November 27, 1934: Baby Face Nelson Is Killed

November 27, 1934: Baby Face Nelson is killed, ending a bad year for America's criminal element that also saw the bloody ends of John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the team of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

Lester Joseph Gillis was born on December 6, 1908 in Chicago. He got off to an early start: He was arrested on July 4, 1921, at the age of 12, after he accidentally shot a playmate in the jaw with a pistol that he had found. He served over a year in the State reformatory.

Using the name George Nelson, and, known as "Baby Face" for his appearance, he fell in with a group of young thieves, and as soon as he was old enough to drive, he drove trucks loaded with bootleg liquor. After robbing homes of rich people for their jewelry, he began robbing banks in 1930. The Great Depression was on, and, like other gangsters, the poor began seeing him as a hero for preying on the banks that were preying on the poor. But he was no hero: He was a murderer, and was sent to the State Prison at Joliet in 1931.

In 1932, he escaped during a prisoner transfer. By the Summer of 1933, having pulled a few more bank robberies, he formed his own gang. Witnesses reported that Nelson wildly sprayed sub-machine gun bullets at bystanders as he made his getaway from his robberies. He killed an agent at a resort lodge in Wisconsin. Early in 1934, he helped Dillinger escape from prison in 1934. They worked together, which may be way, after the FBI killed Dillinger, they made Nelson the new "Public Enemy No. 1."

On November 27, 1934, Nelson, his wife Helen Gillis (she called him "Les," short for "Lester"), and associate John Paul Chase headed south in a stolen V8 Ford towards Chicago on U.S. Route 14, in Barrington, Illinois. Nelson caught sight of a sedan driven in the opposite direction by agents Thomas McDade and William Ryan. Both parties simultaneously recognized each other, and a shootout resulted, which became known as the Battle of Barrington.

Nelson was hit in the lower abdomen, but kept firing, hitting an agent. Another agent shot Nelson in both legs, knocking him down. He managed to get up and find cover, and killed an agent, before Chase drove Nelson and his wife away. It was for naught: Nelson had been hit 9 times, and the initial abdominal wound was enough to kill him. Chase drove to a safe house in suburban Wilmette, where Nelson died, a few days short of his 26th birthday.

Helen Gillis surrendered 2 days later, on Thanksgiving, and served a year in prison for harboring a fugitive, namely her husband. She never remarried, remained close to her husband's family, and lived until 1987. Chase also served time in prison, including at Alcatraz. He died in 1973.

*

November 27, 1934 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

November 2, 1968: Madame Chennault & Nixon's Treason

Left to right: Richard Nixon, Anna Chennault and Henry Kissinger.

Photo taken in the Oval Office in 1971.

It should have been taken in federal court,

where they would not have been smiling.

November 2, 1968: It looks like President Lyndon Johnson's bombing halt in Vietnam, announced 2 days earlier, is going to give the election to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee. So former Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee, tells campaign aide H.R. Haldeman, who wrote it down, to "throw a monkey wrench into it."

So he calls Anna Chennault, an official of the anti-Communist "China Lobby," and the widow of Claire Chennault, beloved by the Nationalist Chinese for his role in the Army Air Force during World War II. And she calls called Bùi Diễm, the South Vietnamese Ambassador to the Paris Peace Talks, and tells him, "Hold on. We are going to win. Please tell your boss to hold on." In other words, you'll get a better deal from a President Nixon than you would from a President Humphrey.

The peace talks stalled. Humphrey's momentum slowed down. Three days later, Nixon won in a squeaker. Shortly thereafter, someone wrote that, if the polls had opened and closed 8 hours later, Humphrey would have won.

From 1969 onward, the official count of the U.S. service dead in Vietnam is 21,264 – 36 percent of all deaths. "Madame Chennault" and Richard Nixon can be blamed for this. But it goes beyond that: What Nixon, Haldeman, Madame Chennault, and anyone who assisted them in this endeavor did was treason. And yet, no one was ever prosecuted for it, despite the surviving evidence: The FBI's wiretap of her phone, Haldeman's written notes, and a mention of it on Nixon's Oval Office audiotapes, which did eventually bring him down -- over Watergate.

Madame Chennault, a.k.a. "The Steel Butterfly," died in 2018, at the age of 94. Bùi Diễm died in 2021, at 98.

*

November 2, 1968 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Southern California beat Oregon, 20-13 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. USC got tied by Notre Dame in their regular-season finale, but still won the Pacific-Eight Conference title, setting up a 1 vs. 2 showdown in the Rose Bowl with...

* Ohio State, who went into November 2 at Number 2, and beat Number 16 Michigan State, 25-20 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The USC-ND tie vaulted Big Ten Conference Champion OSU to Number 1, and they beat USC in the Rose Bowl to win the National Championship.

* Number 3 Kansas beat Colorado, 27-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. The next week, Kansas lost to Oklahoma, creating a tie for the Big Eight Conference title. Oklahoma had the head-to-head tiebreaker, and should have been the Big 8's representative in the Orange Bowl. But since Kansas finished 6th in the last poll after the regular season, and Oklahoma were 10th, the league selected Kansas instead.

* Number 4 Penn State beat Army, 28-24 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. For the 1st time, a team coached by Joe Paterno (in his 3rd season in "Happy Valley") went undefeated during the regular season. They beat Kansas in the Orange Bowl. But except for that game, they hadn't beaten a single ranked opponent, so Ohio State, also with a perfect record but having beaten 4 ranked teams -- then Number 1 Purdue, Number 2 USC, Number 4 Michigan and Number 16 Michigan State -- were awarded the National Championship.

* Number 5 Tennessee beat UCLA, 42-18 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next week, Tennessee, which had already been tied by Georgia, lost to Auburn, costing them the Southeastern Conference title. They were still invited to the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 6 Purdue beat Illinois, 35-17 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue had already ruined their chances by losing to Ohio State. Not that it was all their fault: At the time, the Big 10 had a rule that the Rose Bowl was the only bowl game a league team could go to. The Pac-8 also had that rule. Both leagues changed the rule for the 1975 season.

* Number 7 Georgia were held to a tie by Number 15 University of Houston, 10-10 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. It was Georgia's 2nd tie of the season. They still ended up winning the SEC title.

* Number 8 University of California were held to a tie by the University of Washington, 7-7 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* Number 9 Michigan beat Northwestern, 35-0 at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

* Number 10 Missouri beat Oklahoma State, 42-7 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Number 11 Texas beat Number 13 Southern Methodist (SMU), 38-7 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. This game settled the Southwest Conference title. Texas beat Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 12 Notre Dame beat Navy, 45-14 at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. Four weeks later, Navy returned to JFK Stadium, and lost to Army.

* Number 14 Louisiana State were upset by Mississippi, 27-24 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 15 Arkansas beat Rice, 46-21 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Georgia.

* Number 18 Florida State were upset by Virginia Tech, 40-22 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 20 Florida were upset by Auburn, 24-13 at Florida Field in Gainesville.

* Wyoming beat Colorado State, 46-14 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. This was the 1st time that a trophy was awarded to the winner of this rivalry game, the Bronze Boot. Wyoming won the Western Athletic Conference title, but were not invited to a bowl game.

* And among New Jersey teams, Rutgers beat Delaware, 23-14 at the old Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton beat Brown, 50-7 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.

There were 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 112-104 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit, despite 34 points and 26 rebounds from Willis Reed.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 119-113 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Milwaukee Bucks, in only the 8th game in franchise history, beat the San Francisco Warriors, 102-101 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Chicago Bulls, 101-95 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 5 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Minnesota Muskies, 130-114 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Miami Floridians beat the Kentucky Colonels, 92-85 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* The Houston Mavericks beat the Indiana Pacers, 102-100 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Stars beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 108-104 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Oakland Oaks beat the Denver Rockets, 120-106 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Black Hawks and the Oakland Seals were not scheduled.

October 28, 2016: James Comey Kneecaps Hillary Clinton

October 28, 2016: James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sends a letter to members of Congress, advising them that the FBI was reviewing more emails written by, and to, the Democratic Party's nominee for President, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Members of Congress revealed the information to the public within minutes.

It may have made all the difference in the election, throwing it to the nominee of the Republican Party: A spectacularly failed businessman with no political experience, of malignant narcissism, of disgusting racism, of unacceptable misogyny, and compromised in disastrous ways. His name was Donald Trump.

Trump won 306 Electoral Votes, Clinton 232 -- although, with "faithless electors" kicking in, it turned out to be 304-227 in Trump's favor. Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes, Wisconsin by less than 23,000, and Pennsylvania by less than 45,000. Had those 3 States gone the other way, presuming no faithless electors, the Electoral Vote would have been 278-260 in Clinton's favor.

To borrow a term Trump would appreciate, given his love of the Mob: Comey kneecapped Clinton.

And how did Trump thank Comey for this? By firing him.

James Comey ended up as the one figure from the 2016 Presidential election who was hated by both sides -- although, in the Republicans' case, it was for what he did after it.

*

October 28, 2016 was a Friday. Game 3 of the World Series was played, the 1st World Series game played at Wrigley Field in 71 years. The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0. Coco Crisp singled Michael Martínez home with the game's only run in the top of the 7th inning. Josh Tomlin, Andrew Miller (winning pitcher), Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined on a 5-hit shutout. But the Cubs won the World Series in Game 7.

There were 3 games in college football:

* Number 22 Navy were upset by the University of South Florida, 52-45 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* San Diego State beat Utah State, 40-13 at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah.

* And the Air Force Academy beat Fresno State, 31-21 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California.

There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-94 at the Barclays Center.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat, 97-91 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 122-114 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Anthony Davis scored 45 points in defeat.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic, 108-82 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors, 94-91 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns, 113-110 in overtime at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook scored 51 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, 106-98 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 96-89 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena (as the Delta Center was then known) in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the Prudential Center. Artem Anisimov scored the winning goal, 3:45 into overtime.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, lost away to Freehold Township in Monmouth County, 36-21.

October 25, 1972: The 1st Female FBI Agents

Special Agent Susan Malone

October 25, 1972: The first female FBI Agents are hired. Longtime Director J. Edgar Hoover has been dead for almost 6 months. I wonder if there's a connection. They certainly look better in women's clothes than he did.

The first two hired were Susan Roley, who had served in the U.S. Marines, and JoAnne Pierce, who served in a job nearly as tough: She had been a nun.

Then as now, the Marines' headquarters and the FBI's Training Academy were about 8 miles apart, the former in Quantico, Virginia, the latter in Stafford but referred to by Agents as "Quantico," about 40 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. Roley's father had served there, and she had basically grown up there. She had seen James Stewart star in the 1959 film The FBI Story, but the Bureau was closed to female agents. So she went to college, joined the Marine Corps Reserve, and was commissioned as an officer upon graduation.

When longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover died in 1972, 2nd Lieutenant Susan Roley, USMC, attended his funeral. Within days, in a move Hoover never would have made, Acting Director L. Patrick Fray III changed policy so that women were admitted for the 1st time. Roley was admitted to the Academy, and discharged from the Corps so she could accept.

JoAnne Pierce was from Niagara Falls, New York, and joined the Sisters of Mercy, serving 10 years with them, and also attending college, earning a master's degree in history, becoming a teacher at Mount Mercy Academy, a Catholic school in South Buffalo. An FBI recruiter visited the school, and Pierce had already been considering leaving her order, because she had wanted to get married and have children.

In 1970, she moved to Washington, and was hired by the FBI as s a researcher, one of few jobs in the organization open to women at the time. When Gray changed the Special Agent policy, she applied to the Academy, and she and Roley were assigned together as roommates, completing the 14-wee training program on October 25, 1972.

"Of course, everybody wanted to see who we were," Roley later said. "Sometimes, I felt like I was an exhibit in a museum, because everybody would say, 'Which one are you? Are you the Marine or the nun?'"

Roley was assigned to the FBI office in Omaha, Nebraska. She became the 1st female Agent to make an arrest, of an Army deserter. She married another Marine, and took his surname, becoming Susan Malone. She left in 1979 to rejoin the Marines and work for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. She later worked in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and retired with the rank of a full Colonel.

Pierce's first posting as an agent was in St. Louis, where she was assigned to white-collar crime. In the late 1970s, she Pierce became "one of the first female supervisors at FBI Headquarters. She later worked in Pittsburgh, where she met fellow agent Michael Misko, whom she married in 1981. She retired from the FBI in 1994, she worked as an audit investigator in a bank.

Special Agent JoAnne Misko

Special Agent Robin Ahrens was the 1st female FBI employee to die in the line of duty, in a shootout in 1985. A total of 11 female Special Agents are listed as having died in the line of duty: 3 from gunfire, and 8 from illnesses connected with having been at the FBI's office at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

As of October 25, 2022, the FBI has about 38,000 employees. That includes 13,000 special agents and 25,000 support professionals, such as intelligence analysts, language specialists, scientists, information technology specialists, and other professionals. As of that date, Susan Malone and JoAnne Misko are both still alive. (UPDATE: Misko died in 2024.)

*

October 25, 1972 was a Wednesday. Actress Persia White, best known for playing Lynn Searcy on Girlfriends, was born.

Baseball season had ended 3 days earlier, with the Oakland Athletics beating the Cincinnati Reds in Game 7 of the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-108 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Both teams were winless coming into the game. Austin Carr scored 35 points for the Cavs, who advanced to 1-7. Fred "Mad Dog" Carter scored 39 for the Sixers, who fell to 0-7, en route to the worst season in NBA history: 9-73.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 115-105 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Buffalo Braves, 109-92 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now named the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 112-107 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Jerry West scored 33 points.

* And the Atlanta Hawks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 118-115 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The Kentucky Colonels beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 116-108 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. And the Carolina Cougars beat the Denver Rockets, 118-112 at the Denver Auditorium Arena.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 2-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Atlanta Flames beat the California Golden Seals, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And in its 1st month of play, the World Hockey Association had 2 games. The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Philadelphia Blazers, 8-2 at the Philadelphia Arena. And the Ottawa Nationals beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 8-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

October 22, 1934: Pretty Boy Floyd Is Killed

"Pretty Boy"?

October 22, 1934: Pretty Boy Floyd is killed by FBI agents led by Melvin Purvis in East Liverpool, Ohio. The Midwest-based bank robber was 30 years old. Like his contemporary Lester Gillis, a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, he hated his nickname.

Charles Arthur Floyd was born on February 3, 1904 in Adairsville, Georgia, and grew up in Akins, Oklahoma. He first got arrested at age 18, for stealing $3.50 from a post office. In 1925, he was busted for a payroll robbery in St. Louis, and served 3 1/2 years in prison.

He got involved with organized crime in Kansas City, and pulled off numerous robberies. In 1930, he was sentenced to 12 to 15 years for bank robbery in Ohio, but escaped. In 1931, members of his gang killed Patrolman R.H. Castner in Bowling Green, Ohio. Later that year, Floyd himself killed federal Agent Curtis Burke in Kansas City.

In 1933, Floyd was implicated in a shootout at Union Station that left 2 Kansas City detectives, an Oklahoma police chief, a federal agent dead, becoming known as the Kansas City Massacre. However, the available evidence suggests that Floyd wasn't even there.

Following the death of John Dillinger on July 22, 1934, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover replaced him as "Public Enemy Number 1" with Floyd. By mid-October, Floyd was on the run in Ohio. On October 22, he made his way to East Liverpool, not far from Wheeling, West Virginia, and found refuge at a pool hall owned by a friend. Attempting to leave the pool hall, he was confronted by officers, tried to run, and was shot and killed.

It was a busy time for the nascent FBI, having gunned down some major bad guys in an 8-month span of 1934 and 1935: May 23, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Arcadia, Louisiana; July 22, Dillinger in Chicago; October 22, Floyd November 27, Nelson outside Chicago in Wilmette, Illinois; and January 16, Ma Barker in Lake Weir, Florida.

*

October 22, 1934 was a Monday. Canadian football star Gerry James was born on this day.

Although Monday Night Football was still 36 years away, there was only 1 score on this historic day, and it was in the NFL: The new Detroit Lions beat the football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers, 28-0 at the University of Detroit Stadium.

October 15, 1959: "The Untouchables" Premieres

October 15, 1959: The Untouchables premieres on ABC, based on the memoir of Eliot Ness, published after Ness' death in 1957. The show runs for 4 seasons, and dramatizes Ness, played by Robert Stack, and the team of U.S. Department of the Treasury agents he ran, fighting organized crime in Chicago in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Despite the fact that Chicago crime boss Al Capone was only shown in the pilot and one other episode, played by Neville Brand, the show popularized Capone's heavily-accented question: "What are we gonna do about Eliot Ness?" Capone had a New York accent, not a native Italian one.

The show pissed off the Italian-American community, to the point where a completely fictional Italian-American character, Agent Rico Rossi, was added to the good guys, played by Nicholas Georgiade. The show also pissed off the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as Director J. Edgar Hoover pointed out that the onscreen version of Ness' team was involved in busts that the FBI did in real life, including that of Ma Barker and her gang (which didn't happen until 1935, a few years after the show's focus).

In fact, the real Ness and his Untouchables had very little to do with Capone's fall, and Ness and Capone met only once, after Capone's conviction in 1931, as Ness escorted Capone from his holding cell to a train taking him to the federal prison in Atlanta. But the show, and the 1987 film version with Kevin Costner as Ness and Robert de Niro as Capone, did a variation on the myth.

Stack won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Ness. Like Leslie Nielsen, he appeared in the film Airplane! as a spoof of previous dramatic roles of his, and launched a new phase of his career doing that. He got serious again: From 1987 to 2002, hosted the anthology series Unsolved Mysteries, first on NBC, then, from 1997 onward, on CBS. He died in 2003.

*

October 15, 1959 was a Thursday. Baseball season had ended 6 days earlier, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series over the Chicago White Sox in 6 games. Football was in midweek. The NBA season began 2 days later.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, former wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, was born on this day. So was celebrity chief Emeril Lagasse. I'm guessing his first word wasn't, "BAM!"

October 11, 1925: The 1st FBI Agent Killed In the Line of Duty

October 11, 1925: Special Agent Edwin C. Shanahan becomes the 1rst FBI Agent killed in the line of duty. He was 32 years old.

He was born in 1893 in Chicago, and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1920. On October 11, 1925, he and the team he was working with received word from underworld sources that Martin J. Durkin, a car thief who had previously wounded 4 police officers to avoid capture in Chicago, was planning to hide a stolen automobile in a certain Chicago garage.

Born in 1901 in Ireland, Durkin was investigated for violation of the Dyer Act, a law that made transporting stolen cars across State borders a federal crime, to be prosecuted by federal law enforcement. Hence, it fell under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

Shanahan and officers of the Chicago Police Department proceeded to that garage to wait for Durkin to appear. When Durkin drove the stolen car into the garage, Shanahan, who was alone at the time, attempted to arrest him. However, Durkin swept a revolver from the front seat of the car, and shot the Agent in the chest. Shanahan returned fire, but Durkin escaped as his victim collapsed. Death was almost instantaneous.

J. Edgar Hoover, then 31 years old, had been Director of the FBI for a little under a year and a half at that point, and with the 1st federal agent to be murdered, from any agency, happening to one from his agency, he took it personally. He launched a nationwide manhunt for Durkin, saying, "We've got to get Durkin. If one man from the Bureau is killed, and the killer is permitted to get away, our agents will never be safe. We can't let him get away with it."

It lasted 3 months through 5 States, before Durkin was captured at a train station outside St. Louis on January 20, 1926. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder, and received an additional 15 years on stolen motor vehicle charges.

Because the murder of a federal agent was not yet a federal crime, he served in State prison for it, for 20 years. Parole on the State charges meant that the federal government then took custody of him on the federal car theft charge, and he served an addition 9 years, being released in 1954. He died in 1981, outliving his victim by 55 years, and Hoover by 9 years.

As of October 11, 2022, 98 FBI employees have died in the line of duty, 62 of them by murder, 1 of them in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and another 11 from long-term illnesses that have been ascribed to those attacks.

*

October 11, 1925 was a Sunday. Writer Elmore Leonard was born.

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Washington Senators beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0, with Walter Johnson pitching a shutout. The Senators were up 3 games to 1, but the Pirates won the next 3 games to take the Series.

And these 9 games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants, a 1st-year team, played their 1st game against another NFL team, losing to the Providence Steam Roller (no S on the end), 14-0 at the Cycledrome in Providence, Rhode Island.

* The Pottsville Maroons beat the Canton Bulldogs, 28-0 at Minersville Park in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

* The Buffalo Bisons and the Akron Pros played to a tie, 0-0 at Bison Stadium, later Offermann Stadium, in Buffalo.

* The Cleveland Bulldogs beat the Kansas City Cowboys, 16-13 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Panthers beat the Frankford Yellow Jackets, 3-0 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Columbus Tigers, 19-9 at Normal Park in Chicago.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Hammond Pros, 28-7 at Cubs Park (renamed Wrigley Field the next year) in Chicago.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Milwaukee Badgers, 31-0 at Green Bay City Stadium.

* And the Rock Island Independents beat the Duluth Kelleys, 12-0 at Athletic Park, the minor-league baseball park in Duluth, Minnesota.

July 27, 1996: The Olympic Park Bombing

July 27, 1996: The Olympic Park in Atlanta is bombed during a concert to celebrate the Olympic Games. One person was killed, 111 injured. While the Olympics have had plenty of controversies, rarely have the troubles of the outside world intruded on the Games. The 1972 Summer Games in Munich were touched by terrorism. So were the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

At first, the FBI investigated Richard Jewell, the security guard who found the backpack containing the 3 pipe bombs. He had also helped to evacuate the area, keeping the deaths and injuries lower than they could have been. But, based on "psychological profiling," the FBI decided that he could have been the bomber, much as some people, including firemen, start fires so they can report them and be heroes.

It took nearly 3 months to clear his name, and he never recovered emotionally. The stress took a toll on his health, and, combined with diabetes and heart disease, led to his death in 2007. He was only 44 years old.

Finally, the FBI determined that this was the work of a man who'd committed 3 other bombings, in protest of America's abortion and gay rights policies. Eric Rudolph, a member of the radical "Christian Identity" movement, was finally caught in 2003, and pled guilty.

As of July 27, 2022, Rudolph is 55 years old, and remains incarcerated at the ADX Florence Supermax prison in Colorado. He is serving 2 consecutive life terms, and will never get out of prison except in a coffin. He has since written a letter from prison saying he now prefers the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche to the Bible.

*

July 27, 1996 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The Atlanta Braves, the defending World Champions, were on an extended roadtrip from July 18 to August 4, to accommodate the Olympics. They lost to the San Francisco Giants, 10-3 at Candlestick Park (then known as 3Com Park) in San Francisco. Shawn Estes outpitched John Smoltz. Barry Bonds hit a home run for the Giants, while Chipper Jones hit one for the Braves.

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. The Yankees trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the 9th, but after a fine start by Kevin Appier, Jason Jacome started the inning by walking Tino Martinez, and Darryl Strawberry hit a home run. This made a winning pitcher of John Wetteland in relief of Dwight Gooden.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. Bobby Jones went the distance for the win. Todd Hundley hit a home run.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Jim Thome hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 13th inning. Eddie Murray went 0-for-5 for the O's, and Cal Ripken went 1-for-6. But the Orioles would beat the Indians in the Playoffs, before losing to the Yankees, who beat the Braves in the World Series.

* The Florida Marlins beat the San Diego Padres, 8-2 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Tony Gwynn did not play for the Padres in this game, but another eventual member of the 3,000 Hit Club did: Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 with 2 walks, but was caught stealing in his only attempt.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-8 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-8 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 6-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-5 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Jesse Levis singled Jeff Cirillo home with the winning run in the top of the 13th inning.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 1-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Pat Hentgen pitched a 3-hit shutout, to outpitch Ariel Prieto. The only run of the game came on a 6th-inning home run by Carlos Delgado.

* And the Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 14-6 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Cecil Fielder went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Soon, he would be traded to the Yankees. Ken Griffey Jr., who allegedly said he would rather retire than play for the Yankees, went 1-for-3. Alex Rodriguez, who did go on to play for the Yankees, went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

July 23, 1997: The Death of Andrew Cunanan

July 23, 1997: Andrew Cunanan kills himself, rather than be taken alive by the law. He was a few weeks short of turning 28.

The son of a Filipino father and an Italian mother, Cunanan grew up outside San Diego, showing early signs of antisocial personality disorder. He became a compulsive liar, and went to gay nightclubs. When his mother confronted him about his behavior, he threw her against a wall, and left for San Francisco.

He gained his income from selling drugs, and from being a "trophy boyfriend" to older, wealthy gay men. Essentially, he was looking for what straight women of a previous generation would have called a "sugar daddy," one after another. He became an alcoholic and was addicted to painkillers.

On April 27, 1997, he went to Minneapolis, and killed a former friend, Jeffrey Trail, 28. He then moved in with ex-boyfriend David Madson, 21, who was also living in Minneapolis. They had met in San Francisco, but Madson had broken it off and moved back. On May 3, in Rush City, Minnesota, Madson was found, shot to death.

That same day, Cunanan went to Chicago, and killed real estate developer Lee Miglin. He was much older, 72, and there had been no known contact between the men, nor any apparent motive. It was a vicious murder: Cunanan bound Miglin's hands and feet, stabbed him repeatedly with a screwdriver, and slit his throat with a hacksaw, before stealing his car, a green 1994 Lexus LS sedan. Cunanan was suspected because the car left in the driveway was Madson's red Jeep.

The FBI began tracking the phone in Miglin's car. By May 8, it was in Philadelphia. On May 9, it crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey. At Finn's Point National Cemetery, Cunanan shot and killed the 45-year-old caretaker, William Reese. Again, there appeared to be no connection between them, and no motive. Nevertheless, Cunanan again switched vehicles, taking Reese's red 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck.

He took it to Miami Beach, and checked in at the Normandy Plaza Hotel. But the FBI didn't know that, having lost track of him. On June 12, he was put on their list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He had somehow gotten enough cash to live large on South Beach, until July 7. Having used some fake names to pawn things before, this time, he used his own name to do so, and since police regularly review pawn shop records, his location was soon discovered. On July 14, he checked out of the Normandy Plaza without paying for his last night.

On the morning of July 15, Italian designer Gianni Versace, 50, one of the biggest names in the world's fashion industry, walked out of his Miami Beach mansion, Casa Casuarina. It means "House of the Australian Pine." It was built in 1930, and when Versace bought it in 1992, its name had been changed to Amsterdam Place. He restored the original name.

Gianni Versace and his sister Donatella

He walked to the News Cafe, where international magazines were available. (This was the dawn of the Internet Age, so reading such publications online was not yet practical. Thus, out-of-town newsstands like News Cafe, Out of Town News at Harvard Square outside Boston, and lots of places in New York did good business.) At 8:45, Versace returned to the mansion, and was walking up the front steps, when Cunanan shot him twice in the head. Versace was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, and pronounced dead at 9:21.

Reese's pickup was found in a nearby parking garage, with Cunanan's clothes, and newspaper clippings about the previous murders. Like so many other killers, he wanted to see the reaction to his crimes. Despite the fact that Versace fit the profile of previous boyfriends -- older, incredibly rich, and gay -- there was, yet again, no known connection between killer and victim. Barring further evidence, it's possible that Cunanan simply saw a rich man's house, tracked the rich man, waited for his opportunity, and killed him without knowing who he was -- or caring if he did know.

Now that he was known as the murderer of one of the most famous people in the world, on top of already being on the Ten Most Wanted List, there seemed little chance of him getting out of Greater Miami any way other than jailed or dead. Realizing the authorities were closing in, he found his way to a luxury houseboat. On July 23, a caretaker heard a gunshot and called the police. When they got there, they found that Cunanan had shot himself in the head. He had used Trail's gun. When they looked at the ballistics, they determined that Trail's gun was also used to kill Madson, Reese and Versace.

There was no suicide note at the scene of his death, nor any "manifesto" at any of his former residences, or at the sites of the murders. To this day, Cunanan's motive for killing any of his victims remains unknown.

Versace's funeral was attended by Elton John, a close friend who had a home in Miami Beach. Also attending, having worn Versace's designs, and sitting next to Elton and comforting him, was Diana Spencer, the former Princess of Wales. Six weeks later, Elton would perform at Diana's funeral.

In 2000, the Versace mansion was bought and renovated. It is now a boutique hotel, with a gourmet restaurant named Gianni's.

*

July 23, 1997 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Chad Curtis led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a double, and Jorge Posada hit a grounder that Angel 2nd baseman Luis Alicea mishandled, allowing Curtis to score. Jeff Nelson was the winning pitcher, in relief of Dwight Gooden. Charlie Hayes hit a home run, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-2 with a walk, and was also hit by a pitch.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Roger Clemens pitched 8 innings of 7-hit shutout ball.

* The Seattle Mariners bear the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jeff Reboulet singled home the winning run in the top of the 12th.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 16-4 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* And the Colorado Rockies and the Montreal Expos were not scheduled to play.

July 22, 1934: John Dillinger Is Gunned Down

 

July 22, 1934: John Dillinger, "Public Enemy Number One," is killed.

John Herbert Dillinger Jr. was born on June 22, 1902 in Indianapolis. As a boy, he bullied smaller children. In 1922, he was arrested for auto theft. The following year, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, but soon deserted, and was dishonorably discharged. He was arrested for stealing $50 from a grocery store, and served 9 years in State prison.

He was released on May 10, 1933. Just 42 days later, using advice he got from fellow prisoners, he robbed his 1st bank, getting $10,000 (about $207,000 in today's money) from a bank in New Carlisle, Ohio, outside Dayton. On August 14, he robbed another in Bluffton, Ohio, outside Toledo. But he got caught, and was sent to another prison. He escaped on October 12, and formed what became known as the Dillinger Gang.

On January 25, 1934, the Dillinger Gang was arrested in Tucson, Arizona, and extradited to Indiana, where one of their robberies had led to the death of a policeman. Local police boasted that the prison was escape-proof. On March 3, 1934, Dillinger proved them wrong.

He formed a new gang, made up of those members of his original gang not presently in jail, and other gangs, including Lester Gillis, a.k.a. "Baby Face Nelson." On March 20, the gang and FBI Agents had a shootout in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dillinger was wounded in the leg, but got away, and laid low in Minneapolis to recover. Eventually, he got to Chicago. One member of his gang, Eddie Green, was shot and killed by St. Paul police on April 10. Another, John Hamilton, was shot and killed by police in nearby Aurora, Illinois on April 26.

On May 23, 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed by a posse in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Dillinger and fellow Midwestern bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd apparently never met either Bonnie or Clyde (or each other, and none of them ever met Al Capone), but both sent flowers to their funerals in Dallas.

Like Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger was embraced by a section of the public that didn't like how the banks were foreclosing on their homes during the Great Depression. Also like Bonnie and Clyde, he was a ruthless killer who didn't deserve the adulation. That adulation, and his escapes from jail, much more than his crimes themselves, led J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to name him "Public Enemy Number One."

Hoover put Melvin Purvis on the case, and Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI's Chicago office. On July 22, 1934, John Dillinger went to the Biograph Theater at 2433 North Lincoln Avenue, on the North Side of Chicago, to see the film Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy. FBI Agents, including Purvis, aware that Dillinger liked to go to the movies, were already staking the place out.

At 10:40 PM, Dillinger walked out, and the Agents opened fire. He was hit 4 times, with 1 bullet entering through the back of the neck, severing his spinal cord, going into his brain, and coming out of his right eye. He was dead before he hit the ground. He was 31 years old.

As the body was taken away, souvenir hunters dipped things into his blood, like newspapers and handkerchiefs. A photo of his dead body showed his arm folded over his body, giving rise to the legend that Dillinger was phenomenally endowed. He was a known womanizer, but none of his girlfriends ever mentioned him "packing a cannon" other than his gun.

The rest of the Dillinger Gang didn't last much longer. Homer Van Meter was shot and killed by St. Paul police on August 23. Charles Makley was killed by guards at Ohio State Prison during an escape attempt on September 22. And Baby Face Nelson died in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois on November 27, a few days after a shootout with police in nearby Barrington. Pretty Boy Floyd, not part of the Dillinger Gang, was given Dillinger's place as "Public Enemy Number One" by the FBI, and died on October 22, after a shootout with police in East Liverpool, Ohio. The year of "public enemies" was over.

Purvis became nationally famous. This angered Hoover, a publicity hound who wanted the credit for the Bureau in general and himself in particular. He went out of his way to marginalize Purvis, who ended up quitting the Bureau the next year, and, like the Communist leader he so despised, Joseph Stalin, "wrote his enemy out of history": Even when Purvis died in 1960, shot in the head, rather than tell the true story -- which the coroner couldn't determine, but the evidence suggests an accident -- Hoover smeared Purvis in the press, saying that he was mentally ill and that his death was definitely a suicide.

Dillinger was played by Lawrence Tierney in the 1945 film Dillinger, Leo Gordon in the 1957 film Baby Face Nelson, Nick Adams in the 1965 film Young Dillinger, Warren Oates in the 1973 film Dillinger, Robert Conrad in the 1979 film The Lady In Red, Mark Harmon in the 1991 TV-movie Dillinger, Martin Sheen in the 1995 film Dillinger and Capone (which was mostly fictional, as it appears that Dillinger and Al Capone never met), and Johnny Depp in the 2009 film Public Enemies.

*

July 22, 1934 was a Sunday. Actress Louise Fletcher was born on this day.

These games were played in what would later be called Major League Baseball: 

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. The Bronx Bombers won the 1st game, 8-2. Babe Ruth had a home run and 4 RBIs, and Frank Crosetti had 3 hits, in support of Johnny Allen.

The Yankees also won the 2nd game, 15-2. Ruth did not play in this one, but the Bronx Bombers got 4 hits from Earle Combs, 3 hits and 4 RBIs each from Lou Gehrig and Samuel Byrd, 3 hits and 3 RBIs from Ben Chapman, 2 hits and an RBI each from Tony Lazzeri and Arndt Jorgens, and 2 hits from Jimmie DeShong, who went the distance and became the winning pitcher.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at the Polo Grounds. Lefty O'Doul singled home the winning run in the 11th inning.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ebbets Field. Dem Bums won the opener, 3-2; and the nightcap, 13-10.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 in 12 innings at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. 

* The St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves at Braves Field. The "Gashouse Gang" won the 1st game 5-4, and the 2nd game 4-2.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Boston Red Sox at League Park in Cleveland. The Tribe won the 1st game 4-2, and the 2nd game 6-5.

* A doubleheader was split at Navin Field in Detroit. The Philadelphia Athletics won the 1st game, 1-0. Bill Dietrich pitched a 6-hit shutout by the A's. The Detroit Tigers won the 2nd game, 17-8. Jimmie Foxx hit a home run for the A's, and Hank Greenberg hit one for the Tigers. The ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.

* And the Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

June 23, 1972: The Smoking Gun Tape That Forced Nixon's Resignation

Richard Nixon (left) and Bob Haldeman

June 23, 1972: President Richard Nixon signs the Education Amendments of 1972 into law. This includes Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school, or any other education program, that receives funding from the federal government. I have a separate entry for this event.

But it wasn't the most consequential thing Nixon did that day. Nixon's signing of the bill wasn't his only notable action of the day. He also sealed his doom as President.

Six days earlier, 5 men working for the Committee to Re-Elect the President had broken into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, at the Watergate hotel and office complex in Washington. Whether Nixon knew that this was going to happen, and approved of it, or not, only he knew for sure.

But on June 23, he met with his White House Chief of Staff, Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman. The conversation was captured on an audiotape, in a system Nixon had installed in the Oval Office of the White House, for the purpose of historical records, because he didn't want anything to be distorted by outside historians. Ironically, this taping system would, instead, be his downfall.

The tape recorder, now in the National Archives

The conversation with Haldeman lasted from 10:04 to 11:39 AM. Haldeman made the point that J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI since 1924, had died on May 2; and, since then, the FBI had been run by an acting director, L. Patrick Gray III. The FBI was investigating the break-in, and Haldeman suggested that the Administration tell the FBI to back off, because this was a CIA operation (which was a lie), and that this would protect the Administration from prosecution. And Nixon agreed to this.

This was obstruction of justice, a felony. And Nixon had committed that felony. And a recording of him doing so existed.

The others mentioned on the tape, in the order of their mention:

* Bernard Barker, one of the Watergate burglars.

* John Mitchell, Chairman of the Committee to Re-Elect the President; before that, the Attorney General of the U.S.; before that, Nixon's 1968 campaign manager.

* John Dean, White House Counsel; in other words, the chief lawyer for the Administration, not the personal lawyer of the holder of the Presidency.

* Vernon Walters, Deputy Director of the CIA. He was never charged with any wrongdoing, and later served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

* Mark Felt, by this point Gray's deputy at the FBI. Felt would turn out to be "Deep Throat," Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's source on what was going on in the Watergate scandal.

* Kenneth H. Dahlberg, a businessman who was paying Barker off; before that, in World War II, one of America's top fighter pilots. He was never charged with any wrongdoing.

* Maurice Stans, finance chairman for the Committee to Re-Elect the President; before that, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

* Richard Helms, Director of the CIA.

* John Ehrlichman, Domestic Policy Adviser to the President.

* E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA officer who was one of Nixon's secret operatives intended to stop information from getting out of the White House, known as the "Plumbers" because they were meant to stop "leaks."

* G. Gordon Liddy, a former FBI Agent who worked under Hunt, and organized the Watergate burglary. And Nixon understated the case: Liddy turned out to be more than "a little nuts."

* Chuck Colson, Special Counsel to Nixon; in other words, Nixon's personal lawyer.

Here is the transcript:

Haldeman: Now, on the investigation, you know, the Democratic break-in thing, we're back to the-in the, the problem area because the FBI is not under control, because Gray doesn't exactly know how to control them, and they have, their investigation is now leading into some productive areas, because they've been able to trace the money, not through the money itself, but through the bank, you know, sources – the banker himself. And, and it goes in some directions we don't want it to go.

Ah, also there have been some things, like an informant came in off the street to the FBI in Miami, who was a photographer or has a friend who is a photographer who developed some films through this guy, Barker, and the films had pictures of Democratic National Committee letter head documents and things. So I guess, so it's things like that that are gonna, that are filtering in.

Mitchell came up with yesterday, and John Dean analyzed very carefully last night and concludes, concurs now with Mitchell's recommendation that the only way to solve this, and we're set up beautifully to do it, ah, in that and that…the only network that paid any attention to it last night was NBC…they did a massive story on the Cuban thing.

Nixon: That’s right. Right.

Haldeman: That the way to handle this now is for us to have Walters call Pat Gray and just say, "Stay the hell out of this… This is ah, business here, we don't want you to go any further on it." That's not an unusual development…

Nixon: Um huh.

Haldeman: …and, uh, that would take care of it.

Nixon: What about Pat Gray, ah, you mean he doesn't want to?

Haldeman: Pat does want to. He doesn't know how to, and he doesn't have, he doesn't have any basis for doing it. Given this, he will then have the basis. He'll call Mark Felt in, and the two of them… and Mark Felt wants to cooperate because…

Nixon: Yeah.

Haldeman: ...he's ambitious.

Nixon: Yeah.

Haldeman:  Ah, he'll call him in and say, "We've got the signal from across the river to, to put the hold on this." And that will fit rather well, because the FBI agents who are working the case, at this point, feel that's what it is. This is CIA.

Nixon: But they’ve traced the money to 'em.

Haldeman: Well they have, they've traced to a name, but they haven't gotten to the guy yet.

Nixon: Would it be somebody here?

Haldeman: Ken Dahlberg.

Nixon: Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?

Haldeman: He's ah, he gave $25,000 in Minnesota and ah, the check went directly in to this, to this guy Barker.

Nixon: Maybe he's a …bum. He didn’t get this from the Committee though, from Stans.

Haldeman: Yeah. It is. It is. It's directly traceable, and there's some more through some Texas people in–that went to the Mexican bank which they can also trace to the Mexican bank…they'll get their names today. And...

Nixon: Well, I mean, ah, there's no way... I'm just thinking, if they don’t cooperate, what do they say? They they, they were approached by the Cubans. That's what Dahlberg has to say, the Texans too. Is that the idea?

Haldeman: Well, if they will. But then we're relying on more and more people all the time. That's the problem. And ah, they'll stop if we could, if we take this other step.

Nixon: All right. Fine.

Haldeman: And, and they seem to feel the thing to do is get them to stop?

Nixon: Right, fine.

Haldeman: They say the only way to do that is from White House instructions. And it's got to be to Helms and, ah, what’s his name? Walters.

Nixon: Walters.

Haldeman: And the proposal would be that Ehrlichman (coughs) and I call them in, and say, ah...

Nixon: All right, fine. How do you call him in? I mean you just, well, we protected Helms from one hell of a lot of things.

Haldeman: That's what Ehrlichman says.

Nixon: Of course, this is a, this is a Hunt, you will -- that will uncover a lot of things. You open that scab there's a hell of a lot of things and that we just feel that it would be very detrimental to have this thing go any further. This involves these Cubans, Hunt, and a lot of hanky-panky that we have nothing to do with ourselves. Well what the hell, did Mitchell know about this thing to any much of a degree.

Haldeman: I think so. I don't think he knew the details, but I think he knew.

Nixon: He didn't know how it was going to be handled though, with Dahlberg and the Texans and so forth? Well, who was the asshole that did? (Unintelligible) Is it Liddy? Is that the fellow? He must be a little nuts.

Haldeman: He is.

Nixon: I mean, he just isn't well screwed on, is he? Isn't that the problem?

Haldeman: No, but he was under pressure, apparently, to get more information, and as he got more pressure, he pushed the people harder to move harder on.

Nixon: Pressure from Mitchell?

Haldeman: Apparently.

Nixon: Oh, Mitchell. Mitchell was at the point that you made on this, that exactly what I need from you is on the... 

Haldeman: Gemstone, yeah.

Nixon: All right, fine. I understand it all. We won't second-guess Mitchell and the rest. Thank God it wasn't Colson.

Haldeman: The FBI interviewed Colson yesterday. They determined that would be a good thing to do.

Nixon: Um hum.

Haldeman: Ah, to have him take a…

Nixon: Um hum.

Haldeman: ...an interrogation, which he did, and that, the FBI guys working the case had concluded that there were one or two possibilities. One, that this was a White House, they don't think that there is anything at the Election Committee, they think it was either a White House operation and they had some obscure reasons for it, non-political…

Nixon: Uh huh.

Haldeman: ...or it was a…

Nixon: Cuban thing-

Haldeman: Cubans and the CIA. And after their interrogation of, of…

Nixon: Colson.

Haldeman: Colson, yesterday, they concluded it was not the White House, but are now convinced it is a CIA thing, so the CIA turn off would…

Nixon: Well, not sure of their analysis. I'm not going to get that involved. I’m (unintelligible).

Haldeman: No, sir. We don’t want you to.

Nixon: You call them in. Good. Good deal! Play it tough. That's the way they play it, and that’' the way we are going to play it.

Haldeman: O.K. We'll do it.

Nixon: Yeah, when I saw that news summary item, I of course knew it was a bunch of crap, but I thought, ah, well, it's good to have them off on this wild hair thing, because when they start bugging us, which they have, we'll know our little boys will not know how to handle it. I hope they will, though. You never know. Maybe, you think about it. Good!

When you get in these people when you…get these people in, say: "Look, the problem is that this will open the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing, and the President just feels that," ah, without going into the details... Don't, don't lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre, without getting into it, "The President believes that it is going to open the whole Bay of Pigs thing up again. And, ah, because these people are plugging for, for keeps, and that they should call the FBI in and say that we wish for the country, don't go any further into this case, period!"

Haldeman: OK.

In spite of the reporting of Woodward and his Post partner, Carl Bernstein, Watergate wasn't much of an issue in the 1972 election. The Democratic nominee, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, tried to make it one: In his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, he said, "From secrecy and deception in high places, come home, America!" But, between Nixon's legitimate accomplishments and the McGovern campaign's general-election incompetence, Nixon was overwhelmingly re-elected.

But the scandal broke out at the start of his 2nd term, and Nixon thought sacrificing some staff would help: He fired Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst. It didn't work. The Senate began holding hearings. Alexander Butterfield, Director of the Federal Aviation Administration and a former Nixon White House aide, was asked by the Senate committee if he had installed a taping system in the Oval Office. He told the truth: He had.

The fight by Congress to get those tapes, and the fight by Nixon to keep Congress from getting them, went all the way to the Supreme Court. On August 5, 1974, the Court unanimously ruled that they had to be released. When the June 23, 1972 tape featuring Nixon agreeing to Haldeman's plan to get the FBI to back off was released, it was proof of felonious guilt. It became known as "The Smoking Gun Tape."

All 11 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who voted against drawing up Articles of Impeachment said they would now vote for impeachment in the full House. On August 7, the Republican leaders of Congress told Nixon they couldn't save him from impeachment and removal. He announced his resignation the next day. On September 9, the new President, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon for any and all crimes he committed, or may have committed, while President. As for the other men mentioned on the tape, only Walters and Dahlberg avoided criminal prosecution. The rest were convicted, and most served time in prison.

*

June 23, 1972 was a Friday. Soccer legend Zinedine Zidane was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Fritz Peterson outpitched Milt Wilcox. Bernie Allen hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench hit a home run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Steve Blass outpitched Fergie Jekins. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Paul Splittorff pitched a 7-hit shutout, outpitching Jim Perry. Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew, the Twins' future Hall-of-Famers, each got 2 of those hits.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers, hit his 513th career home run. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Nolan Ryan outpitched Dave Hamilton. Reggie Jackson hit a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Orioles won the opener, 3-1. Dave McNally outpitched Mickey Lolich. The Tigers won the nightcap, 2-1. Ed Brinkman won it with a sacrifice fly in the to of the 12th inning. Joe Coleman went 11 innings for the win, while Doyle Alexander lost it in relief of Mike Cuellar.

Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 0-for-8, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly; while Al Kaline went 2-for-8 with a walk.

* And the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 8. The Mets won the 1st game, 8-2. The Cards won the 2nd game, 9-4. The Met bullpen melted down in the top of the 13th inning, including giving up home runs to Ted Simmons and Dwain Anderson.