Today in history: October 23
In 1973, President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over nine secret White House recordings to a federal judge
Oct. 23, 1890: President Benjamin Harrison signed a proclamation extending Nebraska's border into the Dakotas and voiding Indian claims to the land. The proclamation brought an end to decades of conflict in Nebraska between Sioux, Fox, Omaha, and Ponca Indians — and white settlers. In 1966, federal recognition of the Ponca tribe was ended, depriving them of their status as a tribe and the small amount of land that had been granted to them by Harrison. Nearly a quarter-century later, on Oct. 31, 1990, President George H.W. Bush reinstated the Ponca tribe, giving them the right to reestablish their homeland in the state of Nebraska.
Oct. 23, 1973: President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over nine secret White House tape recordings to Federal Judge John Sirica. Nixon at first refused to comply with Sirica's order, which was issued on August 29, 1973. But as pressure from both the media and American people mounted, the president reluctantly did so. The president would, of course, eventually resign from office.
Oct. 23, 1983: President Reagan called the terror bombing of a U.S. barracks in Lebanon "despicable." The attack killed 241 Americans — the worst terror strike on Americans prior to September 11, 2001. Following the terror attack, Reagan pledged that the U.S. would maintain a military force in Lebanon. But in February 1984 he ordered an American withdrawal. Osama bin Laden later said that Reagan's withdrawal from Lebanon (and other incidents) convinced him that America was weak and could be attacked.
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"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell." — Harry Truman
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