The watergate scandal
On June 17th, 1972, several burglars were arrested in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C., which was housing the Democratic National Committee. These men, who were connected to current president at the time, Richard Nixon's, campaign for reelection, attempted to steal documents and tap phones. Although it is unclear whether Nixon knew of the scandal before it occurred, he did try to cover up the scandal by trying to convince the FBI not to look into it. When people became aware of his role in the scandal in 1974, Nixon resigned from his presidential role. This story greatly impacted U.S. citizens, as it began to develop a further distrust in the federal government and pushed them to think more critically about the people they elected into the position of Chief Executive.