Leader: Richard Nixon

Country: The United States

Political downfall: The Watergate scandal was more than a botched break-in of Democratic National Committee headquarters -- it soon became a tale of corruption and conspiracy that reached all the way to the Oval Office. President Richard Nixon denied his involvement throughout, most notably in November 1973, when he told reporters "I am not a crook."

The facts told a different story. The revelation that the White House had taped sensitive discussions in the Oval Office led to a political struggle over control of the tapes. When the Supreme Court ordered that the tapes, which would show Nixon and his aides conspiring to cover up the Watergate scandal, be turned over to the special prosecutor, the president's days were numbered.

Nixon resigned the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974. "I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation," he said in his farewell address.

As he departed the White House for a final time, Nixon paused at the doorway of the helicopter that would take him into ignominious retirement, spreading his arms wide to flash the famous "V" sign that had become his trademark.

123456NEXT