WIBCI we APPRECIATED HISTORY
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If there was more GUMPTION in our Government?
Had you heard of The Saturday Night Massacre? I hadn’t until recently. The full Wikipedia link and main description are below, but in a nutshell….
- In 1973 amidst a scandal the President requests that the special prosecutor drop a subpoena for audio tapes intended as evidence in possible impeachment proceedings
- The special prosecutor refuses
- The President orders the Attorney General to fire the special prosecutor
- The Attorney General refuses and resigns
- The President orders the Deputy Attorney to fire the special prosecutor
- The Deputy Attorney refuses and resigns
- The President orders the Solicitor General to fire the special prosecutor
- The Solicitor General fires the special prosecutor and intends to resign but per the Ex-Attorney General and the Ex-Deputy Attorney General is persuaded to stay on
- The American public does not dig this
- Congress does not dig this
- Congress initiates impeachment process 10 days later
- 5 days later the US district judge rules the dismissal of the special prosecutor illegal
- The President resigns
I mention appreciation and gumption at the top because in comparison….I’m impressed.
Think about it, WIBCI if TODAY we had: DC Men with Power who did what’s right as opposed to what’s right for them, Civil Servants who put standards before personal security, Politicians who put country ahead of party, a World where the Public was listened to, A Justice System that was just, and Our Government did what was BETTER FOR THE MOST?
I think that Would Be Cool……If.
Per Wikipedia: The Saturday Night Massacre was:
a series of resignations over the dismissal of special prosecutor Archibald Cox that took place in the United States Department of Justice during the Watergate scandal in 1973. The events followed the refusal by Cox to drop a subpoena for the Nixon White House tapes at President Richard Nixon’s request.
During a single evening on Saturday, October 20, Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned effective immediately. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox; Ruckelshaus refused, and also resigned. Nixon then ordered the third-most-senior official at the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork carried out the dismissal as Nixon asked. Bork stated that he intended to resign afterward, but was persuaded by Richardson and Ruckelshaus to stay on for the good of the Justice Department.
The political and public reactions to Nixon’s actions were negative and highly damaging to the president. The impeachment process against Nixon began ten days later, on October 30, 1973. Leon Jaworski was appointed as the new special prosecutor on November 1, 1973, and on November 14, 1973, United States district judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that the dismissal had been illegal.
The Saturday Night Massacre marked the turning point of the Watergate scandal. The public, while increasingly uncertain about Nixon’s actions in Watergate, were incensed by Nixon’s seemingly blatant attempt to end the Watergate probe. Congress, having largely taken a wait-and-see approach regarding Nixon’s role in the scandal, quickly turned on Nixon and initiated impeachment proceedings that would end in Nixon’s resignation.
Last Updated on 07/13/2026 by Death of Hypatia Inc.
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