Back on this date in October 1973, then-president Richard Nixon arranged to have Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox Junior fired. The story, for those too young to remember, unfolded like this:
After Cox, who was investigating the White House tapes, refused Nixon's offer to compromise on a subpoena, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus to do the deed. Ruckelshaus likewise refused and resigned. Finally, President Nixon prevailed upon Solicitor General Robert Bork to pull the trigger. Cox lost his job; eventually, so did Nixon. The loss of so many solicitors so quickly on a weekend inspired the sobriquet Saturday Night Massacre.
That phrase suggests "an act of complete destruction," and in fact, the U.S. Justice Department was seriously damaged by the weekend's events. However, the linguistic legacy of that era isn't limited to the phrase Saturday Night Massacre.
Republican or Democrat, believer in executive power or advocate of democratic rule, word coiners can find a term born in 1973 to suit their political fancy. 1973 welcomed the verb fact check into print and it also saw the first print appearance of the noun feeding frenzy. Most memorably, 1973 was the year the term Watergate first appeared in print with the sense "a scandal usually involving abuses of office, skullduggery, and a coverup."
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