Watch President Nixon's resignation speech

Watch the breaking news report of the revelation that brought down the Nixon presidency

In August 1974, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling, the White House released the "smoking gun" tape—revealing Nixon's role in the cover-up. Watch the CBS News report from Aug. 5, 1974, detailing the fallout from the release of the tapes.

Experience Watergate through photographs

The Watergate scandal produced some of the most iconic images in American political history—especially the candid shot of Nixon boarding a helicopter while leaving the White House for the final time on Aug. 9, 1974.

How former President Nixon's visit to China shifted geopolitics

While Richard Nixon may be best remembered for Watergate and the disintegration of his presidency, his visit to China in 1972 stands as a triumph of his administration. Learn about the president's visit to Beijing (then referred to as Peking), his methods and approach, and the subsequent opening of diplomatic ties with China.

Gerald Ford is the only president never elected to the office

Ford's ascent to the nation's highest office was a direct consequence of the unprecedented political upheaval caused by the Watergate scandal. Initially appointed vice president in October 1973 after Spiro Agnew's resignation, Ford assumed the presidency less than a year later, in August 1974, following Richard Nixon's resignation.

Nixon's landslide in the 1972 presidential election

Despite the Watergate break-in becoming public in June 1972, voters largely shrugged it off. On Nov. 7, 1972, Richard Nixon still achieved a historic landslide—winning 520 out of 538 electoral votes, carrying 49 states—making it one of the largest Electoral College victories in US history.

The Watergate scandal took 2 years to unfold

Beginning with the June 17, 1972, break-in, the scandal progressed through Senate hearings in 1973 and the explosive revelation of Oval Office tapes, and culminated in Nixon's resignation by August 1974.

George Washington resigned after two terms to avoid the precedent of dying in office

America's first president could have stayed in office longer, but he knew the chances were high he would die in the middle of a term. So he quit after two to signal to future commander-in-chiefs that the presidency was not a lifetime position.

The Kennedy-Nixon debates marked the presidency's entry into the television era

In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon faced off in the first televised presidential debates. Kennedy's calm, telegenic presence contrasted with Nixon's uneasy appearance, showing how the new medium could shape voter perceptions and modern campaign strategy.

Nixon argued that the War Powers Resolution unconstitutionally restricted his authority

In his veto message, Nixon argued that the resolution would dangerously curtail the president's ability to respond to international crises and that only a constitutional amendment could properly define the limits of executive war powers. Congress disagreed and overrode the veto.

See some of the most controversial pardons in presidential history

From Lincoln's selective commutations of Dakota men after an 1862 uprising, to Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon after Watergate, and Bill Clinton's final-day clemency decisions, pardons have long sparked fierce debate over justice, political favoritism, and presidential power.

President Andrew Johnson was mainly impeached for obstructing Reconstruction

In 1868, the House impeached Andrew Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act and obstructing congressional Reconstruction policies. Johnson was the first president ever to be impeached, surviving conviction and removal in the Senate by a single vote.

Explore a deepfake speech of an alternate reality where Apollo 11 failed

As the Apollo 11 astronauts prepared for their journey to the moon, two speeches were drafted for President Richard Nixon: one to be delivered upon the astronauts' success and another to comfort the public in case of failure. This interactive explores the creation of a believable version of the latter.

See the White House bowling alley in use

First installed in 1947 for President Harry Truman, the White House bowling alley was later moved to the basement of the Executive Office Building. President Nixon, an avid bowler, added a new one-lane alley beneath the White House in 1973.

Television transformed the State of the Union, beginning with Harry Truman

In 1947, President Truman delivered the first televised State of the Union address, marking the address's shift into the visual age and expanding the president's reach beyond radio to a national TV audience.

Watch the full broadcast of humanity's first walk on the moon

On the night of July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped down the lunar module's ladder onto the moon's surface. The broadcast was watched by an estimated 650 million people—about a fifth of the then global population.

Explore 'The Presidents' collection

PBS's "The Presidents" collection profiles America's leaders through award-winning documentaries, interviews, and archival footage. The series captures how each president reflected the nation's values, crises, and culture while shaping the office's power and legacy.

Hear firsthand accounts from the 1963 March on Washington

This video features stories from people who attended the 1963 March on Washington—the largest demonstration in US history at the time—capturing what it felt like to witness a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement as it unfolded.

See how the White House is 'flipped' in a matter of hours on Inauguration Day

On Inauguration Day, the outgoing family departs after a morning farewell, and residence staff rapidly pack and move their belongings out while preparing rooms for the incoming first family—transforming the White House within hours before they arrive that afternoon.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Reagan’s 'tear down this wall' speech challenged Soviet control of Berlin

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall and urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” The speech became one of the most iconic moments of the Cold War and a symbol of growing pressure on the Eastern Bloc.

Read an analysis of Roosevelt’s famous Congressional address by a speech writer

Former White House speechwriter Bob Lehrman breaks down why Roosevelt’s 520-word “Infamy” speech endures—showing how FDR used structure, urgency, radio-era reach and careful omissions to rally the nation and win near-unanimous support for war.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Mountaintop' speech became his final public address

Delivered in Memphis the night before his assassination, Dr. King’s 'Mountaintop' speech reflected on mortality, reaffirmed nonviolence, and framed the Civil Rights struggle as part of a longer moral struggle beyond his own life.

The Shah fled Iran in January 1979, ending nearly 38 years of Pahlavi rule

On Jan. 16, 1979, Mohammad Reza Shah left Iran with his wife, officially for a "vacation"—one he would never return from. His departure marked the effective collapse of the monarchy, as millions celebrated in the streets and power swiftly shifted to Khomeini's revolutionary movement.

Maya Angelou's 1993 recitation of 'On the Pulse of Morning' at President Bill Clinton's inauguration was a historic event

After Robert Frost in 1961, Angelou became the second poet in history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration. She was also the first African American and woman. The poem includes themes of change, inclusion, and the responsibility of both the President and citizens to create success in a country.

Watch Bill Nye be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden bestowed the honor for Nye's work in science education, science advocacy and environmental stewardship, with the White House adding, "By sharing the magic of fun and science, he inspires generations of Americans to follow facts and reason and leave the world better than we found it."

Britain's PM signaled the acceptance of African decolonization in 1960

This audio excerpt captures Harold Macmillan’s 1960 “Wind of Change” speech, in which he acknowledged rising African nationalism and declared that Britain would not resist decolonization—a pivotal moment signaling the Empire’s accelerating retreat from the continent.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.