Watergate: A Brief History with Documents places the reader at the epicenter of one of the most significant political scandals in American history. Watergate represented a constitutional crisis on a scale not experienced since the Civil War, and the documents included in this volume capture the powerful emotions of this crucial moment, revealing the partisan politics that were at play and the extraordinary efforts of participants to bring the episode to a conclusion without causing permanent damage to the Constitution.

The documents include excerpts from speeches, news conferences, congressional testimony, memos, and court rulings. Transcripts of tapes involving the White House staff, President Richard Nixon, members of Congress, the CIA, and FBI, and others are supplemented with transcripts of recently released tapes that reveal Nixon's innermost thoughts and reactions to events as they unfolded, including his awareness of the identity of the anonymous source known as "Deep Throat." This book serves as a powerful lesson in how American law and politics work and will resonate deeply with all readers, especially a new generation unfamiliar with the constitutional crisis that shook our nation and ultimately toppled a presidency.