convict him, he resigned in disgrace--the only President to do so. A few months afterward, the new President Gerald Ford gave him a total pardon, allowing him to keep retain his law license. For the rest of his life he continued to deny any involvement in the scandal--at least directly.