On July 27, 1794, Maximilien Robespierre — the architect of France’s Reign of Terror who had ordered or “encouraged” the execution of more than 17,000 opponents of the French Revolution — was himself guillotined, along with 21 of his followers, “before a cheering mob in the Place de la Revolution in Paris.” [“This Day in History, History.com, July 27, 2025.]

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In somewhat more civilized times — exactly 180 years later, on July 27, 1974 — the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee recommended that the 37th President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, be impeached and removed from office.

In less than two weeks, on August 8th, Nixon announced his resignation, thus becoming the first U.S. President to leave the office voluntarily. [Id.]

As we all know, his fall from grace was the result, not of a reign of terror, but of the lies and corruption surrounding the Watergate scandal, which first came to light in 1972 upon the discovery of the break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate apartment-hotel-office complex in Washington, D.C.

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Happily, we have come a long way from the days when tyrants and corrupt leaders were ousted by celebratory beheading. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t still be done . . . as it was in Nixon’s case . . . by gentler, bloodless, legal means.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/27/25