Prior to the 1972 election the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was Emmanuel Celler. Celler narrowly lost the 1972 primary. Had he prevailed in that election he would have been Chairman of the House Judiciary Commitee in the midst of the Watergate Scandal. According to no less an authority than then future Speaker O'Neil Celler was temperamentally disinclined to take the Nixon administration's actions seriously. According to O'Neill and other sources Celler would have used his position as Chairman to avoid hearings on Watergate in his committee. He would have either argued that the matter was under the jurisdiction of another Committee or was not serious enough for review. He was also apparently stubborn enough that no amount of pressure from other members would move him from that position. O'Neill argued that Celler could have saved Nixon outright through this pattern of obstructionism.
Let's say Celler is reelected in 1972. What does the resolution of the Watergate scandal look like if the Chairman of the House Judiciary Commitee fights the effort to impeach Richard Nixon with all the tools available to him as Chairman? Could articles of impeachment be brought to the floor through a discharge petition? If so how long would gathering those votes take?
If Celler is able to block the threat of impeachment for months longer than was the case historically what might the 1974 elections look like with Nixon still in office and the cloud of Watergate looming even larger? Presumably the Republican Party will suffer further losses. Bob Dole loses his Senate Seat.
The longest I can see Celler blocking the effort to remove Nixon is until early 1975. If he narrowly survived a primary in 1972 being known as Nixon's best friend in the House probably dooms him in the context of 1974. Once Celler is gone the new Chairman will not obstruct the impeachment effort. Under the worse case scenario the first order of business for the new Congress would be to resolve the impeachment proccess. Perhaps I'm misreading Nixon but I doubt he'd step down before the writing was on the wall. But he'd be quick to resign once articles of impeachment pass.
Depending on how successful Celler is we're looking at between a month or as much as half a year more of the post-Watergate era Nixon administration. What does Nixon do in the interim?
Celler wins in 1972 and behaves as O'Neill predicted he would. How does the end of the Nixon administration play out?
Let's say Celler is reelected in 1972. What does the resolution of the Watergate scandal look like if the Chairman of the House Judiciary Commitee fights the effort to impeach Richard Nixon with all the tools available to him as Chairman? Could articles of impeachment be brought to the floor through a discharge petition? If so how long would gathering those votes take?
If Celler is able to block the threat of impeachment for months longer than was the case historically what might the 1974 elections look like with Nixon still in office and the cloud of Watergate looming even larger? Presumably the Republican Party will suffer further losses. Bob Dole loses his Senate Seat.
The longest I can see Celler blocking the effort to remove Nixon is until early 1975. If he narrowly survived a primary in 1972 being known as Nixon's best friend in the House probably dooms him in the context of 1974. Once Celler is gone the new Chairman will not obstruct the impeachment effort. Under the worse case scenario the first order of business for the new Congress would be to resolve the impeachment proccess. Perhaps I'm misreading Nixon but I doubt he'd step down before the writing was on the wall. But he'd be quick to resign once articles of impeachment pass.
Depending on how successful Celler is we're looking at between a month or as much as half a year more of the post-Watergate era Nixon administration. What does Nixon do in the interim?
Celler wins in 1972 and behaves as O'Neill predicted he would. How does the end of the Nixon administration play out?