Can someone explain the Watergate Scandal to me?

You're not ignorant. From what I've read before, the breaking and entering was in an effort to help Nixon get re-elected. He had tape recordings of conversations between him and others that indicate he knew what was going on. He refused to hand over these tapes, but the Supreme Court declared that executive privilege (President's'authority to withhold classified info) is not absolute when it comes to the criminal proceeding of another individual. He was then forced to surrender the tape and was subject to impeachment, but he quickly resigned before the articles were filed