No one got killed, but they called it a massacre anyway

Back in October 1973, the A's and Mets were playing a very good World Series.

By evening, it was all about the Nixon White House. 

As I recall, the three networks went on "alert" to report on the firings at the White House.

It started when President Nixon told Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.  Richardson resigned in protest.

Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned, too.

So President Nixon went down the chain of command, and Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox.  (We would hear Bork's name again in 1987 when he was nominated by President Reagan to the Supreme Court.  We now use the word "Borking" when an opponent is attacked in every possible way.)

It became known as "The Saturday Night Massacre."  However, no one got killed, and President Nixon had the authority to fire the Watergate prosecutor.

Archibald Cox was eventually replaced by Leon Jaworski.  He resumed the investigation, and Nixon resigned the presidency on August 8, 1974.

Watching the media today reminds me a bit of all of the hysteria that night many years ago.

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