Watergate | 7. Saturday Night

Summary

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Slow Burn, Season 1: Watergate | Episode 7 – “Saturday Night”

Date: January 16, 2018
Host: Leon Neyfakh

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Overview

This episode of Slow Burn explores the fateful events of October 20, 1973—the “Saturday Night Massacre”—when President Nixon attempted to thwart the Watergate investigation by ordering the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Through archival footage and first-hand accounts, host Leon Neyfakh revisits the dramatic showdown between the executive branch and the Justice Department, the shockwaves that rippled across the country, and what it felt like for the young Watergate prosecutors on the inside.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Appointment of Special Prosecutor: Archibald Cox

• Elliot Richardson’s Appointment and Compromise

  • Upon becoming Attorney General in May 1973, Elliot Richardson was required by Congress to appoint a truly independent special prosecutor for Watergate (00:32–01:00).

• Archibald Cox, an Unlikely Choice

  • Cox was widely perceived as partisan—an “elitist east coast intellectual” with direct links to Democratic opponents, notably having worked for JFK (01:00–01:31).
  • Nixon viewed Cox as his least trusted potential adversary.
    • Quote: “If the Attorney General had set out specifically to find the man that he, Nixon, would have trusted least, he couldn’t have done better than Archibald Cox.” — Narrator (01:32)

2. Nixon’s Distrust and the White House’s Approach

• Nixon’s Private Fury, but Limited Public Attacks
  • Despite despising Cox (“parasite and partisan viper” per Nixon’s memoir), the White House never publicly painted him as an overt partisan threat (01:31–02:18).
  • Instead, Nixon’s team quietly delayed or denied Cox’s requests behind the scenes.
  • Cox responded with heightened security, installing alarms and monitors at his office to prevent break-ins—reflecting Watergate-era paranoia (02:18).

3. The Young Prosecutors’ Perspective

• Atmosphere Among the Watergate Team
  • Karl Feldbaum and other young Ivy League lawyers joined Cox’s team against the advice of seasoned attorneys who warned that “investigating the President… your career will be ruined” (03:30–04:08).
  • Despite the dangers, camaraderie developed among the prosecutors as they pursued the investigation.
  • Quote: “We did not have a sense that there would be anything like a Saturday Night Massacre until the final week, when the stakes got very high.” — Karl Feldbaum (03:19)

4. The Legal Showdown: Subpoenaing the Tapes

• Pressure Builds Over Secret White House Tapes
  • The prosecutors, using testimony from John Dean and others, subpoenaed nine specific tapes believed to contain incriminating conversations (04:08–04:42).
  • Courts ruled that Nixon must turn over the tapes (04:42).
    • Quote: “It was clear that Nixon had… decided that the tapes would be truly damaging and… he would do anything in his power to keep that from happening.” — Karl Feldbaum (04:51)

5. The Saturday Night Massacre

• Nixon’s Drastic Move
  • On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Attorney General Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned rather than comply, leaving Solicitor General Robert Bork to carry out the order (05:11–05:49).
  • The forced departures became infamous as the “Saturday Night Massacre” (05:49).
    • Memorable Moment: NBC interrupted “The Tonight Show” to break the news (05:21).
• The Fallout
  • The FBI was ordered to seal the special prosecutor’s office “as though it was a crime scene” (06:37).
    • Quote: “The FBI agents were under orders to seal the office as though it was a crime scene.” — Karl Feldbaum (06:37)

6. The Broader Impact

• Public Shock and Transformation
  • The country’s shock permeated even the White House press room; seasoned reporters expressed disbelief (06:43).
  • The botched compromise and firings triggered national outrage and set up the denouement of Nixon’s presidency.
  • Neyfakh teases deeper exploration of “what it felt like for the young prosecutors investigating Watergate when they finally got to hear those tapes” (05:49–06:32).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Richardson Choosing Cox:
  • “If the Attorney General had set out specifically to find the man that he, Nixon, would have trusted least, he couldn’t have done better than Archibald Cox.” — Narrator (01:32)
• On the Prosecutors’ Naivete:
  • “We did not have a sense that there would be anything like a Saturday Night Massacre until the final week, when the stakes got very high.” — Karl Feldbaum (03:19)
• On the Risks to Career:
  • “What? You’re going to investigate the President of the United States? …Your career will be ruined.” — Karl Feldbaum (impression of senior lawyers) (03:45)
• On Nixon’s Calculation:
  • “Nixon had… decided that the tapes would be truly damaging and… he would do anything in his power to keep that from happening.” — Karl Feldbaum (04:51)
• On Historic Shock:
  • “FBI agents were under orders to seal the office as though it was a crime scene.” — Karl Feldbaum (06:37)
  • “In my career as a correspondent, I never thought I’d be announcing these things.” — News Reporter (06:43)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:32 — Elliot Richardson’s Confirmation and Compromise
• 01:00–01:32 — Describing Archibald Cox and Nixon’s Disdain
• 03:19 — Karl Feldbaum on Prosecutors’ Surprise
• 03:45 — Young lawyers counseled not to join investigation
• 04:42 — Court rules Nixon must obey subpoena
• 05:21 — Breaking news of Cox’s firing interrupts NBC programming
• 05:49–06:32 — Fallout of the Saturday Night Massacre and introduction of thematic questions

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Structure and Tone

• The tone is narrative, investigative, and at times suspenseful—mirroring the genuine disbelief and tension of the events.
• The episode combines archival news footage, direct quotes from insiders, and reflective narration.

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This episode captures the chaos, fear, and moral drama at the heart of the Saturday Night Massacre—from the courage of public servants to the paranoia of those in power—illuminating not just historical facts but what it felt like to be there.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

In May of 1973, Elliot Richardson was poised to become Richard Nixon's new Attorney General. He didn't know yet that he would be out of the job in less than six months. During his confirmation hearings, Republican and Democratic senators alike demanded that Richardson appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate affair.

[News Reporter]

No more hearings will be held until Richardson names a special prosecutor. With guidelines guaranteeing his independence, Richardson promised.

[Narrator]

That he would now, if you were going to appoint a special prosecutor, someone to dig into a controversial, high stakes, intrinsically political situation, you'd probably look for someone with a reputation for being nonpartisan, someone without strong political ties, someone it would be difficult to dismiss as biased. Archibald Cox was none of those things. Which makes it really hard to understand why Richardson picked him up.

[News Reporter]

Archibald Cox, a big, blunt, crew cut Harvard Law School professor, a liberal Democrat.

[Narrator]

First off, Cox was like a cartoon of everything that Nixon and his biggest supporters hated. He was an elitist east coast intellectual who wore bow ties and tweed suits. Even worse, he had worked for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 campaign against Nixon. When he was sworn in as special prosecutor, Cox invited Ted Kennedy, literally Nixon's worst enemy, to attend as a guest. Nixon was not happy about Elliot Richardson's choice. In his memoir, he would later write that if the Attorney General had set out specifically to find the man that he, Nixon, would have trusted least, he couldn't have done better than Archibald Cox. Nixon also described Cox as a parasite and a partisan viper.

[News Reporter]

Cox has been given extraordinary power to investigate the Watergate scandal, but that was the prize Richardson had to pay for his confirmation as Attorney General.

[Narrator]

It's baffling in retrospect that Richardson appointed a man who could so easily be accused of being out to get the President. But what's even more baffling is that Nixon and his people didn't even try to paint Cox as a liberal on a partisan witch hunt. As much as Nixon hated Cox, he made no public effort to discredit him. The White House certainly tried to stymie Cox behind the scenes by ignoring or slow walking his requests for documents, for example. And Cox, in turn, was wary of the White House, too. Having heard all about the Nixon team's dirty tricks, he made sure that his headquarters could not be broken into by installing an elaborate security system with burglar alarms, television monitors, and motion detectors. And yet the team of young prosecutors who came to work for Cox never had the sense that their investigation was in any real danger. This was true even after the White House refused to obey a subpoena from Cox's office in July, ordering Nixon to hand over the secret White House tapes whose existence had just been revealed to the Senate Watergate Committee pretty unanimously.

[Karl Feldbaum]

We did not have a sense that there would be anything like a Saturday Night Massacre until the final week, when the stakes got very high.

[Narrator]

That's Karl Feldbaum. He was one of roughly 40 lawyers that Cox hired after he was appointed. Like most of the others, Feldbaum was a young Ivy League educated liberal. He was just 30 years old and working as an assistant DA in Philadelphia when Cox brought him on.

[Karl Feldbaum]

Many of us, the younger ones who eventually did get hired were counseled not to take the job by older lawyers more experienced. As in, what? You're going to investigate the President of the United States? This President? Your career will be ruined. You'll not get a job in any law firm, or you're just going to destroy your career.

[Narrator]

The young men and women of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force became friends. They hung out together after work. They ate meals together. They talked over drinks about the interviews they were conducting and the documents they were collecting. For most of that summer and fall, Archibald Cox and his prosecutors were fighting the Nixon administration in court for access to the White House tapes. The prosecutors wanted nine of them. In particular, these nine recordings had been hand picked based on testimony from John Dean and others that suggested that they would have important conversations on them. First, a district judge ruled that Nixon had to obey Cox's subpoena. Then the Court of Appeals upheld the decision.

[News Reporter]

The court ruled that the President must turn his disputed secret tapes over to see if they have evidence of criminal acts.

[Narrator]

But Nixon still refused.

[Karl Feldbaum]

It was clear that Nixon had either decided on his own or counseled with enough people that the tapes would be truly damaging and had decided that it would be a mistake to hand them over and that he would do anything in his power to keep that from happening.

[Narrator]

Right. Including firing Cox.

[Karl Feldbaum]

That's right. But that final move did not occur to us until that Last week, It.

[Narrator]

Was Saturday, October 20, when Richard Nixon gave the order to fire the special prosecutor who was investigating him.

[News Reporter]

The Tonight show will not be seen tonight so that we may bring you the following NBC News Special Report. Good evening. The the President has fired special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.

[Narrator]

It was an order that also resulted in the abrupt departure of Nixon's Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and Richardson's second in.

[News Reporter]

Command saying he cannot carry out Mr. Nixon's instructions. And the Justice Department is now headed at the President's direction by the Solicitor General, Robert h. Bork.

[Narrator]

Within 24 hours, the Cascade of dramatic exits at the Department of Justice became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. But before Nixon made that final move, he tried to propose a compromise, or at least he tried to make it look like he was proposing a compromise. In reality, it was more like a trick, one that would backfire on him in spectacular fashion and set up the final act of his ruined presidency. On today's episode, what did Richard Nixon do when he felt the walls closing in? How did the country respond? And what did it feel like for the young prosecutors investigating Watergate when they finally got to hear those tapes? This is Slow Burn. I'm your host, Leon Nayfak.

[News Reporter]

The news caused a sensation in the White House press room and sent reporters scrambling to their telephone.

[Karl Feldbaum]

The FBI agents were under orders to seal the office as though it was a crime scene.

[News Reporter]

In my career as a correspondent, I never thought I'd be announcing the these things.

[Narrator]

Episode seven, Saturday night.

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