Watergate complex
The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings include:
- Watergate West (2700 Virginia Avenue NW), cooperative apartments
- Watergate 600 (600 New Hampshire Ave NW), office building
- Watergate Hotel (2650 Virginia Avenue NW)
- Watergate East (2500 Virginia Avenue NW), cooperative apartments
- Watergate North (2510 Virginia Avenue NW), cooperative apartments (two lobbies, one is North and one is South)
- Watergate South (700 New Hampshire Avenue NW), cooperative apartments
- Watergate Office Building (2600 Virginia Ave NW), the office building where the Watergate burglary happened
Watergate | |
Aerial view of the Watergate complex in 2006 | |
| Location | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°53′56″N 77°03′15″W |
| Area | Foggy Bottom |
| Built | 1962–1971 |
| Architect | Luigi Moretti, consulting architect; Milton Fischer, associate architect; Boris Timchenko, landscape architect |
| Architectural style | Modern Monument |
| NRHP reference No. | 05000540 |
| Added to NRHP | October 12, 2005 |
Built between 1963 and 1971, the Watergate was considered one of the most desirable living spaces in Washington, D.C., popular with members of Congress and political appointees of the executive branch. The complex has been sold several times since the 1980s. During the 1990s, it was subdivided and its component buildings and parts of buildings were sold to various owners.
In 1972, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, then located on the sixth floor of the Watergate Office Building, was burgled; private campaign documents were photographed and telephones were wiretapped. The U.S. Senate investigation into the burglary revealed that high officials in the administration of President Richard Nixon had ordered the break-in and later tried to cover up their involvement. Additional crimes were also uncovered. The Watergate scandal, named after the complex, resulted in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974.
The name "Watergate" and the suffix "-gate" have since become synonymous with and applied by journalists to controversial topics and scandals in the United States and elsewhere, even extending to contexts where English is not a major language.