History Book: Nixon releases the Watergate transcripts

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday April 29th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, the last manufactured Oldsmobile rolls off the assembly line, and the car company calls it quits.

And, the body of a famous mountaineer is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after he disappears.

EICHER: But first, recorded evidence incriminates President Richard Nixon in Watergate.

Here’s WORLD Radio Reporter Emma Perley:

EMMA PERLEY: On a warm summer night in 1972, five men break into the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. At 1:47 A.M., Watergate security guard Frank Wills discovers the break-in. Here’s Wills on Good Night America.

WILLS: I called Metropolitan Police and I reported that I thought something was suspicious. And they came, and we discovered that the door that led directly into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters was broken into.

The police apprehend all five men for burglary. While the White House denies involvement, investigative reporters discover a paper trail that points to the president’s re-election campaign.

Democrat opposition George McGovern’s presidential campaign is especially skeptical of President Richard Nixon. Audio here from a 1972 McGovern campaign rally, courtesy of ABC News.

MCGOVERN: Mr. Nixon, did you know about the burglary of our Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate?

Senators form a Watergate Committee to continue the investigation alongside the FBI. And Nixon’s former aide Alexander Butterfield testifies that Nixon recorded private conversations in the White House. The Committee immediately subpoenas the tapes and transcripts, but Nixon refuses. He claims his executive privileges allow him to defy the orders.

Audio from a 1973 speech, courtesy of History.com:

NIXON: If I were to make public these tapes, containing as they do blunt and candid remarks on many different subjects, the confidentiality of the office of the President would always be suspect from now on.

Finally, on April 29th, 1974, Nixon and his legal team release edited transcripts to the Committee. Among these is the so-called “Smoking Gun” tape which reveals that Nixon tried to shut down further investigations into the Watergate break-in. He and his aide Bob Haldeman discuss ways to control the FBI from the inside. Audio from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library:

HALDEMAN: Now, on that investigation, you know, the Democratic break-in thing, we’re back in the problem area because the FBI is not under control.

The tapes prove to be Nixon’s downfall. 

Next, on May 1st, 1999, a search and rescue team led by climber David Hahn finds a man they’ve been looking for since his disappearance 75 years earlier.

HAHN: We as a group weren’t sure what to do because, this climber, looked at peace.

In 1924, climbing partners George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set out to summit Mount Everest. An ambitious and naturally skilled mountaineer, Mallory had scaled the lower ridges of Mount Everest three times before. This fourth time, he wanted to be the first man to reach the top. Audio here from a 2021 presentation by mountaineer Conrad Anker and author Wade Davis.

DAVIS: On June 8th, 1924, George Mallory, 37 years-old, Sandy Irvine, his young protege of but 22, crested the northeast ridge going strong for the summit … when the mist rolled in and enveloped their memory in myth.

Mallory and Irvine vanished that day and their bodies were never found. Until the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition. Here’s David Hahn again.

HAHN: He was face down, head up the hill, arms outstretched. And, you know, you’ve come across this person who’s had an accident on the mountain and it cost him his life, and we took a few minutes, the argument was made that maybe we shouldn’t disturb him.

Did Mallory reach the top? Besides trying to find Mallory’s remains, the expedition looked for evidence that he’d succeeded. Mallory owned a camera. If he had reached the top, a photograph would undoubtedly be on the camera. And, Mallory had promised his wife that he’d leave a picture of her on the summit. The researchers did not find the camera or the picture of Mallory’s wife. But they did find Mallory.

They buried him with rocks and gave a small Anglican service where he lay.

HAHN: Some people say, “Oh, what a terrible place for somebody to end up—on this cold, lonely mountainside.” To us, George Mallory very much is identified with Everest, it’s fitting. It’s his gravestone.

If Mallory did summit Mount Everest, he would have been the first man to do so—nearly 30 years before climbers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Finally today, an Oldsmobile Alero rolls off the assembly line 20 years ago on April 29th in Lansing, Michigan. Audio here from 33 ⅓ Street Sound and Video:

AUDIO: It is the final Alero, and it is also the final Oldsmobile, being built right here, as it should be, in its home.

Engine maker Ransom E. Olds began the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897, six years before competitor Ford Motors entered the scene. Disaster struck when a warehouse fire destroyed many of Olds’ prototypes. But two workers managed to rescue the Curved Dash Oldsmobile model, which would become the first ever mass-produced gasoline powered car.

At first the cars were called “Olds automobiles” but were soon known as “Oldsmobiles.” They became a household name through songs like the 1905 standard: “In My Merry Oldsmobile” by Billy Murray.

AUDIO: [“In My Merry Oldsmobile”] Come away with me, Lucille, In my merry Oldsmobile, Down the road of life we'll fly, Automobubbling, you and I, To the church we'll swiftly steal, Then our wedding bells will peal, You can go as far as you like with me, In my merry Oldsmobile.

One particular Oldsmobile achievement was the first mass produced Rocket V8 engine. Invented in 1949, it drastically boosted performance and paved the way for modern engines. Audio here from a 1959 Oldsmobile commercial:

AUDIO: Now, let’s talk about a rocket my friends. I mean a rocket engine Oldsmobile, a rocket engine is found in the ‘88, super ‘88 and the ‘98 Oldsmobile.

Oldsmobile’s heyday began during the 1960s with the release of the Cutlass, a sleek best-selling car with the cutting-edge Rocket V8 engine. But sales declined sharply 30 years later when import car companies such as Honda and Nissan slowly edged Oldsmobile out. When Oldsmobile shut down in 2004, it was the oldest surviving American automobile brand. And it was among some of the oldest manufacturers in the world.

AUDIO: It’s fabulous. It’s wonderful. It’s beautiful. You gotta see it. You gotta drive it. It’s the Oldsmobile for 1969!

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Emma Perley.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this segment mistakenly reported that President Nixon was impeached. 

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