On the evening of Saturday, October 20, 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor investigating Watergate. When Cox’s boss refused and resigned, and Cox’s deputy was fired for refusing as well, the two top law-enforcement officials of the United States were gone in one night. The “Saturday Night Massacre” became the moment Nixon’s presidency began its final descent — completed in the resignation of August 9, 1974, covered elsewhere in this series.
The Tapes
The crisis traced to the Oval Office tapes. In July 1973, a former White House aide revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded his own conversations — a treasure trove for investigators. Cox subpoenaed nine tapes; Nixon refused, offering written summaries instead. When Cox pressed on, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. Richardson, who had promised Congress he would protect the special prosecutor’s independence, refused — and resigned. His deputy, William Ruckelshaus, also refused — and was fired. The third-ranking official, Solicitor General Robert Bork, executed the order. Cox was out; the special prosecutor’s office was sealed by FBI agents.
The Firestorm
The reaction was immediate and overwhelming. Within days, Congress received 150,000 telegrams — the largest volume in history — running roughly 100 to one against the president. Nixon’s approval rating plunged toward the twenties. And under intense pressure, the White House made a fatal error: it agreed to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who inherited Cox’s subpoenas and, unlike Cox, was unimpeachably establishment — a friend of LBJ’s. Jaworski took the tapes fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Beginning of the End
On July 24, 1974, a unanimous Supreme Court ordered the tapes released. Within days, the “smoking gun” tape proved Nixon had approved the cover-up days after the break-in. Impeachment became certain; resignation followed in two weeks. The Saturday Night Massacre endures as the cautionary tale of presidential power — and the reason that, ever since, special prosecutors come with statutory protection. One October night in 1973, a president fired the investigator and guaranteed his own downfall.
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