--- title: James Comey Fired: Why Firing Is Compared to Richard Nixon description: Trump's dramatic termination of FBI director James Comey has historical echoes to Richard Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre canonical: https://time.com/4773388/donald-trump-james-comey-fired-richard-nixon-saturday-night-massacre/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-10T00:27:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:01:41.252Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Everyone Is Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon og:description: There are some similarities og:url: https://time.com/4773388/donald-trump-james-comey-fired-richard-nixon-saturday-night-massacre/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07c5faa044285b4e/6988ccd68fd2ee5ac8356ffb/comey-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: comey-nixon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Everyone Is Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon twitter:description: There are some similarities twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07c5faa044285b4e/6988ccd68fd2ee5ac8356ffb/comey-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:55 video:published: 2017-05-11 section: politics topics: Watergate scandal, Special prosecutor firing, Nixon resignation, FBI Russia investigation, 2016 election interference, James Comey firing, Presidential accountability, Justice Department genre: news analysis, explainer tones: analytical, historical, critical, measured emotions: tension (medium), skepticism (medium), concern (low) sentiment: negative audience: politically engaged adults, news readers, history enthusiasts, voters following the Trump administration people: Richard Nixon, Archibald Cox, Robert Bork, Gerald Ford, James Comey, Donald Trump organizations: Justice Department, FBI, Trump Administration content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:55] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Why Everyone Is Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3af29983-bc64-473d-9a24-9965d24470cb&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon [Watch (HLS stream): Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzpxxq3y.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-05-11. When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video compares the 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Trump with the 1973 firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox by President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. It recounts Cox's firing and Nixon's subsequent resignation, then describes the FBI's investigation of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. It closes by noting that historians see the two situations as not exactly the same, since Nixon did not fire the head of the FBI. ## Key points - On October 20th, 1973, Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been appointed to investigate the Watergate scandal. (00:07) - The attorney general and deputy attorney general refused Nixon's orders and resigned, and acting attorney general Robert Bork complied and fired Cox. (00:15) - Cox's firing effectively dismantled the Watergate investigation and prompted heavy criticism. (00:19) - Cox's firing was seen as a key point in the events that led to Nixon's eventual resignation. (00:33) - Nixon announced he would resign the presidency effective at noon the next day, with Vice President Ford to be sworn in as president. (00:54) - The FBI is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, as part of its counterintelligence mission. (01:19) - Trump fired Comey shortly after Comey requested more resources for the agency's Russia probe. (01:25) - Trump said he fired Comey because Comey 'wasn't doing a good job, very simply.' (01:32) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:54] Nixon's firing of Archibald Cox. The video recounts Nixon's order to fire Special Prosecutor Cox during the Watergate investigation and the resignations and criticism that followed. - [00:54 to 01:05] Nixon's resignation announcement. Nixon announces his resignation and the transfer of the presidency to Vice President Ford. - [01:05 to 01:55] Comey firing and Russia probe. The video turns to the Trump administration, the FBI's Russia investigation, and the firing of James Comey, and notes how historians view the parallel to Nixon. ## Key quotes - [01:25] interviewer: "Why did you fire Director Comey?" - [01:32] Trump: "Because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not doing a good job." - [00:54] Nixon: "I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow." ## Questions this video answers - What did Nixon order in October 1973 regarding Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox? [00:07] - Why did the attorney general and deputy attorney general resign? [00:15] - What did Cox's firing do to the Watergate investigation? [00:19] - What is the FBI investigating regarding the 2016 presidential election? [01:19] - Why did Trump say he fired James Comey? [01:32] - How do historians view the comparison between Comey's firing and Nixon's actions? [01:40] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:55]: Coverage of presidential firings, Watergate, and an ongoing FBI investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 10, 2017 12:27 AM UTC When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 10, 2017 12:27 AM UTC When President Trump [fired FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4773210/donald-trump-fires-fbi-director-james-comey/) Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon. “This is Nixonian,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said. “This is nothing less than Nixonian,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) echoed. “Not since [Watergate](http://time.com/4534375/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-emails-watergate/) have our legal systems been so threatened and our faith in the independence and integrity of those systems so shaken,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.). Trump’s dramatic decision does have historical echoes to Nixon’s presidency: Trump fired Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into his campaign’s possible ties to Russia. President Nixon also fired someone investigating him. In 1973, in what would become known as the [Saturday Night Massacre](http://time.com/4697223/trump-nixon-comparisons/), Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, a special prosecutor looking into the burglary at the tip of the iceberg of the Watergate scandal. Both Nixon’s attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned in protest, and the “massacre” marked a key step in the scandal that led to his resignation less than a year later. But, as the Richard Nixon Presidential Library pointed out on Twitter, the comparison doesn’t track all the way. “FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian,” the library tweeted Tuesday evening. > [](https://twitter.com/NixonLibrary/status/862083605081862145) The last president to actually cut the FBI Director was Bill Clinton, who fired William Sessions in 1993 amid ethical concerns. But it hasn’t been since Nixon that a president terminated a person investigating him. ## Transcript [00:03] Well I'm not a crook. On October 20th, [00:07] 1973, President Nixon ordered Justice Department [00:09] officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who [00:13] had been appointed to investigate the Watergate [00:13] scandal. Both the attorney general and the deputy [00:15] attorney general refused the president's orders and [00:17] resigned. Nixon's new acting attorney general. Robert [00:19] Bork complied and fired Cox, which effectively [00:22] dismantled the investigation. Cox's firing [00:28] prompted heavy criticism, [00:33] and was seen as a key point [00:38] in the events that led [00:45] to Nixon's eventual resignation. [ MUSIC ] [00:54] I shall resign the presidency effective at noon [00:57] tomorrow. Vice President Ford Will [01:01] be sworn in as president, at that hour, in this office. [01:05] More than 40 years later, the Trump Administration [01:05] has been clouded by an ongoing FBI investigation into [01:05] potential communications between members of his [01:08] campaign, and Russia during the 2016 election. [01:15] The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence [01:19] mission Is investigating the Russian government's [01:23] efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. [01:25] Trump fired James Comey shortly after Comey [01:29] requested more resources for the agency's Russia [01:32] probe. Why did you fire Director Comey? Because he [01:35] wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not [01:38] doing a good job. But while many people have drawn [01:40] parallels, historians note the two situations are not [01:40] exactly the same, as Nixon did not fire the head of [01:45] the FBI. 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