Watergate and the White House

The summer of 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the break-in of the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. This incident triggered a series of events, decisions, and investigations that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Dr. Kate Lemay, Acting Senior Historian for the National Portrait Gallery, and Ryan Reft, historian in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, discuss their respective exhibits “Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue” and “50 Years of Watergate.” The conversation explores the history behind the Watergate scandal, the conceptualization of these exhibits, how items were selected, and the public response.