In 1973, Elizabeth Holtzman (D-New York) became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She was only a freshman when she was appointed to the House Judiciary Committee.  In 1974, the Committee passed three articles of impeachment against President Nixon. In this interview from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library oral history collection she describes the impeachment hearing process.

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Dwight Chapin first worked for Richard Nixon on his 1962 California gubernatorial campaign. After the 1968 presidential election, Chapin became President Nixon’s Appointments Secretary. He ultimately resigned and served nine months in prison on Watergate related charges. In this oral history recorded for the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Chapin recalls the 1968 campaign, and the workings of the Nixon White House.

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In 1969 Jeb Magruder began working as a Special Assistant to President Nixon. After doing some work on the midterm elections of 1970, he became the Deputy Campaign Director with the Committee for the Re-Election of the President and then went on to work for the Commerce Department.

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David Gergen began his political career in 1971 as a staff assistant on President Nixon’s speech writing team. He talks about his relationship with President Nixon, the speechwriting process, and how he came to write President Nixon’s letter of resignation.

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Journalist and Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon worked for the San Jose Mercury News from 1961 to 1969 and then the Washington Post from 1972 to 1998. During this time he covered many political campaigns and figures – including President Nixon. In an oral history interview with the Nixon Presidential Library, Mr. Cannon reflects on the war in Vietnam, how the Washington Post covered Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and what Ronald Reagan thought of Richard Nixon.

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In 1968 William Ruckelshaus began his career in the Nixon administration as the Assistant Attorney General. He was later appointed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, acting director of the FBI and finally Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice. In an excerpt from an oral history interview with the Nixon Presidential Library, Mr. Ruckelshaus describes life in the Nixon administration during Watergate, the “Saturday Night Massacre” and his resignation.

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Peter Hannaford is the author of "Presidential Retreats: Where the Presidents Went and Why They Went There." He spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library about the getaways that have offered the nation's chief executives solace, recreation and privacy.   

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50 years ago, on April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while being held in prison for his involvement in a city-wide civil rights protest called the Birmingham Campaign. King’s daughter, Bernice King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, joins Alabama’s governor, Birmingham’s Mayor and others for the unveiling of a historical marker aside the Birmingham Jail.

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham civil rights campaign. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for taking part in the protests. The campaign gained national attention after local officials used dogs and water cannons on kids after they took to the streets in what was known as the “Children’s Crusade.” A panel of authors and historians recall the turmoil of the time, as well as how Birmingham has chosen to remember its past. This event was part of the Alabama Historical Association’s annual conference.

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At the direction of Congress, the voices and experiences from the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20^th century are being documented in an oral history project. This effort is a collaboration of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Library of Congress and the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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