Why might U.S. Senators need a refresher on the Nixon Watergate investigation?
Many may have been too young to remember the details of the events
Today, if your are younger than age 30 and are politically engaged….never forget the presidential elections of 2000 (Bush v. Gore), 2008 (election of Barack Obama) and 2016 (election of Donald Trump). Also, don’t forgot the political events of 2017 (Russiagate) and how the Congressional members (U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives) are behaving.
If you are older than 40, think about how aware of politics you were when you were age 27 or younger.
Many of the current U.S. Senators were actually in their 20s or younger on the day that Richard Nixon resigned the presidency of the United States on August 9, 1974.
What sort of memories do the current U.S. Senators have of the actions of the 1973 and 1974 Congress and the Nixon White House? How many of the current U.S. Senators remember how the Nixon Administration responded to questions surrounding Watergate?
Now, you may understand why some U.S. Senators might need a refresher of the Nixon Watergate years.
Lastly, current U.S. Senators may not have clear memories of how the American newspaper press and the American television news media covered the Richard Nixon Watergate crisis.
Take this time to introduce or reintroduce yourself to the year 1973 and 1974 and remember history so that similar events will not be repeated.
Below are the ages of current U.S. Senator members on the date of Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974.
| State | Senator | Party | Birth Date and Current Age |
Age at Richard Nixon’s
Resignation Aug. 9, 1974
|
Next Election |
| California | Dianne Feinstein | Democratic | June 22, 1933 (age 83) | 40 | 2018 |
| Iowa | Chuck Grassley | Republican | September 17, 1933 (age 83) | 41 | 2022 |
| Utah | Orrin Hatch | Republican | March 22, 1934 (age 83) | 39 | 2018 |
| Alabama | Richard Shelby | Republican | May 6, 1934 (age 83) | 39 | 2022 |
| Oklahoma | Jim Inhofe | Republican | November 17, 1934 (age 82) | 40 | 2020 |
| Kansas | Pat Roberts | Republican | April 20, 1936 (age 81) | 37 | 2020 |
| Arizona | John McCain | Republican | August 29, 1936 (age 80) | 38 | 2022 |
| Mississippi | Thad Cochran | Republican | December 7, 1937 (age 79) | 37 | 2020 |
| Vermont | Patrick Leahy | Democratic | March 31, 1940 (age 77) | 34 | 2022 |
| Tennessee | Lamar Alexander | Republican | July 3, 1940 (age 76) | 34 | 2020 |
| Vermont | Bernie Sanders | Independent | September 8, 1941 (age 75) | 33 | 2018 |
| Kentucky | Mitch McConnell | Republican | February 20, 1942 (age 75) | 31 | 2020 |
| Florida | Bill Nelson | Democratic | September 29, 1942 (age 74) | 32 | 2018 |
| Idaho | Jim Risch | Republican | May 3, 1943 (age 74) | 30 | 2020 |
| Maryland | Ben Cardin | Democratic | October 5, 1943 (age 73) | 31 | 2018 |
| Wyoming | Mike Enzi | Republican | February 1, 1944 (age 73) | 29 | 2020 |
| Maine | Angus King | Independent | March 31, 1944 (age 73) | 29 | 2018 |
| Illinois | Dick Durbin | Democratic | November 21, 1944 (age 72) | 30 | 2020 |
| Georgia | Johnny Isakson | Republican | December 28, 1944 (age 72) | 30 | 2022 |
| Connecticut | Richard Blumenthal | Democratic | February 13, 1946 (age 71) | 27 | 2022 |
| Massachusetts | Ed Markey | Democratic | July 11, 1946 (age 70) | 27 | 2020 |
| Delaware | Tom Carper | Democratic | January 23, 1947 (age 70) | 26 | 2018 |
| New Hampshire | Jeanne Shaheen | Democratic | January 28, 1947 (age 70) | 26 | 2020 |
| West Virginia | Joe Manchin | Democratic | August 24, 1947 (age 69) | 27 | 2018 |
| Hawaii | Mazie Hirono | Democratic | November 3, 1947 (age 69) | 27 | 2018 |
| New Mexico | Tom Udall | Democratic | May 18, 1948 (age 68) | 25 | 2020 |
| Oregon | Ron Wyden | Democratic | May 3, 1949 (age 68) | 24 | 2022 |
| Massachusetts | Elizabeth Warren | Democratic | June 22, 1949 (age 67) | 24 | 2018 |
| Rhode Island | Jack Reed | Democratic | November 12, 1949 (age 67) | 25 | 2020 |
| Georgia | David Perdue | Republican | December 10, 1949 (age 67) | 25 | 2020 |
| Missouri | Roy Blunt | Republican | January 10, 1950 (age 67) | 23 | 2022 |
| Michigan | Debbie Stabenow | Democratic | April 29, 1950 (age 67) | 23 | 2018 |
| Washington | Patty Murray | Democratic | October 11, 1950 (age 66) | 24 | 2022 |
| New York | Chuck Schumer | Democratic | November 23, 1950 (age 66) | 24 | 2022 |
| Arkansas | John Boozman | Republican | December 10, 1950 (age 66) | 24 | 2022 |
| Nebraska | Deb Fischer | Republican | March 1, 1951 (age 66) | 22 | 2018 |
| Idaho | Mike Crapo | Republican | May 20, 1951 (age 65) | 22 | 2022 |
| Minnesota | Al Franken | Democratic | May 21, 1951 (age 65) | 22 | 2020 |
| Mississippi | Roger Wicker | Republican | July 5, 1951 (age 65) | 22 | 2018 |
| Louisiana | John N. Kennedy | Republican | November 21, 1951 (age 65) | 23 | 2022 |
| Texas | John Cornyn | Republican | February 2, 1952 (age 65) | 21 | 2020 |
| Wyoming | John Barrasso | Republican | July 21, 1952 (age 64) | 21 | 2018 |
| Tennessee | Bob Corker | Republican | August 24, 1952 (age 64) | 22 | 2018 |
| Ohio | Sherrod Brown | Democratic | November 9, 1952 (age 64) | 22 | 2018 |
| Maine | Susan Collins | Republican | December 7, 1952 (age 64) | 22 | 2020 |
| Alabama | Luther Strange | Republican | March 1, 1953 (age 64) | 20 | 2018 |
| Missouri | Claire McCaskill | Democratic | July 24, 1953 (age 63) | 20 | 2018 |
| West Virginia | Shelley Moore Capito | Republican | November 26, 1953 (age 63) | 21 | 2020 |
| New Jersey | Bob Menendez | Democratic | January 1, 1954 (age 63) | 19 | 2018 |
| Kansas | Jerry Moran | Republican | May 29, 1954 (age 62) | 19 | 2022 |
| South Dakota | Mike Rounds | Republican | October 24, 1954 (age 62) | 20 | 2020 |
| Virginia | Mark Warner | Democratic | December 15, 1954 (age 62) | 20 | 2020 |
| Wisconsin | Ron Johnson | Republican | April 8, 1955 (age 62) | 18 | 2022 |
| South Carolina | Lindsey Graham | Republican | July 9, 1955 (age 61) | 18 | 2020 |
| Indiana | Joe Donnelly | Democratic | September 29, 1955 (age 61) | 19 | 2018 |
| Rhode Island | Sheldon Whitehouse | Democratic | October 20, 1955 (age 61) | 19 | 2018 |
| North Dakota | Heidi Heitkamp | Democratic | October 30, 1955 (age 61) | 19 | 2018 |
| North Carolina | Richard Burr | Republican | November 30, 1955 (age 61) | 19 | 2022 |
| Ohio | Rob Portman | Republican | December 19, 1955 (age 61) | 19 | 2022 |
| Montana | Jon Tester | Democratic | August 21, 1956 (age 60) | 18 | 2018 |
| Oregon | Jeff Merkley | Democratic | October 24, 1956 (age 60) | 18 | 2020 |
| North Dakota | John Hoeven | Republican | March 13, 1957 (age 60) | 16 | 2022 |
| Alaska | Lisa Murkowski | Republican | May 22, 1957 (age 59) | 16 | 2022 |
| Louisiana | Bill Cassidy | Republican | September 28, 1957 (age 59) | 17 | 2020 |
| Virginia | Tim Kaine | Democratic | February 26, 1958 (age 59) | 15 | 2018 |
| New Hampshire | Maggie Hassan | Democratic | February 27, 1958 (age 59) | 15 | 2022 |
| Washington | Maria Cantwell | Democratic | October 13, 1958 (age 58) | 16 | 2018 |
| Michigan | Gary Peters | Democratic | December 1, 1958 (age 58) | 16 | 2020 |
| Maryland | Chris Van Hollen | Democratic | January 10, 1959 (age 58) | 14 | 2022 |
| Pennsylvania | Bob Casey Jr. | Democratic | April 13, 1960 (age 57) | 13 | 2018 |
| Nevada | Dean Heller | Republican | May 10, 1960 (age 56) | 13 | 2018 |
| Minnesota | Amy Klobuchar | Democratic | May 25, 1960 (age 56) | 13 | 2018 |
| North Carolina | Thom Tillis | Republican | August 30, 1960 (age 56) | 14 | 2020 |
| South Dakota | John Thune | Republican | January 7, 1961 (age 56) | 12 | 2022 |
| Pennsylvania | Pat Toomey | Republican | November 17, 1961 (age 55) | 13 | 2022 |
| Wisconsin | Tammy Baldwin | Democratic | February 11, 1962 (age 55) | 11 | 2018 |
| Montana | Steve Daines | Republican | August 20, 1962 (age 54) | 12 | 2020 |
| Arizona | Jeff Flake | Republican | December 31, 1962 (age 54) | 12 | 2018 |
| Kentucky | Rand Paul | Republican | January 7, 1963 (age 54) | 10 | 2022 |
| Delaware | Chris Coons | Democratic | September 9, 1963 (age 53) | 11 | 2020 |
| Nevada | Catherine Cortez Masto | Democratic | March 29, 1964 (age 53) | 9 | 2022 |
| California | Kamala Harris | Democratic | October 20, 1964 (age 52) | 10 | 2022 |
| Alaska | Dan Sullivan | Republican | November 13, 1964 (age 52) | 10 | 2020 |
| Colorado | Michael Bennet | Democratic | November 28, 1964 (age 52) | 10 | 2022 |
| South Carolina | Tim Scott | Republican | September 19, 1965 (age 51) | 9 | 2022 |
| New York | Kirsten Gillibrand | Democratic | December 9, 1966 (age 50) | 8 | 2018 |
| Oklahoma | James Lankford | Republican | March 4, 1968 (age 49) | 5 | 2022 |
| Illinois | Tammy Duckworth | Democratic | March 12, 1968 (age 49) | 5 | 2022 |
| New Jersey | Cory Booker | Democratic | April 27, 1969 (age 48) | 4 | 2020 |
| Iowa | Joni Ernst | Republican | July 1, 1970 (age 46) | 3 | 2020 |
| Texas | Ted Cruz | Republican | December 22, 1970 (age 46) | 4 | 2018 |
| Florida | Marco Rubio | Republican | May 28, 1971 (age 45) | 2 | 2022 |
| Utah | Mike Lee | Republican | June 4, 1971 (age 45) | 2 | 2022 |
| New Mexico | Martin Heinrich | Democratic | October 17, 1971 (age 45) | 3 | 2018 |
| Nebraska | Ben Sasse | Republican | February 22, 1972 (age 45) | 1 | 2020 |
| Indiana | Todd Young | Republican | August 24, 1972 (age 44) | 2 | 2022 |
| Hawaii | Brian Schatz | Democratic | October 20, 1972 (age 44) | 2 | 2022 |
| Connecticut | Chris Murphy | Democratic | August 3, 1973 (age 43) | almost 1 | 2018 |
| Colorado | Cory Gardner | Republican | August 22, 1974 (age 42) | born 13 days later | 2020 |
| Arkansas | Tom Cotton | Republican | May 13, 1977 (age 39) | born almost 3 years later | 2020 |
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Video: Spiro Agnew resigns the office of the Vice Presidency of the United States (term 1969–1973)
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Video: Nixon’s Press Secretary Ron Zeigler
Ron Zeigler hits the then North Carolina U.S. Senator Sam Ervin’s Senate Watergate Committee on leaks. Ervin’s Committee investigation of the Watergate scandal in 1972 and 1973 led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.
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Video: RUSSIAGATE 2017 Compared to Nixon’s Watergate -The American press today vs then
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Video: Senator Sam Ervin’s Opening Remarks, Chairman Senate Select Watergate Committee May 17. 1973
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Video: May 17, 1973: Watergate Hearings Begin
North Carolina’s U.S. Senator Sam Ervin
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Video: The “Saturday Night Massacre”
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Video: Nixon’s supporters protesting against the Watergate investigation
February 1, 1974
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Video: Nixon’s supporters protesting against the Watergate investigation
July 23, 1974
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Video: CBS News Walter Cronkite announces President Nixon’s resignation 1974
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Video: The Resignation of President Nixon CBS News Coverage
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Video: The Swearing-in of President Ford CBS News Coverage
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May 11, 2017
Did you know?, Government/Politics, Remember yesteryear