Kennerly's Watergate Photo Gallery
This is the 50th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building. It led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
![John and Martha Mitchell in DC WASHINGTON -- 1970: Attorney General John Mitchell and wife Martha Mitchell enter the Department of Justice, Washinton, D.C., 1970. (photo by David Hume Kennerly/GettyImages)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/02_006_DHK_Classics_John_Martha_Mitchell_presentation.jpg-copy-1024x764.jpg)
This image of Martha Mitchell was John F. Kennedy, Jr’s favorite political photo. I took it in 1970. Martha was the wife of Attorney General John Mitchell and known as, “The Mouth of the South.” She couldn’t help talking to the press, and gave them some of her husband’s secrets. President Richard Nixon blamed her for his troubles. He told David Frost in an interview, “If it hadn’t been for Martha, there’d have been no Watergate.” Her husband John, (behind her here), left Martha in 1973, and was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. He spent 19 months in prison. “It could have been a hell of a lot worse," he said, "They could have sentenced me to spend the rest of my life with Martha.”
![03_072_1974circa_SenateWatergateCommittee_SamErvin_HowardBaker_00031_04A copy.jpg 03_072_1974circa_SenateWatergateCommittee_SamErvin_HowardBaker_00031_04A copy.jpg](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/03_072_1974circa_SenateWatergateCommittee_SamErvin_HowardBaker_00031_04A-copy.jpg-1024x713.jpg)
Republican Sen. Howard Baker and chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee Democrat Sen. Sam Ervin. Howard Baker had the most memorable line from the hearings when he asked witness John Dean, ‘What did the president know, and when did he know it?”
![04_1972_MoodofSaigon_Ellsworth_Bunker_0041-53.jpg 04_1972_MoodofSaigon_Ellsworth_Bunker_0041-53.jpg](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/04_1972_MoodofSaigon_Ellsworth_Bunker_0041-53.jpg.jpg)
Former CIA officer E. Howard Hunt testifies before the committee. He was convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping. Hunt spent 33 months in prison for his Watergate antics.
![Spiro Agnew in the back seat of a car after resigning Spiro Agnew in the back seat of a car after resigning](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/05_012_19731010_Agnew_Resignation_T25918_C3_08-1_shopped.jpg-copy-1024x950.jpg)
Not related to Watergate, but contributing to Nixon’s problems, was the resignation of Vice President Agnew on Oct. 10, 1973. Two days later House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was nominated to replace Agnew, and less than a year later would replace Nixon.
![Archibald Cox speaks with reporters WASHINGTON -- OCTOBER 21: Former Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox after speaking with reporters at the National Press Club in Washington DC on October 21, 1973, the morning after President Richard Nixon fired him during what is knowns as the Saturday Night Massacre. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/06_100_19731021_ArchibaldCox_12A-copy-2.jpg)
Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox leaves a press conference after the Nixon Administration refused to give him the White House tapes. He said, “I'm not looking for a confrontation… I'm certainly not out to get the President of the United States.” The next night, on October 20th, 1973, in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire special prosecutor Cox. He refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus do it, and he also resigned. Robert Bork became acting AG, and carried out the command.
![During the Saturday Night Massacre, Watergate During the Saturday Night Massacre, Watergate](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/07_097_19731020_SaturdayNightMassacre_Watergate_001_clean_shopped.jpg.JPG-1024x820.jpg)
That night I rushed to Special Prosecutor Cox’s office to get photos, but was blocked by an FBI agent from entering the room. It made an even better picture.
![Ford and Nixon shake hands WASHINGTON DC - DECEMBER 6: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES) Gerald R. Ford shakes hands with U.S. President Richard M. Nixon (r) during Ford's Vice President Inauguration in the House Chamber, U.S. Capitol on December 6, 1973 in Washington, DC. The oath was administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court. James Eastland, President pro Tempore of the Senate (back) attends ceremony. Ford was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned his office while under criminal investigation from his time as an office holder in Maryland. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/08_002_19731206_372_Gerald-Ford-17_f-copy.jpg-copy-1024x866.jpg)
On December 6, 1973, Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. President Nixon was there to congratulate him on the floor of the House in the U.S. Capitol.
![Nixon Protestors WASHINGTON, DC - 1973: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES ) Protestors with conflicting U.S. President Richard Nixon viewpoints in front of the White House 1973 in Washington, DC. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/09_029_1214_ImpeachNixon17-2_shopped.jpg.JPG-1024x683.jpg)
![10_046_1973_JohnMitchell_Watergate_51_07A_shopped.jpg copy 10_046_1973_JohnMitchell_Watergate_51_07A_shopped.jpg copy](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10_046_1973_JohnMitchell_Watergate_51_07A_shopped.jpg-copy-1024x810.jpg)
A man holds an “Impeach Nixon” sign in front of the White House as supporters of the president pass behind him. The nation was in turmoil over the Watergate affair.
Former Attorney General John Mitchell walks past a protester after appearing before Judge John Sirica at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
![Woodward and Bernstein cover the Watergate Scandal WASHINGTON - 1973: (NO US TABLOID SALES) Washington Post Reporters (L) Bob Woodward and (R) Carl Bernstein walk from Federal court after covering the President Richard Nixon Watergate hearings 1973 Washington DC. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/11_058_1973_Woodward_Bernstein.jpg-copy-1024x626.jpg)
Famed Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein leave the U.S. District Court while covering the Watergate trial. They were the ones who broke the Watergate story.
![12_033_1973_BillCohen_Watergate_27750_C2_15_clean copy 2.jpg 12_033_1973_BillCohen_Watergate_27750_C2_15_clean copy 2.jpg](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/12_033_1973_BillCohen_Watergate_27750_C2_15_clean-copy-2.jpg-1024x837.jpg)
Republican first-term Congressman from Maine William S. Cohen broke with his party over Watergate and joined Democrats in demanding the Nixon White House tapes in 1973. He also voted to impeach Nixon. Cohen thought his fledgling political career was dead. “I had come to the conclusion based on all of the hate mail I had gotten, all of the flak I had gotten, that I wasn’t coming back,” recalled Mr. Cohen, who had been elected less than a year earlier. “I was O.K. with that.” Rather than cratering his career he went on to three terms in the Senate and became President Clinton’s secretary of defense. Liz Cheney is the William Cohen of today, her political future unclear. Her heroism is not in question, however.
![Hillary During Nixon Impeachment Hearings WASHINGTON -- 1974: Hillary Rodham, a young lawyer advising the Rodino Committee stands next to chief lawyer John Doar during impeachment proceedings against President Nixon in the House Judiciary Committee Room, 1974 (photo by David Hume Kennerly/GettyImages)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/13_064_1974_Hillary_Doar_shopped.jpg-copy.jpg)
Young attorney Hillary Rodham with Judiciary Committee chief counsel John Doar during the House impeachment hearings at the U.S. Capitol. On July 27–30, 1974, members of the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon. He resigned before they reached the House floor for a vote.
![President Richard Nixon leaves White House After Resigning WASHINGTON - AUGUST 9: President Richard Nixon waves goodbye as he boards a helicopter to leave from the South Lawn of the White House after resigning the presidency, August 9, 1974, in Washington, DC. In the first and last frames of this contact sheet Vice President Gerald R. Ford and Mrs. Ford say good bye. Ford was sworn in as president minutes later. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/14_135_Nixon-Goodbye-contact_shopped-copy.jpg-1024x438.jpg)
President Richard Nixon waves goodbye as he boards his helicopter after announcing his resignation, August 9, 1974. He remains the only president to resign.
![15_027_19740819_IMG_2589 copy.jpg 15_027_19740819_IMG_2589 copy.jpg](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/15_027_19740819_IMG_2589-copy.jpg-771x1024.jpg)
My cover picture on TIME Magazine of Gerald R. Ford after he became the 38th President of the United States. In his remarks after being sworn into office he declared, “Our long national nightmare is over.”