Justice Breyer joins Oct. 17 "Saturday Night Massacre" event

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will make opening remarks at the National Press Club’s retrospective Thursday, Oct. 17, on the 40th anniversary of the “Saturday Night Massacre” when President Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, setting in motion the events that led to the president’s resignation.

The event will be held in the Holeman Lounge beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Breyer, who served on Cox’s staff, will talk about the character of the man who led the investigation into the Watergate scandal.

After Breyer’s remarks, Bill Ruckelshaus, the assistant attorney general who resigned instead of carrying out Nixon’s order to fire Cox, will be joined on a panel by Washington Post Watergate investigator Bob Woodward; Philip Heymann, who was Cox’s deputy; Cox’s press secretary, James Doyle; and Jill Wine-Banks, the only female trial lawyer on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force.

The panel will be moderated by Gil Klein, chairman of the Club’s History and Heritage Committee, and by Ken Gormley, dean of Duquesne University School of Law, who has written extensively about Cox.

Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for non-members. The event is in the Holeman Lounge, so seating is limited. For more information and to buy tickets, click here:

As the Watergate investigation zeroed in on President Nixon, he ordered on Oct. 20, 1973, that Cox be fired. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Ruckelshaus refused to carry out the order and resigned. The job fell to Solicitor General Robert Bork.

The ensuing backlash of public opinion engulfed Nixon, and his presidency never recovered before he was forced to resign the following August. The Saturday Night Massacre remains a pivotal moment in modern American history, which demonstrated that even the president is not above the law.

This historic program brings together key figures in these events, who will share recollections of the tense days in October of 1973 and discuss the impact that the Saturday Night Massacre and Watergate have had on America’s system of laws and government.