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BeyondGeography

(39,285 posts)
Wed Nov 27, 2019, 05:14 PM Nov 2019

William Ruckelshaus, Who Quit in 'Saturday Night Massacre,' Dies at 87

Source: NY Times

William D. Ruckelshaus, who resigned as deputy attorney general rather than carry out President Richard M. Nixon’s illegal order to fire the independent special Watergate prosecutor in the constitutional crisis of 1973 known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” died on Wednesday at his home in Seattle. He was 87.

... A lawyer and political troubleshooter, Mr. Ruckelshaus twice headed the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as its founding administrator from 1970 to 1973 under Nixon, and from 1983 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan. He won praise for laying the new agency’s foundations, and later for salvaging an E.P.A. that had strayed from its mission and lost the confidence of the public and Congress

...For many Americans, however, the deeds of Mr. Ruckelshaus’s varied career were all but eclipsed by his role in the events of a single night in the autumn of 1973, as the political dirty tricks and cover-up conspiracies of the Watergate scandal closed in on his boss, the beleaguered President Nixon.

...The dismissals, all on Saturday, Oct. 20, labeled the “Saturday Night Massacre” by news media, set off a firestorm of protest across the country. Some 300,000 telegrams inundated Congress and the White House, mostly calling for Nixon’s resignation. The outcry was so ferocious that the White House said within days that it had decided to surrender the tape recordings after all...


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/us/politics/william-ruckelshaus-dead.html

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William Ruckelshaus, Who Quit in 'Saturday Night Massacre,' Dies at 87 (Original Post) BeyondGeography Nov 2019 OP
He did many things KT2000 Nov 2019 #1
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Nov 2019 #2
Rest in peace, Mr. Ruckelshaus. You won't be forgotten. n/t Judi Lynn Nov 2019 #3
If only those today would learn from his example (and that of others of his time) hlthe2b Nov 2019 #4
If I believed in spooky stuff, I'd say it is an omen. But I don't believe in that stuff. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Nov 2019 #5
I remember Bill "Ruckelsknuckles" Ruckelshaus for his contributions to U.S. EPA. NCjack Nov 2019 #8
RIP, Mr. Ruckelshaus, & thank you for your example in another dark time in our history Hekate Nov 2019 #6
Wow. BumRushDaShow Nov 2019 #7
To bad Barr lacked the backbone to stand up to Trump and resign like this cstanleytech Nov 2019 #9
Amen to that Miigwech Nov 2019 #11
I did not know that any of them were still alive. murielm99 Nov 2019 #10
An endangered if not extinct species Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Nov 2019 #12
Integrity Kid Berwyn Nov 2019 #13

KT2000

(20,544 posts)
1. He did many things
Wed Nov 27, 2019, 05:18 PM
Nov 2019

that attested to his moral compass and integrity. They don't make Republicans like that anymore.

Response to BeyondGeography (Original post)

BumRushDaShow

(127,330 posts)
7. Wow.
Wed Nov 27, 2019, 06:16 PM
Nov 2019

Didn't realize he was still around. He was probably endlessly shaking his head seeing history repeat.

R.I.P.

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