Reporter Daniel Schorr Reads Nixon’s “Enemies List” on National TV – Finds His Own Name on It
Reporter Daniel Schorr obtained a copy of President Richard Nixon’s infamous “enemies list” and read names from the list live on CBS television on this day. In the midst of reading, he discovered that his own name was on the list.
The “enemies list” was one of the abuses of power by the Nixon administration that were exposed as a result of the Watergate scandal and which eventually led to Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974. In fact, there was no single list, but several different versions that continued to grow in length.
Names on the original “enemies list” included reporter Daniel Schorr (number 17), actor Paul Newman, columnist Mary McGrory, labor union leader Leonard Woodcock, and African-American Congressmen John Conyers (Detroit) and Ron Dellums (Oakland).
The Watergate burglary on June 17, 1972, touched off a national scandal that gripped the nation for 15 months, from the day of the original Watergate burglary to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The burglary set in motions investigations that uncovered other abuses of power by President Nixon and several members of his administration. These included the famous “enemies” list of critics of the administration who were targeted for retaliation (August 16, 1971), and the White House “Plumbers” unit that burglarized the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, on September 9, 1971. Nixon was impeached by the House of Representatives in July 1974, and he resigned in disgrace on August 9, 1974. President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon on September 8, 1974, for any crimes he may have committed while president.
Daniel Schorr was involved in other sensational revelations during the Watergate years. On April 28, 1975, on national television he revealed information about CIA assassination plots. And on February 16, 1976, he leaked a copy of the suppressed Pike Committee report on the CIA.
Watch Daniel Schorr discuss the Nixon “enemies list”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu5fmobwywE
Learn all about the enemies lists: http://www.enemieslist.info/
Learn more: Stanley Kutler, The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon (1990)