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William D. Ruckelshaus, 1932-2019
William D. Ruckelshaus played an important role in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” a major turning point in the Watergate scandal. After accepting President Richard Nixon’s nomination to be the deputy attorney general, Ruckelshaus promised the Senate during his confirmation hearings that he would protect the Watergate special investigator, Archibald Cox. He stayed true to his word.
Nixon denied Cox access to the Oval Office tape recordings and ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused and instead resigned from his position. General Alexander Haig, Nixon’s chief of staff, then instructed Ruckelshaus to fire Cox—and he, too, refused and resigned. Finally, Solicitor General Robert H. Bork was appointed acting attorney general, and he agreed to fire Cox.
The orders and resignations now referred to as the “Saturday Night Massacre” precipitated the downfall of Nixon’s presidency in August 1974.Ruckelshaus later said his role “was not a heroic act.”
Michael Arthur Worden Evans, 1984 |