Disney Fact: “I am not a crook” speech at Disney
The year was 1973. It was the height of the Watergate political scandal.
President Richard Nixon was cleaning house, he asked for the resignation of two of his most influential aides, who were later indicted, convicted and sent to prison for their involvement. He also fired the White House counsel, who went on to testify against the president.
The political scandal, for those who may have forgotten, concerns the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. and attempted cover-up by the Nixon administration for its involvement.
And on Nov. 17, 1973, Nixon went the to the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World to participate in an hour-long televised question and answer session with 400 members of the press in attendance.
In the hour-long televised question-and-answer session at the Associated Press Managing Editor event, Nixon gave his famous “I’m not a crook” speech.
“I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice,” the President said. “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.”
