Richard M. Nixon 1969-1974

Richard M. Nixon was elected vice president on Dwight D Eisehower's ticket. He was 39 years old. He became president January 20, 1969. His term lasted four years until 1974. He was the fifth President of the United States Republican Party to be elected to two terms. He was the only U.S. President to resign from office.

Gerald R. Ford 1974-1977

Gerald. R. Ford became the United States President on August 9, 1974 after Richard M. Nixon. He was the only president to hold office without being elected Vice President or President.

The Watergate Scandal

On June 17, 1972, the Watergate office tower in Washington D.C. five men were arrested for braking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate offices. The Security officer noticed a piece of tape on the lock of the doors. He removed the tape and then later he saw that the lock had been retaped. He then called the police. When the police came they arrested five men: Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, James W. McCord Jr. and Frank Sturgis. The men were part of Richard Nixon's administration. It turned out that the 5 men were adjusting bugging equipment they had installed during a May break-in and to photograph the Democrats' documents.

1970

• Henry Kissinger begins secret peace talks in Paris with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam.
• OSHA is established to provide safety guidelines for the workplace.
• The Environmental Protection Agency is established.
• The United States Post Office becomes independent.

1971

• The Twenty-sixth Amendment becomes law, lowering the voting to 18.
• The Pentagon Papers reveal a government cover-up about Vietnam.

1972

• President Nixon visits China, the first president to do so.
• Nixon is reelected.
• An FBI agent and four others are caught breaking into offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Building.
• United States and Canada sign an agreement to clean up the pollution in the Great Lakes.

1973

• President Nixon is inaugurated for a second term; Spiro Agnew is his vice president.
• The Senate opens the Watergate hearings.
• On October 10 Vice President Agnew resigns amid charges of tax fraud.
• Gerald Ford is selected as the new vice president.
• The United States and Vietnam sign a peace agreement in Paris.

1974

• President Nixon resigns; Gerald Ford becomes the thirty-eighth president with Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president.
• The Watergate hearings continue.
• President Ford pardons former President Nixon.
• Price and wage controls end.
• A bill is signed into law requiring 55 mph speed limits on all United States highways by March 2, 1974.

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