How did the Watergate scandal affect American politics

On September 8, 1974, President Ford (right) pardoned Richard Nixon for any crimes related to Watergate. In response to critics of the pardon, Ford insisted that he had not struck a deal to pardon Nixon in exchange for his appointment as vice president. Nixon never apologized or confessed to any wrongdoing as president, although he did admit to making "mistakes."

Some Americans were angry that Nixon would not be held accountable for his role in Watergate -- and that he would receive his presidential pension. Ford's pardon may have contributed to his own narrow loss to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. Some of Nixon's top aides were tried, convicted, and imprisoned for their role in the scandal. In 1975, H. R. Haldeman, Bob Ehrlichman, John Mitchell, Richard Kleindienst--along with other former members of the Nixon administration--were convicted of crimes stemming from the 1972 re-election campaign and break-in.

Although Nixon was never tried in court for his role in Watergate, the scandal fixed Nixon's place in American history as the first president forced to resign. Less than two years after his landslide re-election victory, the president left office in disgrace. The Watergate tapes revealed Nixon's determination to crush his political enemies and depicted him as a vindictive and perhaps even paranoid, and ill-suited for the highest office in a democracy. Even more consequential, the Watergate scandal greatly increased many Americans' distrust of the federal government, whose credibility had already been undermined by the Vietnam War. The "third-rate burglary" at the Watergate building thus exerted an enduring effect on American history.