On the final page of Sussman’s book, he summarizes the scandal that unraveled and took hold of the nation. One would think a summary of this type would be difficult, but Sussman provides a distinct voice, revealing the perception of the public after Nixon’s resignation. He points out that, while others were “solemn and sad,” the “majority cheered the news of his departure.”  In the middle of the surprising turn of events, Watergate was seen as “more than two years of what many have come to regard as the most bizarre and tragic scandal of modern times.”

Based on Sussman’s book, here is a descriptive timeline which documents the scandal in detail while protviding information on simultaneous historical events:

Timeline: The Great Cover-Up*

[Historical context] 

1968

March 16, 1968: My Lai massacre in Vietnam

November 1968: Nixon elected to Presidency 

1970

April 11-17, 1970: The Apollo 13 mission is launched but must abort after 2 days

April 22, 1970: The first Earth Day is celebrated

May 4, 1970: Kent State shootings occur 

1971

June 13, 1971: Pentagon Papers published by the New York Times; leaked by Daniel Ellsberg [see p. 196-197]*

July 1, 1971: The 26^th amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, which lowers the voting age to 18

July 4, 1971: Michael Hart posts the first e-book

September 9, 1971: The office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, Dr. Fielding, is burglarized by the White House “plumbers”  unit [see p. 202] 

1972

February 21-28, 1972: Nixon visits China and meets with Mao Zedong

June 17, 1972: Five men are arrested in connection with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s offices at the Watergate building; Barry Sussman begins work on the Watergate story [see p. 3-9, 59-61]

June 20, 1972: Democratic National Committee (headed by Lawrence O’Brien) sues the Republican National Committee in an “attempt to force examination of the bugging by the courts”; The Washington Post runs the first story on Watergate [see p. 22, 33]

June 22, 1972: Nixon holds a news conference to declare that the White House has “no involvement” in the Watergate case [see p. 40]

June 23, 1972: Nixon and his chief aide H.R. Haldeman meet; an 18 ½ minute gap is later discovered in the tape of their conversation [see p. 40-41]

June-October 1972: The Washington Post reports on the Watergate case and eventually a campaign of “political spying and sabotage” by “Nixon forces” [see p. 59-71]

July 5, 1972: White House counsel John Dean and chief Nixon aide John Ehrlichman meet with FBI director Patrick Gray, who at their request takes documents of arrested Watergate burglar Howard Hunt [see p. 44]

August 1, 1972: A Washington Post story links a check found with the Watergate burglars to Nixon’s re-election committee [see p. 72-79]

September 4, 1972: The first episode of The Price is Right with Bob Barker airs

September-October 1972: Senator Wright Patman tries unsuccessfully to hold hearings to investigate the Watergate [see p. 82-92]

September 15, 1972: The original seven Watergate burglars are indicted [see p. 93]

November 11, 1972: Nixon re-elected to the presidency [see p. 123]

December 7, 1972: The last manned space mission to the moon, Apollo 17, is launched  
 
 

*All page numbers correspond to the fourth edition/ *Researched by Elizabeth Andersen