How were they able to tie the break-in at Watergate directly to Nixon's campaign?

Answer 1

Watergate is a very long and complicated subject, however to answer in a paragraph;

The people who conducted the break in at the democratic national headquarters had originally broken in 2 days previously, however one of the wire taps they installed to a phone was not working correctly, so they broke in again to 'fix the bug'. The people who did this were primarily composed of an in-house White House organisation Nixon prompted called 'the plumbers'. The intention of this group was to use espionage to find out where governmental 'leaks' (news stories deliberately broken to the media to the detriment of the government, it's policies or national security) were sourced, in other words, who was speaking to the press.

The organisation was funded indirectly by Nixon's CREEP (Campaign to re-elect the president) fund.

Although historically there are many contradicting positions, it is today largely agreed that John Dean was the principal 'head' of these espionage activities in so much that he gave authorisation to Watergate. It was later proven that Haldeman and Erhlichman also had authorised aspects of 'pay offs' thinly disguised as 'funds to aid the defence of the accused'.

Nixon's only direct involvement as such was 3 part;

1 - Nixon initially created the 'plumbers' to gain intelligence within the white house answerable only to his administration.

2 - His administration was largelythe "Berlin Wall" of Haldeman and Erhlichman. These were largely (other than Kissinger) the only 2 men who had direct access to Nixon and therefore Nixon created a situation where there was questionably illegal activities to which the only 2 who passed on information was Haldeman and Erhlichman (via John Dean) and therefore made Nixon complicit.

3 - The main point against Nixon was when he discussed 'paying them off' (the arrested and on trial 'plumbers'. Nixon is specifically heard to hear in a recording talking very openly about how money could be obtained to pay for the accused silence. The irony to this situation was that this money would be perfectly legal (albeit with some moral questions) should it be used to maintain their defence in court (as white house employees) and to cover their living costs. It was specifically the implication that the money was specifically for their silence that ultimately tied in Nixon and doomed him to be dragged into a "3rd rate burglary" that he could have easily, but painfully, have distanced himself comfortably from.

Answer 2

Watergate is the name of a hotel in Washington, DC where the headquarters of the Democratic election was located during the 1972 presidential campaign. The headquarters were burglarized in a Republican political espionage effort and the burglars were caught. The effort to cover up the identity of the people responsible for hiring the burglars eventually reached all the way to Nixon.