Watergate: Was The Nixon White House Involved? What was Watergate? "Watergate" is a term used to describe a complex web of political scandals occurring between 1972 and 1974. On January 20, 1969, Richard M. Nixon had become the thirty-seventh president of the United States. As Nixon entered the White House, he was “full of bitterness and anger about past defeats, and about years of perceived slights from others in the political establishment.” Nixon, a Republican, once stated that, “Washington is a city run primarily by Democrats and liberals, dominated by like-minded newspapers and other media.” Nixon's obligation t