This Week in Club History: Club plays pivotal role in 'Saturday Night Massacre'

This Week In National Press Club History:

Oct. 20, 1973: Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox gives a press conference at the National Press Club in the afternoon, and insists that President Nixon turn over the Oval Office tapes that led ultimately to his impeachment and resignation less than a year later. This precipitates the “Saturday Night Massacre” later that evening, after Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson refuses to obey Nixon’s command to fire Cox, and resigns in protest, as does the Deputy Attorney General, William D. Ruckelshaus. Nixon’s third attempt to get rid of Cox is carried out by then-Solicitor General Robert Bork.

At the Club’s first Fourth Estate Award dinner that evening, honoree CBS Newsman Walter Cronkite notices considerable unrest in the audience as the news unfolds. The program continues despite the excitement, and Cronkite, in accepting the award, urges journalists to accept responsibility for helping restore to the country “a respect for honesty, integrity, candor -- belief in those things -- and credibility for our institutions."

Oct. 22, 1984: The Fourth Estate Restaurant opens on the 13th floor, eventually opening to the general public as well as to members of the National Press Club.

This Week In National Press Club History is brought to you by the History & Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalizes the Club’s distinguished century-plus history through lobby displays, oral histories, and events such as the recent “Spelling Bee” competition between members of Congress and the press. Last week, the committee co-sponsored a panel discussion commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Saturday Night Massacre, featuring journalist Bob Woodward, former U.S. Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus, and other principals in the original controversy.