On this day, June 17, in 1972, five burglars were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. Frank Willis, a security guard at the Watergate, noticed tape on doors between the basement stairwell and the parking garage. Willis called D.C. police. One of the burglars, James McCord, was security chief for the Committee to Re-Elect the President, CREEP. Investigators uncovered a massive White House dirty tricks campaign. A former White House staff testified that Nixon had been taping conversations in the Oval Office. Recordings revealed a White House attempt to cover up the break-in. On Aug. 8, 1974, Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign.
— Scott McCabe
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