6 Places to the Relive the Watergate Scandal - Atlas Obscura Lists

6 Places to the Relive the Watergate Scandal

The conspiracy that nearly got Richard Nixon impeached lives on in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

On the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested in the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. What seemed like a run-of-the-mill crime turned into the political scandal of the century. With help from an anonymous whistleblower, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein documented President Richard Nixon’s personal role in the scandal. 

Almost two years after the initial break-in, the House Judiciary Committee began an impeachment inquiry for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up, and several violations of the Constitution. Nixon resigned before he was formally impeached, but the legacy of Watergate lives on through the “-gate” suffix being attached to just about every scandal, big or small, that comes along—as well as the physical places where you can relive the whole sordid affair.