It Was Twenty Years Ago Today...

Actually twenty-one, but why let details get in the way? Check out this front page from the November 17, 1973 edition of the New York Times...Dick Nixon, at DISNEYWORLD (no, I'm NOT making that up) announces to the world that he "is not a crook." His "wanna get away" moment would happen nine short months later.

Take a look at the article, where you'll find some real gems: like his assertion that the June 20th (1972) tape contained "no details" about Watergate--probably because he'd erased the contents, creating the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap--and that the system itself was just "a little Sony" tape recorder and a couple of lapel-mikes...

Or his defense to paying exactly $792 dollars in income taxes for the year 1970--and all of $878 dollars the next year. And consider: Nixon got 61 percent of the vote--about as close to a "mandate" as you can get.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.