Approval ratings of U.S. President Richard Nixon from January 1969 to August 1974

Richard M. Nixon was elected President of the United States on November 5^th 1968, beating the Democratic Party candidate Hubert Humphrey with 43.4 percent of the vote. Nixon's presidency was notable for his focus on withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam, restoring diplomatic relations with China, the first oil crisis of 1973, and, ultimately, the Watergate scandal. Nixon's approval ratings during his first term were strong, leading to his re-election in November 1972, when he received 60.7 percent of the national vote, easily defeating the democratic nominee George McGovern.

Watergate and Nixon's resignation

Public opinion rapidly shifted against Nixon after the election, as news broke of the illegal activities his staff orchestrated during the 1968 election campaign, where they wiretapped phones in the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate Complex. The Nixon administration spent the following year trying to cover up evidence of their involvement in the break-in, but the President committed impeachable offenses in the process. With rapidly-declining popularity among the public, as well as the opening of an impeachment process in October 1973, Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 - this makes him the only president in U.S. history to resign from office.