Historians compare Watergate hearings to January 6th hearings

Plus: the Founding Fathers' real views on the right to privacy |

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Ahead of the last scheduled public hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on Thursday night, we interviewed historians of the Nixon era about parallels they’re noticing between the 1973 Watergate hearings and the Select Committee hearings. Historian David Greenberg noted the differing media landscapes, arguing that the Jan. 6th hearings have a harder time standing out in the streaming era. And even if the Jan. 6th hearings won’t lead to the resignation of a sitting President the way the Watergate ones did, former President Trump still enjoys ample popularity among his base. As Tim Naftali, the first director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum explains, “President Trump left office with much more support than Richard Nixon did despite the fact that we experienced a violent insurrection in Trump’s presidency and not in Nixon’s.” Click here to read the full story. Here’s more history to know:

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Column: The Founding Fathers Were Very Interested in the Right to Privacy—for Men By Amy Gajda The U.S. has a long history of protecting the privacy of men. The Dobbs decision on abortion shows a clear contrast in how it has regarded the private interests of women. Read More » The Story Behind Netflix’s CIA Thriller The Gray Man By Laura Zornosa The new movie is Netflix's most expensive yet, and the latest in Hollywood's long and thorny grappling with the role of the CIA Read More » The 14 Best Jane Austen-Inspired Films to Watch After Netflix’s Persuasion By Shannon Carlin From Clueless to Sense and Sensibility, Emma to Mansfield Park Read More » They Were at Mission Control During Apollo 11. 50 Years Later, the Memory Still Moves Them to Tears By Olivia B. Waxman A half-century later, the men who made it happen still get choked up talking about that day in 1969. Here's what they remember Read More » Apollo 11 Had 3 Men Aboard, But Only 2 Walked on the Moon. Here's What it Was Like to Be the Third By Jeffrey Kluger The command module pilot — the crewmember who didn't walk on the moon — recalls his role 50 years ago as 'the ticket home for Neil and Buzz' Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1969: Apollo 11 “Man’s eternal quest for the new and the unknown has led him to the highest mountains and the deepest ocean trenches, the most impenetrable jungles and the most forbidding deserts. This week it promises to lead him across the vacuum of space to another world. At Cape Kennedy, a 363-ft. moon rocket stood ready to launch three American astronauts on man's first attempt to set foot on the surface of another celestial body. If the bold attempt is successful, the journey will be remembered as long as the human race endures. It will open a new age of exploration, one that may ultimately reach to the outer limits of the solar system and even to the stars beyond.” (July 18, 1969) Read More » This week in 1983: David Bowie “Musically…Bowie always seems to know what time it is; no need for verification. His new material is unabashedly commercial, melodically alliterative and lyrically smart at the same time. Bowie made some of the most adventurous rock of the past decade. When it did not work, it sounded trendy or tuned out. But when it did hit, which was most of the time, it laid down rules and set new marks for others to follow. Bowie kept the cutting edge keen. There are few punks or New Wavers or art rockers or New Dancers dancing to New Music who do not owe him an abiding debt. Everyone from Gary Numan to Talking Heads and Human League and Culture Club ought to make a deep bow in his direction. If the success of his new album and the galvanic concert tour are any indication, then Bowie is setting the direction once again.” (July 18, 1983) Read More » This week in 1996: Prince William “The marriage is dead; long live the marriage's signal achievement. Last Friday the announcement came of a final divorce settlement between the Prince and Princess of Wales. Diana gets a generous financial deal and retains several privileges, although not the right to style herself as Her Royal Highness. Charles rids himself of the difficult, crowd-pleasing woman he married in what seems another age. But while Charles and Diana's legal ties are being severed, they are still joined by their children, and whatever their failures as husband and wife, they seem to have made a success of their roles as father and mother. If the Waleses have damaged the monarchy terribly, they may also have provided its salvation in William, the bright, likable prince just emerging into young manhood and just beginning to capture the public's imagination. As the divorce brings one act of the royal drama to an end, another one begins, with a fresh and appealing star.” (July 22, 1996) Read More »

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB Courts: For the Atlantic, historian Adam Laats details the origins of the prayer in school debate in light of the U.S. Supreme Court affirming a coach’s right to lead a prayer after a football game. Antebellum parallels: Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a historian of the Civil War era, Kate Masur, argues in the Washington Post that the conflicts arising from the case so far “resemble the battles that arose when enslaved people fled slave states for free states.” Listening tour: The Oklahoman’s Molly Young reports on Secretary of the Interior and the first Native American U.S. Cabinet Secretary Deb Haaland’s efforts to listen to the stories of Indigenous boarding school survivors. Social movements: In a guest op-ed for the New York Times, historian Michael Kazin shows how the history of prohibition can provide context for the current anti-abortion movement. Books: For the New Republic, Noah Kulwin reviews a new memoir by Craig McNamara, about growing up as the son of Vietnam War-era Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

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