A List of Notable Presidential Firings Since 1951
Meanwhile, President Trump sits down at a typewriter in the Oval Office to dash off another productive page in his memoirs. pic.twitter.com/8eGknKXhTU
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) March 13, 2018
President Donald Trump, long known for his reality television show's signature line, "You're fired," has continued its use during his time in office.
Here, Roll Call catalogues the last 70 years or so of presidents notably telling top officials to "take a hike." ...
Richard Nixon
Richard G. Kleindienst, Attorney General
H.R. Haldeman, White House Chief of Staff
John Erlichman, White House Adviser
John Dean, White House Council
Nixon fired Kleindienst, Haldeman, Erlichman and Dean as scapegoats for the Watergate break-in and subsequent scandal, declaring “there can be no whitewash at the White House.”
Archibald Cox, Special prosecutor, Watergate
On the notoriously dubbed Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire Cox after being issued a subpoena. Richardson refused and resigned. After receiving the same order, Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus also resigned. On the third try, Solicitor General Robert H. Bork agreed to execute the order.
Gerald R. Ford
Henry Kissinger, National Security Adviser
James Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense
William Colby, CIA Director
Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President
On the so-called Halloween Massacre, Kissinger, Schlesinger and Colby were out (Kissinger retained his post as secretary of State). Brent Scowcroft was in as national security adviser, George H.W. Bush as CIA director, Donald Rumsfeld was to lead Defense and Dick Cheney moved up to be chief of staff (at 34-years-old, he became the youngest in the role in history).
The president also announced that day that Rockefeller had withdrawn from the 1976 presidential ticket, though he was still the current vice president. Bob Dole became Ford's running mate in an election they lost to Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
Jimmy Carter
Joseph Califano, Secretary of H.E.W.
James Schlesinger, Secretary of Energy
W. Michael Blumenthal, Treasury Secretary
Brock Adams, Secretary of Transportation
Carter shook things up to show he was in charge and headed in the right direction. Instead, the public took it as a sign the administration was failing and desperate.