BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback

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In our second episode centered on Vice President Spiro Agnew we cover his fall from power. Here we listen as President Richard Nixon describes the events that took Agnew down from his perspective from his interviews with reporter David Frost.  We hear from a BBC Documentary the events as they unfolded that led to Agnew's resignation and the maneuvering he did to try and preserve his Vice Presidency and then to prevent himself from receiving a jail term. 

Then we listen in on CBS News coverage of the events of October 10, 1973 as Spiro Agnew showed up at a Baltimore Courthouse to plead Nolo Contendere to one count of Federal Income tax evasion after resigning the Vice Presidency. Then he exits the stage only to return for a brief moment to sell his Memoirs in which he claimed he feared for his life after a visit from Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig who had been tasked with pushing the Vice President to resign by the Administration. 

It was the second of three major events that would grip the country in October 1973 as Richard Nixon found himself at war at home and abroad. 

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Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States of America. Today the average person knows almost nothing about him. His only real vague claim to fame is that he was forced to resign the Vice Presidency in a long forgotten, unrelated to Watergate, scandal in 1973.  

Only recently was he attacked by MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow in her book " Bag Man, the Wild Crimes, audacious cover up and Spectacular downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House" 

Well anyone who is familiar with our podcast knows we don't think much of Miss Maddow, nor her far left opinions and predilection for exaggeration and sharing of nonfactual material. 

Not that we believe that Vice President Agnew was anywhere near as innocent as we believe President Nixon was of the smears against him. Because we don't.  However, there is some level of unfairness in the way his case was portrayed from the very start, and we believe it is fair to say that he fell victim to the age old bug of having risen to far to fast at his given profession. 

In just 11 years, Spiro Agnew rose from being an attorney for a Union and serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals, to being elected Baltimore County Executive, and after taking advantage of a feud with in the Democratic Party, finding himself elected Governor of the State of Maryland. Richard Nixon in need of a running mate that did not drag down his poll numbers, turned to the unknown Agnew to be his running mate in 1968 for Vice President of the United States.  An amazing rise for anyone to have come so far so fast.  

The State of Maryland had a very unusual way of doing business that apparently everyone was aware of and no one really talked about. It involved people looking to do work with various local governments subsidizing the decision making office holders income.  Now today that would be considered illegal, and it is rather shocking to me that it was not considered illegal then, but the  truth is it wasn't. That basic fact is a part of the story rarely if ever discussed and it is about the only defense available for not only a Vice President forced to give up his office but for the rather large list of other public figures this scandal involved in the state of Maryland. 

Over the next two episodes we are going to introduce you to the man, Spiro T. Agnew,  who had risen so quickly from obscurity, the intricacies of the scandal that brought him down, and the story of his fall.  A fall that was only made possible not because he had continued to take as Governor and Vice President  what appears to be kickbacks involving projects he oversaw as a County Executive,  but because he, like the gangster Al Capone, had not reported any of it on his Federal Income Tax. 

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From the very start of my keeping archival copies of political and news events on video tape, political commentator Mark Shields has been a constant presence on any number of the materials I have saved.  He was a pundit I really enjoyed, and in whose thoughts I always wanted to hear whether he was at CNN or PBS. Ironically, he had opinions I rarely shared when it came to the issues of the day but his analysis and his understanding of history were always where he shined when he was covering  live events like major party conventions or election night coverage. 

Mark Shields just seemed to be a joyful person, with a great sense of humor, that never took himself to seriously, and, like me, a person who shared an admiration for the art of politics and the people who practice it regardless of political party or philosophy.  In a political era where those opposing your side are looked upon as the enemy he was , like me, a throw back to the era when the combatants were often referred to as happy warriors. Mark Shields seemed always to be a happy warrior. 

That trait was on full display often as he clashed with analyst Robert Novak on CNN's "The Capital Gang" , along with the rest of the regulars who sat around the table and discussed all the various issues of the day. Several of those figures are gone now and in this look back at Mark Shields we have also attempted to remember that classic program and its regular participants and guests too. It is now a bygone era in politics and media, where after an hour of clashing the regulars would leave each week  with "an outrage of the week" but they could still be laughing on camera after they delivered it. 

So enjoy this hour in honor of a true American original, a happy warrior, a man who will be missed by all who have enjoyed his contribution's to the coverage of American politics. Here is our tribute to CNN and PBS Analyst Mark Shields, with a hat tip too, to one of our favorite shows of yesteryear, Mark Shield's show, "The Capital Gang" with its cast of regulars like Al Hunt, Robert Novak, Margaret Carlson, and Kato Bourne, with Gary Bauer and Bob Dole making an appearance too. 

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Senator Strom Thurmond was a symbol of the Old South and an icon of the New South. Coming at the end of this month, on July 25, 28, and 31st, is a three part special look back at Strom Thurmond's life in full. A giant of South Carolina history his impact through out the southern United States cannot be overstated, especially in South Carolina. 

His legacy, however, is dominated by his early career and his two decade stance fighting civil rights. But he served from 1928 until his retirement in January 2003 at age 100. In our three part series we look over his entire life, from the first rally he attended for a Governor's race in 1912, to his time as war hero in World War 2,  to his extraordinary, hidden relationship with his daughter, to his courageous support of our Nation's military, to his tenure as President Pro-Tem of the United States Senate, and finally to the news coverage of his passing in June of 2003.

 In the final episode we look back at his final campaign in 1996. A campaign, our host Randal Wallace, was lucky enough to get to play a tiny role in, as a volunteer in both Greenwood and Myrtle Beach , South Carolina. 

Here is a preview of our look at this giant figure of South Carolina History, a man who had the courage to change and as symbol of his beloved Old South he helped usher in the modern era of a New South as he set the example for his region. 

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In this special edition of Bridging the Political Gap we travel back in time to our host's time as a city councilman in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Prior to his last election in 2017, Mr. Wallace did an interview for the podcast City Council Chronicles. It was the first and only experience at that point Mr. Wallace had had with podcasting and he enjoyed the show a lot. 

So now that he hosts our podcast on American History and learning ways to bring the country together from studying the World War 2 Generation we thought we might look at how his ideas worked on a small scale when he was still on the city council of Myrtle Beach. 

This episode is also a special treat for Mr. Wallace because it features a fun story about his Mother Gloria Bulmer, who moved to Myrtle Beach when she semi retired in 2004. That was a little over midway through Councilman Wallace's first term. Now Mrs. Bulmer was not as used to the rough and tumble of politics but she always tuned in to the council meetings and it provided for some funny moments almost as soon as the cameras turned off, and on a few occasions when they were still running too. 

Mrs, Bulmer passed away in March of 2021, so this interview has a special place in our host's heart.  Enjoy!! 

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Did you know that one man in World  History bares the distinction of not only saving one nation but actually saving two!! 

That man, was Richard Nixon.

 Like his 19th century predecessor, Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon would save our Union from self destruction. Then Richard Nixon would step up, in October of 1973, with the coalition of Arab Nations poised to wipe out the nation of Israel in retaliation for their humiliating defeat  in 1967 . The  Arab States, led by Egypt and Syria, had Israel with its back to the wall and forced them to call out for help, it was then that Richard Nixon   saved them  as well. 

The coalition of Arab Nations  attempted to invade Israel on two sides with the goal of gaining control of the East Bank of the Suez Canal. They stunned the Israeli forces and started backing them off the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. The Israeli's were clearly being outgunned. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was desperate and her cries were falling on deaf ears within the American Government. 

President Nixon was under siege here at home as the Democrats marched on with the aid of their media elite allies and the rabid staff of the Special Prosecutor's office,  trying to over step constitutional authority and the division of government by extending  the Legislative and Judicial Branches' power and interfere with the running of the Executive Branch of Government by the overwhelmingly  elected President . 

 President Nixon was doing all he could do just to keep his administration from coming off track. 

It was at exactly this moment that Golda Meir took matters into her own hands and called Richard Nixon, in the middle of the night, for help . It could only be described in the history of the nation of Israel, as a Yom Kippur miracle.

Richard Nixon let his recalcitrant government and Defense Department know, in no uncertain terms, that the time of letting Israel bleed was over. His exact order was "You will send them everything we have, everything that will fly" 

and It would do far more than change everything for Israel it would save the nation of Israel from certain destruction ..

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Another of the unfair accusations often heralded against President Richard Nixon and his assistant Dr. Henry Kissinger is that they overthrew the government of Salvador Allende in Chile  and allowed him to be murdered on September 11, 1973.  Literally, every bit of that accusation is a total falsehood. 

The facts are that Salvador Allende , the world's only elected Marxist-socialist leader, was a devout communist. His government confiscated industry, land, and shut down freedom of the press over its brief three year run. His Communist policies led to massive inflation and total unrest so bad in the nation of Chile that its own Parliament  passed a resolution asking the military to seize power and topple the Allende regime. Which it did on September 11, 1973. 

The Chilean leader was given countless opportunities to flee his country before holding himself up inside the Presidential Palace. As the Army was starting its final assault on the Palace Salvador Allende took to the airwaves in a final defiant address to his nation and then shot himself, rather than be captured as the coup entered its final stage. None of this was a good way for the regime to fall, but none of it was Richard Nixon or Henry Kissinger's fault either. 

President Nixon did pull American investment out of the country.  Nixon did work against the Allende Government. But Richard Nixon did not OK the military coup that toppled Allende and he certainly had nothing to do with the death of Allende. Which after a nearly three decade mystery was finally proven to have been self inflicted.  

Here again, is the amazing double standard of the liberal left in the United States, when a coup was given approval personally  in South Vietnam by John F. Kennedy , it led to the violent overthrow of our ally  President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam and his death , by assassins as he waited in the backseat of his car to flee the country.  Not a word has been spoken about it in the mainstream media all the while President Nixon has been trashed as trampling human rights and disregarding a democratically elected regime for three decades. 

Occasionally whataboutism does matter!!

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BOMBSHELL!!!

Assistant to the President for Special Files, Alexander Porter Butterfield would be questioned by lawyers for the Ervin Committee and while being asked questions he was directly asked if there were recording devices in the White House.  His answer to that question changed everything about the Watergate Scandal. It laid the groundwork for the downfall of the Nixon Administration. 

Years later, when asked if he should have burned the White House tapes Richard Nixon would answer " Yes, I should have because they were open to misinterpretation as we have seen."  He was very correct. To this day people think that the tapes proved Nixon's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. But in reality they don't. 

They do prove he cursed a lot, said the word "God Damn" a lot, made anti-semetic remarks , racist remarks, and he would fly off the handle saying things in anger that he should not have said, and he was a President who thought out loud, mulling over every angle of an issue, legal and illegal, moral an immoral, until a workable solution was determined. For an American people who had never heard a President talk in private before it was a shocking thing to hear. But what you did not hear, was a President committing an actual impeachable offense. 

But as in all situations in life it is often far more complicated than can be explained in a simple sentence and a lie, as the old saying goes, can be half way around the world before the truth can get out of bed. This series is dedicated to the truth, the ugly, complicated truth. The truth is Richard Nixon is no angel, but he faced some sinister forces in American Government determined to bring him down during the second most divided era in all of our history. 

This podcast documentary series is dedicated to showing you the facts about the scandal that derailed a presidency. We don't delve into conspiracy theories or guesswork as to the involvement of CIA connections, or secret plotters with innuendos. As this Podcast moves forward we will document everything we talk about and give you source material where you can read and look it up for yourself. 

Is there more to the story than what we will cover from this point on? 

Most likely.

 But what we will show you we can provide a paper or electronic trail for and it is not a pretty sight. What we can also show you is that Richard Nixon's claim about the misinterpretation of conversations made to fit a certain narrative is in fact very real.  We hope you will listen for yourself and be able to differentiate between things said in private, in  different contexts, and actual criminal intent.  Then you may come away with a totally different viewpoint of the events that brought down the President of the United States.

But that is the story we will tell as we travel down the road of Watergate. This episode is the story of how the tapes came to light in the first place and the beginning of the fight that would become the final act of the Nixon Administration.  

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In this episode we look at the start of the Ervin Committee Hearings as the Congress begins bringing the various players of Watergate out in front of the American people on national television.  We listen to the members of the press as they look back at a different era when the news of the day could grab an enormous audience because there were only three networks. Then we learn all about the make up of the committee and how it would structure the hearings.  Basically, as a legislative show trial in which the accused had no rights and in which what they said would be used against them later. 

Then we move on to the early stages of the hearing itself and listen in to various moments from the testimony of the burglars themselves, the officers that made the arrest, and finally to those in charge of the campaign. Jeb Magruder, Hugh Sloan, Maurice Stans and finally the former Attorney General himself John Mitchell. He will face a barrage of questions from several Senators and he holds his ground fairly well.

Then we turn to the big moment of the Ervin Hearings, the testimony of former White House Counsel John Dean. This is where you will see the extreme partisanship that had begun to grip the investigative process. John Dean is protected by the Democratic staffers by being allowed to keep his testimony and written statement private until literally he walked out in front of the cameras forcing the Republicans to study all of the written material as they listened to the testimony as it was televised. They literally had no time to plan out or even think about questions to ask. 

It does not get any better over at Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox's office as he begins to staff up for his investigation. He is hiring nothing but the most partisan and most determined lawyers he can find, all alumni of the Kennedy - Johnson Justice Department and Administration. The very failed Administrations Richard Nixon had swept from power. 

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In June of 1973, The leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev arrived in the United States and for ten days even the Watergate investigation stopped as Richard Nixon finished an agreement that called for the prevention of Nuclear War. It read: 

“The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the Parties…

Guided by the objectives of strengthening world peace and international security; conscious that nuclear war would have devastating consequences for mankind; proceeding from the desire to bring about conditions in which the danger of an outbreak of nuclear war anywhere in the world would be reduced and ultimately eliminated;

Proceeding from their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations regarding the maintenance of peace, refraining from the threat or use of force and the avoidance of war, and in conformity with the agreements to which either Party has subscribed…

Reaffirming that the development of relations between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is not directed against other countries and their interests… have agreed as follows:

Article I. The United States and the Soviet Union agree that an objective of their policies is to remove the danger of nuclear war and of the use of nuclear weapons. Accordingly, the Parties agree that they will act in such a manner as to prevent the development of situations capable of causing a dangerous exacerbation of their relations, as to avoid military confrontations, and as to exclude the outbreak of nuclear war between them and between either of the Parties and other countries.

Article II. The Parties agree, in accordance with Article I… to proceed from the premise that each Party will refrain from the threat or use of force against the other Party, against the allies of the other Party and against other countries, in circumstances which may endanger international peace and security. The Parties agree that they will be guided by these considerations in the formulation of their foreign policies and in their actions in the field of international relations.

Article III. The Parties undertake to develop their relations with each other and with other countries in a way consistent with the purposes of this Agreement.

Article IV. If at any time relations between the Parties or between either Party and other countries appear to involve the risk of a nuclear conflict, or if relations between countries not parties to this Agreement appear to involve the risk of nuclear war between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or between either Party and other countries, the United States and the Soviet Union, acting in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, shall immediately enter into urgent consultations with each other and make every effort to avert this risk.

Article V. Each Party shall be free to inform the Security Council of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Governments of allied or other countries of the progress and outcome of consultations initiated in accordance with Article IV of this Agreement…” (Courtesy of the website Alpha History)

In this episode we follow the two leaders as they work together to create a much safer World, and we see the developing personal friendship between the two men. A friendship that paid dividends for every living thing on planet Earth. 

This show will leave you wondering just what might have been if the Democrats and the media elites plot to remove the greatest strategist of the age from office had not succeeded. 

Btw... The guys in the submarine trapped off the Florida Keys were rescued. Just so you know 

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