Nixon fires Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in Saturday Night Massacre

During the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is demanding Nixon hand over subpoenaed Oval Office tapes. Richardson refuses and resigns in protest. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also refuses and resigns. Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in command, agrees and fires Cox. The event, known as the Saturday Night Massacre, becomes a flashpoint in the constitutional crisis of Watergate and raises urgent questions about DOJ independence and presidential accountability. The firings trigger massive public backlash, impeachment pressure on Nixon, and Congress passes the Ethics in Government Act in 1978 to prevent future presidents from easily removing independent prosecutors.