Art Wiese Speaks: Fourth Estate Award runs into 'Saturday Night Massacre'

"Fourth Estate: The National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award almost died aborning. It was October 1973 and that coveted honor was being presented for the first time at a gala dinner. But the recipient, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, kept consulting his watch because he knew that President Nixon had just fired the Watergate special prosecutor in the infamous 'Saturday Night Massacre.' Mercifully, the program moved quickly and Cronkite got his award -- and back on the air. A memorable night at the National Press Club -- where new is made in the nation's capital."

This snippet is one of many put together by the late Art Wiese, who served as president of the National Press Club in 1979. He was responsible for planning much of the reconstruction of the Club during its renovation in the early 1980s. In his later years, he put together a series of snippets on the Press Club's history. In honor of his passing last year, the Wire is running one of them each week while they last.