This Day In History, 1973: "I Am Not A Crook"

Richard Nixon, 45 years ago tomorrow night:  “In all of my years in public life, I have never obstructed justice....People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.”
Video:  https://t.co/BWNqydd2xD

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) November 17, 2018

On October 20, 1973, President Nixon fired his Special Counsel, setting in motion what came to be called the Saturday Night Massacre. (I wrote about it here.) Four weeks later, he gave a speech in which he insisted that he was not a crook.

In All The President's Men, Woodward and Bernstein described the atmosphere at the White House during that period:

Richard Nixon, his subordinates were saying, had become a prisoner in his own house--secretive, distrustful even of those who were attempting to plead his cause, combative, sleepless. One of the men who had been closest to him throughout his presidency told Woodward helplessly, "The only people he will talk to candidly about Watergate are Bebe Rebozo and Bob Abplanalp"--the millionaire businessmen who were his long-time personal friends. From All The President's Men, Simon & Schuster, 1974, second Touchstone edition, 1994, page 334. 

Does this sound familiar? Yes. Is history repeating itself? Could be. In an article titled "This Is the Saturday Night Massacre, It's just happening in slow motion," written Wednesday afternoon, Slate.com says this:

With the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, America is in uncharted territory. The last time a president made a personnel change to undermine an investigation of his associates, Congress forced him to resign. That was when President Richard Nixon pushed out his attorney general and deputy attorney general so he could fire the special prosecutor. The fallout from this Saturday Night Massacre, as it is known, has stood as a warning to subsequent presidents. Yet President Trump has launched a piecemeal Saturday Night Massacre of his own. He first fired FBI Director James Comey last year for his handling of the Russia probe, then he fired the attorney general for failing to protect him from the Russia probe. His intent to undermine an investigation of his campaign has been clear throughout—he barely tried to hide it—but the difference this time is that he has acted with impunity. What comes next could be anything. (Read the article here) 

Nine and a half months after declaring he was not a crook, Richard Nixon resigned.