Welcome to the National Press club. I covered as a very young reporter, a baby good evening. Welcome to the National Press club. I covered watergate as a very young reporter, a baby reporter, they just let me come in diapers. I covered from the hearings to the trials. I am especially elated to be here this evening i went like to welcome cspan and the cspan audience. This is being filmed for cspans American History tv. Our program tonight marks the 50th anniversary of the saturday night massacre that ultimately led to president nixons resignation in the scandal. It was a significant event in the nations political history to say the least. The National Press club played an Important Role on it, special prosecutor cox, who i would later be lucky enough to become friends with held his News Conference here on the afternoon of october 20th, right in the clubs ballroom. It was at that Historic Press conference that he insisted that president nixon turn over the tapes. We will see a clip later
And then you and guys going again and he said, what did you say . I can stand so much and then i say, look get one [ laughter ] they work [ applause ] big deal. What did you say . [ laughter ] put that in put that back here what did you say . Were you im going to wait until you get that. Oh, excuse me. [ laughter ] oh, yeah. Let me ask you a question, now. Were you reluctant for a while to get that . Yeah, yeah, of course, thats a natural thing. But i noticed it. Around gloria a couple years and i noticed i found that gloria was always and she didnt say anything about it the thing is, i didnt hear it. Didnt hear the telephone. So i went to a doctor and he said, well, yeah. How do you know that your hearing is gone . And i said, well, i cant hear the telephone bell and my wife has to answer the telephone. He said, well, get a louder bell on the telephone. [ laughter ] and this worked for a while. Yeah. Except, we started waking the neighbors. [ laughter ] when it started sounding like b
[ music ] okay, we are back. Thank you, doctor. We have Jimmy Stewart with us tonight. Hodding carter iii. Im looking forward to meeting Hodding Carter iii. I admired him tremendously during his really difficult days right after the immediate seizure of the hostages. Where he had to go out everyday for the state department and the government and explain to all those reporters what was going on. You got to be fairly cool because they try to oh, yeah. Throw you some curves, knowing the press. Starting shopping yet . Not yet. You really i always like to wait until the last minute, yes. Wait until the last minute. I dont believe that you wait until the day before. You say you do, but how can you wait until the day before . A man can do you go to a store, you say wow. I want the following trinket. You ought to write that down. I want to put that on stone tablets a man can do what he wants to do. I go to certain stores theres certain shops you go to where they not only allow you to shop yes.
And came for a particular type of freedom and had to Work Together for a first ethically diverse society, ethnic and religious and background diversity truly leads to creativity. It was that sort of bubbling mix there that allows philadelphia to become a place of great commerce, but also, a place of great middle class entreprene entrepreneursh entrepreneurship. Startup and innovation. Benjamin franklin eventually decides after being an apprentice to a printer there to start his own print shop. And goes over to england, buys the type and the found rips and stuff. Back then, philadelphia had i think 11 newspapers and he starts the 12th. It was really great in the days in which it was great competing voices and there were newspapers for the and he kans and for penn family and the propry tories and people loyal to the crown and ben franklin starts the first really independent newspaper, not affiliated with any faction but really being willing to poke fun at all factions and to stand up for
People to come home to. So he has that, and poly is very close to him and comes over when he is dying and comes over when he dies. On social media and other things, Benjamin Franklin believed very strongly that the free flow of ideas and free opinion of spread of ideas would empower people and eventually, in a very raggedy way, lead to more democracy, more liberties, more individual empowerment. He believed if there were 11 papers, there was room for a 12th. He believed nobody should control the free flow of information. He helped instill in americas dna by bringing thomas paine over, for example, and helping paine, you know, print pamphlets and hand them out on the Street Corner. He was able and by the way, thomas paine Benjamin Franklin, they are like the first bloggers in a way. I mean, these are pamphleteers and they are spreading ideas. Nowadays if you look at china, which is once again cracking down on the free flow of ideas, and if you look at what the free flow of ideas is doin