C-SPAN 2 to Air Saturday Night Massacre Anniversary Program Nov. 18

President Ken Gormley hosted national figures and experts at The Saturday Night Massacre: A 50-Year Retrospective last month at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

C-SPAN 2 American History TV recorded the conversation and will broadcast it on their network on Saturday, November 18, at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

The special panel discussion examined the October 1973 watershed event in the Watergate scandal that preserved the rule of law and led to the unraveling of the presidency of Richard M. Nixon.

The author of Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation, the authorized biography of the special Watergate prosecutor, Gormley moderated the panel discussion. Cox was fired by Nixon after subpoenaing critical White House tapes that would prove or disprove Nixon’s complicity in the Watergate coverup. Cox stood up to Nixon and became a national hero when the tapes ultimately proved Nixon’s criminal complicity and forced him to resign in disgrace.

Distinguished panelists included:

• Bob Woodward, author and iconic journalist
• Lesley Stahl, CBS-TV journalist
• Jill Wine-Banks, Watergate Special Prosecution Force
• Richard Ben-Veniste, Watergate Special Prosecution Force
• T. Smith, advisor to Attorney General Elliot Richardson
• John Dean, White House Counsel, Nixon Administration (appearing by video)

NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg gave the welcome, followed by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart, Cox’s granddaughter, gave remarks following the panel.

“As we face another set of constitutional crises in the United States a half-century after the Watergate scandal, reviewing this history and its implications could not be more timely,” says Gormley. “This event is more than just remembrance; the discussion can provide viewers with perspective and ideas as well as a reminder of the importance of the rule of law in our democratic society.”