The Outraged Public Reaction to the Saturday Night Massacre

Not since Harry Truman fired General MacArthur has there been such an outraged public reaction. A man wearing a Nixon mask and prison stripes took up position on Pennsylvania Avenue, holding a sign that said, Honk for Impeachment. Western Union said that the firing of Archibald Cox produced a record number of telegrams to its Washington offices. Richard Nixon later said that the White House staff was taken by surprise by the ferocious intensity of the reaction.