Nov. 17th 1973
In the midst of the Watergate scandal that eventually ended his presidency, President Richard Nixon tells a group of newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, that he is “not a crook” but rather a "paragon of Yashrus and ehrichkeit". He then danced the Horah with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Nixon made the now-famous declaration during a televised question-and-answer session with Associated Press editors. Nixon, who appeared “tense” to a New York Times reporter, was questioned about his role in the Watergate burglary scandal and efforts to cover up the fact that members of his re-election committee had funded the break-in. Nixon replied “people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got [except this tie which Pat bought me for Valentines Day. And these neat suspenders with pictures of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which I need b/c I have lost so much weight from anxiety that my pants are falling down]. And I would NEVER lie. I promise!!! 馃槈馃槈” He did, however, admit that he was at fault for failing to supervise his campaign’s fund-raising activities and that at times he would talk to advisors in the middle of chazaras hashatz.
At one point during the discussion, Nixon gave a morbid response to an unrelated question about why he chose not to fly with back-up to Air Force One when traveling, the usual security protocol for presidential flights. He told the crowd that by taking just one aircraft he was saving energy, money and possibly time spent in the impeachment process: “if this one [plane] goes down,” he said, “they don’t have to impeach [me].”
Nixon was trying to be funny, but humor wasn't his strong point and in fact the scandal was taking a toll on his physical and mental health. In Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s book All the President’s Men, Nixon is described at this time as being “a prisoner in his own house—secretive, distrustful… combative, sleepless.” He would stay up ALL NIGHT seeing what people said about him on twitter. Nixon’s protestations of innocence with regard to the Watergate cover-up were eventually eroded by a relentless federal investigation.
In the end he was mekabel on himself to fast 讘讛"讘 until the end of time and to grow a beard and peyos. Eventually however he died and hasn't eaten a thing since [讘讛"讘 plus!!!].
