The LuLac Edition #3534, June 17th, 2017

WATERGATE @ 45

(Photos: Washington Post, Time Magazine)

It was a Sunday night and just a few scant days before the great Flood of 1972. I was preparing to leave home and go to broadcasting school in Washington, D.C. in July. I sat down on this June 17th and watched Garrick Utley on NBC broadcast a story about a break in at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. involving the Democratic headquarters. As I watched, I sensed that there was a potential for some dust up but little did I know that in the next two years my life, as well as those of many Americans would be intertwined with this saga.
When I got to Washington, the re-election of Richard Nixon was well in hand. There was some talk of Watergate but that was only because two dogged Washington Post reporters were digging. Nixon won big that year and my candidate that year, Hubert Humphrey was throwing the Democrat’s vanquished nominee under the bus touting the other Senator from Minnesota (Walter Mondale)  as a possible contender four years out. He was going that on election night on CBS!
The new year began and Nixon was inaugurated. Then things started to unravel. James McCord got a stiff sentence from Judge John Sirica and wrote the Judge a letter telling him he wanted to talk. That opened the floodgates and a Senate hearing began.
By that time I was starting my job at WVIA FM and was in the thick of Watergate locally for the next 18 months. WVIA FM broadcasted the hearings, we did Midnight Newscasts at the time before sign off.  When I went to the mornings before school on the station,  there was always a Watergate story report, The transcripts of the tapes came out later in the and again WVIA FM put hem on the air. 
I was working Saturday night when President Nixon fired Archbald Cox as well as his Attorney General. We sat there dumbfounded as these events unfolded. 
The crescendo came on the night of August 8th when Richard Nixon resigned. George Graham, TV engineer Frank George and me watched in the Control Room as Nixon resigned. I lived Watergate. As a political junkie, I would have been fascinated. But  as a young man it was part of what I was hired to do. It was an opportunity that I will always appreciate it. Now four and a half decades later, I am appreciate that I saw history in action. My regret is that I fear we have not learned a lot given our political climate. 
All the earmarks of another Watergate are right in front of our faces. The only difference is the quality of the President in terms of knowledge and civility. But that's a discussion for another day.  For now, we look back at a significant event in our country.
Because Watergate was so comprehensive, we couldn't possibly tackle it here and give it justice. Here’s a great link from The History Channel. http://www.history.com/topics/watergate

Then a movie was made about it.

Then there was this documentary.

Tonight on MSNBC at 9PM, check out Watergate @ 45.