The litany of Watergate-related crimes is so long that it is a wonder many people associate the affair mainly with the June 17 break-in. To run down just some of the highlights: Nixon established in the White House a special "Plumbers" unit, which, among other things, broke into a psychiatrist's office to get dirt on anti-war activist and Pentagon Papers author Ellsberg. Nixon discussed firebombing the Brookings Institution; he had the IRS investigate political opponents; he illegally wiretapped political opponents and journalists; he engaged in numerous shady arrangements in order to secure campaign contributions; his campaign and White House staff engaged in sundry "dirty tricks" to undermine opponents in the 1972 election campaign; and he severely underpaid his taxes.

The cover-up of these events included, among other offenses: using the CIA to stop an FBI inquiry into Watergate; destroying evidence (including the celebrated 18 1/2 minute gap on one critical tape); paying hush money, funneled from campaign contributions, to the Watergate burglars; and suborning perjury. Overall, more than 20 of Nixon's aides were convicted for these crimes, and most served some time in jail.