Watergate scandal

=== Saturday Night Massacre ===
{{Main|Saturday Night Massacre}}

On October 20, 1973, after Cox, the special prosecutor, refused to drop the subpoena, Nixon ordered Attorney General [[Elliot Richardson]] to fire him. Richardson resigned in protest rather than carry out the order. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General [[William Ruckelshaus]] to fire Cox, but Ruckelshaus also resigned rather than fire him. Nixon's search for someone in the Justice Department willing to fire Cox ended with Solicitor General [[Robert Bork]]. Though Bork said he believed Nixon's order was valid and appropriate, he considered resigning to avoid being "perceived as a man who did the President's bidding to save my job".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noble |first=Kenneth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/02/us/bork-irked-by-emphasis-on-his-role-in-watergate.html |title=Bork Irked by Emphasis on His Role in Watergate |date=July 2, 1987 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-date=September 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901010849/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/02/us/bork-irked-by-emphasis-on-his-role-in-watergate.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bork carried out the presidential order and dismissed the special prosecutor.

These actions met considerable public criticism. Responding to the allegations of possible wrongdoing, in front of 400 [[Associated Press]] managing editors at [[Disney's Contemporary Resort]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-nixon-watergate-and-walt-disney-world-20161028-story.html |title=Nixon, Watergate and Walt Disney World? There is a connection |last=Pope |first=Rich |website=Orlando Sentinel |date=October 31, 2016 |access-date=April 8, 2017 |archive-date=April 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409020951/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-nixon-watergate-and-walt-disney-world-20161028-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1117.html#article |title=Nixon Declares He Didn't Profit From Public Life |last=Apple |first=R.W. Jr. |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=September 7, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010907045420/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1117.html#article |url-status=live }}</ref> on November 17, 1973, Nixon emphatically stated, "Well, I am not a crook."<ref>{{cite web |title=Question-and-Answer Session at the Annual Convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, Orlando, Florida {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/question-and-answer-session-the-annual-convention-the-associated-press-managing-editors |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu |quote=Well, I am not a crook |access-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716083931/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/question-and-answer-session-the-annual-convention-the-associated-press-managing-editors |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kilpatrick |first=Carroll |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1.htm |title=Nixon Tells Editors, 'I'm Not a Crook |date=November 18, 1973 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=November 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130062554/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He needed to allow Bork to appoint a new special prosecutor; Bork, with Nixon's approval, chose [[Leon Jaworski]] to continue the investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |author=John Herbers |date=November 2, 1973 |title=Nixon Names Saxbe Attorney General; Jaworski Appointed Special Prosecutor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/02/archives/nixon-names-saxbe-attorney-general-jaworski-appointed-special.html |access-date=December 29, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229172733/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/02/archives/nixon-names-saxbe-attorney-general-jaworski-appointed-special.html |url-status=live }}</ref>