Nixon Resigns from Office

Date: August 9, 1974 • Location: Washington, United States

As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president.

The Watergate scandal, also simply called Watergate, was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. On June 17, 1972, operatives associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign were caught burglarizing and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex. Nixon's efforts to conceal his administration's involvement led to an impeachment process and ultimately to his resignation in August 1974.