This June 17, 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the most consequential political scandal in U.S. history, the Watergate scandal.
40th Anniversary of the Watergate Scandal

1
Richard Nixon says goodbye to members of his staff outside the White House in Washington as he boards a helicopter for Andrews Air Force Base after resigning the presidency in Washington, D.C., August 9, 1974. (AP Photo)

2
Reporters Bob Woodward, right, and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting of the Watergate case won them a Pulitzer Prize, sit in the newsroom of the Washington Post in Washington May 7, 1973. (AP Photo)

3
Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporter is shown in this photo dated May 7, 1973. (AP Photo)

4
President Richard M. Nixon is shown pointing to the transcripts of the White House tapes in this April 29, 1974, file photo, after he announced during a nationally-televised speech that he would turn over the transcripts to House impeachment investigators