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RALEIGH, N.C. – Before being elected to statewide office in North Carolina in 1974, Rufus Edmisten cut his teeth in politics as staff counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee in Washington, D.C. On Sunday, April 11, Edmisten will give a first-hand account of his role in one of the most shocking episodes in American history in his lecture, “Reflecting on the Watergate Hearings.”
The free program, sponsored by the State Capitol Foundation and the Wake County Historical Society, begins at 2:30 p.m. in the old House Chamber of the Capitol.
Edmisten was 31 years old when he served the subpoena to President Richard Nixon at the White House for the Watergate tapes. “There must have been 400 reporters there that day,” he said. “The Capitol police formed a wedge on Pennsylvania Avenue as I left and escorted me down there.”
The hearings, which began in 1973, played a key role in Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
Edmisten, elected as North Carolina’s Attorney General in 1974, served for 10 years prior to a run for governor. He was elected as Secretary of State for two terms, 1989-1996. Today Edmisten practices law at his private firm in Raleigh.
The State Capitol’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history, architecture and functions of the 1840 building and Union Square. The Capitol is bounded by Edenton, Salisbury, Morgan and Wilmington streets. For more information, visit www.nchistoricsites.org/capitol/default.htm or call (919) 733-4994.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, the State Capitol is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. Information is available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.
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