The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972, where they planted listening devices, and Nixon's later attempts to conceal his administration's involvement in the burglary.

Following the arrest of the Watergate burglars, media and the Department of Justice connected money found with those involved in the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the fundraising arm of Nixon's campaign. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, journalists from The Washington Post, pursued leads provided by a source they called "Deep Throat" (later identified as Mark Felt, associate director of the FBI) and uncovered an enormous campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donor contributions. Nixon dismissed the accusations as political smears, and he won the election in a landslide in November. Further investigation and revelations from the burglars' trial led the Senate to establish a special Watergate Committee and the House of Representatives to grant its Judiciary Committee expanded authority in February 1973. The burglars received lengthy prison sentences, with the promise of reduced terms if they cooperated—prompting a flood of witness testimony. In April, Nixon appeared on television to deny wrongdoing on his part and to announce the resignation of his aides. After it was revealed that Nixon had installed a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office, his administration refused to grant investigators access to the tapes, leading to a constitutional crisis.