Nixon's landslide in the 1972 presidential election

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.

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.

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.

Watch President Nixon's resignation speech

With impeachment looming, President Richard Nixon gave a televised Oval Office address. Watch this famous address in which Nixon announced his resignation due to the Watergate scandal—becoming the first and only president to resign from office.

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.

Views on the Nixon pardon softened over time

Americans initially rejected Ford's September 1974 pardon of Nixon—38% approved it versus 53% disapproved—but by 1986, a slim majority (54%) believed it was the right call, showing that public sentiment softened over more than a decade after the controversy.

The 2020 and 2024 elections ranked among the highest-turnout contests in over a century

Voter turnout reached 66% in 2020—the highest since 1908—and 64% in 2024, tied for second-highest with 1960. In 2024, Trump benefited from higher turnout among his prior voters and new voters.

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.

Five US presidents won the election despite losing the popular vote

Because presidents are elected through the Electoral College rather than a national vote, candidates can win while receiving fewer votes nationwide. John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump (2016) each won the presidency while losing the nationwide popular vote.

The 1969 moon landing was a defining Cold War victory for the US

When Apollo 11 astronauts stepped onto the moon in July 1969, it marked a dramatic win in the US-Soviet space race. The televised landing—broadcast across the globe—showcased American technological supremacy.

In 1979, Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days

Outraged by the US decision to allow the exiled Shah to enter the United States for medical treatment, student protesters stormed the embassy in November 1979. The crisis paralyzed the Carter presidency and ended with a negotiated release on the day of Ronald Reagan's inauguration.

The wildest cases of election fraud in US history

The USA has seen some crazy elections. Election fraud is vanishingly rare now, but here are the craziest cases of election fraud in U.S. history.

Explore a comprehensive archive of US presidential election data

This University of California, Santa Barbara archive compiles presidential election data from 1789 to the present, including popular vote totals, turnout figures, and contextual resources that explain how the electoral process and political landscape have evolved.

Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice

The House impeached President Bill Clinton over charges related to his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Senate acquitted him on both counts in 1999, allowing him to finish his second term in office.

Congress created a special electoral commission to resolve the 1876 election

After multiple states sent competing electoral slates in 1876, Congress formed the Electoral Commission of 1877 to arbitrate the dispute, which ultimately awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes and prompted later reforms to the electoral count process.

Many scholars consider the first commercial radio broadcast to be during the 1920 presidential election

On Nov. 2, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, station KDKA broadcast the results of the presidential election. Leo Rosenberg delivered the news that Warren Harding had won in a landslide to an audience of around 100 people.

Title IX was signed into law in 1972

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act, signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23, 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. In its five-plus decades, it's been credited with increasing the number of women enrolled in college and shaping the modern world of women’s sports.

Grant's third-term ambitions helped create the GOP's elephant symbol

In 1874, as Republicans debated Ulysses S. Grant possibly seeking a third term, Harper's Weekly ran a Thomas Nast cartoon showing a panicked elephant labeled "The Republican Vote." The image caught on, cementing the elephant as the GOP's enduring symbol.

How George Gallup changed political polling forever

Straw polls had been used in the 19th century, but it wasn't until George Gallup's use of random sampling in 1936 that the art became a science.

McCarthy set a modern record with 15 ballots to become House speaker

In January 2023, Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the United States House of Representatives on the 15th ballot. This required more rounds than any speaker election since before the Civil War and marking the longest multiballot speakership contest in modern history.

The forgotten Larry Bird punch that almost changed everything

Larry Bird biographer Keith O'Brien argues March Madness as we know it today began in 1979, with an electric, raucous game that's largely been forgotten. Thankfully, he's dredged up the details (and the footage) to help us relive it.

1997 was a legendary year for Napa's wine

Napa’s 1997 vintage (meaning the year the grapes were harvested) is considered its best. A long, mild growing season led to wines that were noticeably more complex than their predecessors. The vintage set the tone for Napa’s stylistic hallmarks going forward.

DeWitt Clinton’s “Big Ditch” gamble transformed New York

Mocked as “Clinton’s Folly” and “Clinton’s Big Ditch,” New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton championed the Erie Canal against skeptics. His political drive secured funding for the project in 1817.

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

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.

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

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

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

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

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

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

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.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

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

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.

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.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

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.