Today in History June 17

The Watergate scandal, one of the most disgraceful political scandals in U.S. history, has had a long-lasting impact on U.S. history and the international press as a whole. James W. McCord, Jr., the chief security advisor to the Nixon campaign, broke into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Building in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972, and was arrested while installing a wiretap and surreptitiously filming the documents. As a result of this incident, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974 that he would resign the following day, thus becoming the first president in U.S. history to do so.