http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHAWUby7V-A

On February 22, 1974, Samuel Byck attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport in the hopes of crashing it into the White House and killing U.S. President Richard Nixon. Byck first got attention from the Secret Service in 1972, when he threatened Nixon for the first time. Byck was upset that the Small Business Administration had turned him down for a loan. The Secret Service considered Byck to be harmless and no action was taken against him. On the day of the attempted hijacking and assassination, Byck carried a .22 caliber revolver he stole from a friend, as well as a homemade bomb of gasoline and an igniter. At the airport, Byck killed Maryland Aviation Administration Police Officer George Neal Ramsburg and pilot Fred Jones. Pilot Reese Loftin was also shot but survived. After a standoff, Anne Arundel County Police stormed the plane and wounded Byck, who committed suicide before police could apprehend him. Byck kept audio recordings of his motives and plans, clips of which are compiled in this video.

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Samuel Byck On His Attempted Assassination of Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnTlbU8UuCo

In July of 1974, the White House released subpoenaed tapes of White House conversations. One of these tapes became known as the “smoking gun”, a tape recorded on June 23, 1972, just six days after the Watergate break-in. On the tape, Nixon can be heard agreeing that the Director and Deputy Director of the CIA should be approached about asking the Acting Director of the FBI to halt the FBI’s investigation into the Watergate break-in, citing matters of national security. In this video, Trent Lott recalls first hearing about and reading the transcript of the Smoking Gun tape. While on vacation with his family, Lott received a call from a fellow Mississippi native who worked at the White House. Lott recalls that the man told him: “‘I think there’s something you need to read.’ And I think he maybe even described it as a ‘smoking gun.’ And so I got on a plane and flew back in.”

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Trent Lott On the Watergate Smoking Gun Transcript appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy-GMcgymKk

Edward Brooke, former Massachusetts senator during Richard Nixon’s administration, discusses how he became the first republican to openly ask President Nixon to resign on November 4, 1973, shortly after the Watergate Scandal. According to Brooke, Nixon had lost the confidence of the American people, and because of that he should “spare the country from impeachment proceedings.” He also describes Nixon’s response, recalling that the former president said that this would be “taking the cowardly way out.”

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Asking President Nixon to Resign appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os

On September 26, 1960, John F. Kennedy–a young senator from Massachusetts at the time–and
Vice President Richard Nixon squared off in a hour-long debate–the first-ever televised presidential debate. While Kennedy looked confident, healthy and dapper; Nixon seemed sickly and underweight from a recent hospitalization. Approximately 74 million viewers noticed the difference. The debate rocketed Kennedy into the electoral spotlight and solidified the important role of television in politics. When Kennedy won the presidential election in November of 1960, he was reported to have said, “It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide.”

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Televised Presidential Debate Between JFK & Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9LcAJOsFGg

On September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon, a California senator at the time, went on air to defend himself against accusations of an established fund–created by his backers–that would reimburse him for his political expenses. He says, “Not one cent of the 18 thousand dollars or any other money of that type ever went to me or my personal use.”

He famously states in his speech that the one gift he plans to keep a is a dog that his kids named Checkers: “A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he’d sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted. And our little girl—Tricia, the 6-year-old—named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.”

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Nixon’s ‘Checkers’ Speech in 1952 appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJAqVXBZ0YI

Pulitzer Prize winner and journalist Bob Woodward remembers the Watergate scandal, his role in reporting on it and how it changed how we perceived the presidency. Specifically, Woodward highlights the “dirty tricks” used by the Nixon administration. Tricks such as the Watergate break-in and the leaking of then vice-presidential candidate Edmund Muskie’s medical records so that he would get dropped from the Democratic ticket. Woodward is left with the impression that President Nixon’s influence went so far that he could be sensed “in the ballot booth, with every voter, tampering with his or her vote.”

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Bob Woodward on Nixon’s ‘Dirty Tricks’ During Watergate appeared first on Witnify.

“The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the establishment. I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out…”

In a letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley offers his services as a federal agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. After flying to the White House to personally deliver the letter, Elvis met with the president and was presented with the police badge he coveted. The duo also posed for photos that have become the most frequently requested in the national archive. Who would have guessed the risqué King of Rock completed an “in-depth study of drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques?”

“Dear Mr President,

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office. I talked to vice-president Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago and expressed my concerns for our country. The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the establishment. I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out. 

So, I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position. I can and will do more good if I were made a federal agent at large and I will help out by doing it my way through communications with people of all ages. First and foremost, I am an entertainer, but all I need is the federal credentials. I am on the plane with Senator George Murphy and we have been discussing the problems that our country is faced with.

Popular image Nixon and Presley’s meeting on January 27, 1972. Source: U.S. National Archives.

Sir, I am staying at the Washington hotel, Room 505-506-507. I have two men who work with me by the name of Jerry Schilling and Sonny West. I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a federal agent. I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing, where I can and will do the most good.

I am glad to help just so long as it is kept very private. You can have your staff or whomever call me anytime today, tonight or tomorrow. I was nominated this coming year one of America’s 10 most outstanding young men. That will be in January 18 in my home town of Memphis, Tennessee. I am sending you a short autobiography about myself so you can better understand this approach. I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy.

Respectfully, Elvis Presley

PS
I believe that you, sir, were one of the top 10 outstanding men of America also. I have a personal gift for you which I would like to present to you and you can accept it or I will keep it for you until you can take it.”

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[Text] Elvis’s Hand-Delivered Letter to Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOGJJ7UKFM

In the wake of the Watergate scandal, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his resignation from the presidency on August 9, 1974, in a televised speech to the nation. Following accusations of crimes committed by his administration including bugging the offices of political opponents–Nixon’s impeachment was inevitable. However, his resignation speech, broadcast from the Oval Office, was surprisingly well-received considering the embarrassing circumstances surrounding it. Nixon used the address as an opportunity both to offer his support for his successor, Gerald Ford, and to defend his own presidential career. While he briefly acknowledges his failures in office, Nixon devotes most of the speech to enumerating his successes.

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Nixon Announces Resignation In Speech to America appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWV6V4JYEUw

From the Nixon tapes, then California Governor Ronald Reagan calls President Nixon to give his support during the height of the Watergate Scandal. Nixon had just given a televised address to the nation announcing that Haldeman and Erlichman had been let go, and that John Dean had been fired. It was the most gut-wrenching decision of the Nixon presidency–save Nixon’s own resignation the following year. Nixon allegedly got drunk after the speech and proceeded to make a series of emotional phone calls. On this call, it sounds as though Nixon has calmed down a bit, but is still out of it. “This too shall pass,” says Reagan.

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Reagan Gives Call of Support to Nixon During Watergate appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm5FIs9V0VA

President Richard Nixon, distraught, slurring his words, and likely drunk, talks with Bob Haldeman. Earlier that night, Nixon had announced the resignations of his closest aides, his Chief of Staff H. R. (Bob) Haldeman and his Chief Domestic Advisor John Ehrlichman, for their involvement in the brewing Watergate scandal.

Nixon is disapointed that he hasn’t heard from anyone on his staff other than Caspar Weinberger.

Nixon tells Haldeman to keep the faith and that he loves him like his brother. Watergate is clearly weighing heavily on Nixon by this point, although it will be over another year before it causes him to resign too.

Nixon later likened the firings to cutting off his right arm and his left arm. In a conversation soon after this one, Nixon told his Secretary of State Bill Rogers that he “broke down” after the broadcast even though he’s “not that kind of man.”

(Photo: President Richard Nixon and Bob Haldeman walking together.)

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Watergate: Nixon on Phone Distraught appeared first on Witnify.