# Who ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson and acting Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox during the "Saturday Night Massacre" in October 1973? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737 "2022-06-24T13:08:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/1 "2022-06-24T13:08:55Z")
Who ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson and acting Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox during the “Saturday Night Massacre” in October 1973? Wikipedia says it was President Nixon, but the article “Falklands/Malvinas (B): The Haig Mediation Effort” by Don Lippincott and Gregory Treverton says it was Haig, the then Chief of Staff at the White House, who made the order. Can anyone enlighten me with this question? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/2 "2022-06-24T13:17:09Z")
If it was Haig, then it was still Nixon. An order from the President relayed through one of his subordinates is still an order from the President. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/3 "2022-06-24T13:25:07Z")
As @Chronos says, the order undoubtedly came from Nixon himself even if it was delivered through Haig. But a Washington Post article I found ([article – may need a subscription](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/11/the-saturday-night-massacre-your-commander-in-chief-has-given-you-an-order/)) indicates that Nixon directly ordered Richardson to fire Cox, and Richardson resigned. Haig then called Ruckelshaus and told him that he had to fire Cox, leading Ruckelshaus to resign. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/4 "2022-06-24T19:49:10Z")
At the time I had a bumper sticker saying “Impeach the Coxsacker!” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2022, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/5 "2022-06-25T03:12:43Z")
According to _The Final Days_, Haig called Richardson and passed on Nixon’s order to fire Cox. Richardson insisted on seeing the President, to hand in his resignation. Richardson came to the White House and met with the President, explaining that he could not fire the special prosecutor. > [@](#): > > “I’m sorry you feel that you have to act on your commitment to Cox and his independence,” the President said, “and not the larger public interest.” > > There was a flash of anger. “Maybe,” Richardson replied hotly, “your perception and my perception of the public interest differ.” > > That was the end. > > Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus was now the Acting Attorney General. Haig phoned him, pounding away on the Middle East situation. He painted a picture of cataclysm if Ruckelshaus did not fire Cox. “As you probably know, Elliot Richardson feels he cannot execute the orders of the President.” > > “That is right, I do know that”. > > “Are you prepared to do so?” > > “No.” > > “Well, you know what it means when an order comes down from the Commander-in-Chief and a member of his team cannot execute it.” > > “That is right.” > > Haig thought Ruckelshaus was fired. Ruckelshaus presumed he had resigned. And then Bork, the weasel, fired the special prosecutor, ensuring thereby that he would never be appointed to the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/6 "2022-06-25T04:03:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If it was Haig, then it was still Nixon. An order from the President relayed through one of his subordinates is still an order from the President. Exactly this. The U.S. Attorney General is a Cabinet position, as well as being the head of the Department of Justice, and the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S. Only the President has the power to actually fire such a person; the White House Chief of Staff is _also_ a Cabinet-level position, and would lack the authority to actually make the decision (though the President may designate the Chief of Staff to deliver the news to the AG). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2022, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/7 "2022-06-25T04:38:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And then Bork, the weasel, fired the special prosecutor, ensuring thereby that he would never be appointed to the Supreme Court. Somewhere I read that Richardson could see the order to fire Cox coming, so he had a meeting with Ruckelshaus and Bork ahead of time. They agreed that they couldn’t all quit because it would leave the Justice Dept without good leadership or something like that. But they’d make the point by two of them quitting/being fired, leaving it up to Bork to ax Cox. Don’t know if this was known during Bork’s confirmation hearing. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2022, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/8 "2022-06-25T06:54:25Z")
Thank you all for the detailed reply. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/9 "2022-06-26T03:30:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Somewhere I read that Richardson could see the order to fire Cox coming, so he had a meeting with Ruckelshaus and Bork ahead of time. They agreed that they couldn’t all quit because it would leave the Justice Dept without good leadership or something like that. But they’d make the point by two of them quitting/being fired, leaving it up to Bork to ax Cox. Don’t know if this was known during Bork’s confirmation hearing. When I first read your comment, I assumed that this was something Bork came up with later as justification for this actions. However, googling it, [there is an account](https://books.google.com.tw/books?id=yHI-EAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA163&ots=N4qdmHRGsG&dq=Richardson%20could%20see%20the%20order%20to%20fire%20Cox%20coming%2C%20so%20he%20had%20a%20meeting%20with%20Ruckelshaus%20and%20Bork%20agreed%20that%20bork%20would%20fire%20special%20prosecutor&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q=Richardson%20could%20see%20the%20order%20to%20fire%20Cox%20coming,%20so%20he%20had%20a%20meeting%20with%20Ruckelshaus%20and%20Bork%20agreed%20that%20bork%20would%20fire%20special%20prosecutor&f=false) which backs this up, with the fear that there would be even more resignations. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ordered-attorney-general-elliot-richardson-and-acting-attorney-general-william-ruckelshaus-to-fire-special-watergate-prosecutor-archibald-cox-during-the-saturday-night-massacre-in-october-1973/966737/10 "2022-06-26T03:40:50Z")
There should have been more resignations. The firings were political interference in the prosecutorial function.