News stories from Saturday August 19, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Republicans are massing in Miami Beach for their national convention, which promises galas and social one-upmanship rather than political floor fights. Private jets litter the airports, yachts are moving into the marinas. Elegant clubs are jammed with the rich and famous. A four-day party is about to begin. [New York Times]
- The Ford Motor Company, following the lead of General Motors, cut its proposed price increase on new cars and trucks from an average of $92 a vehicle to $59. But Ford's president, Lee A. Iacocca, attacked the government for its pressure on the industry and called it "a sure formula for eventually going out of business" and said deferring a price increase now means "substantial" increases "will be required in the future." [New York Times]
- President Nixon's campaign treasurers are taking in an average of $100,000 a day, with the help of hundreds of wealthy businessmen and investors, two of whom have given the Nixon campaign nearly $50,000 apiece. The Nixon campaign has been spending more than $200,000 a day, drawing on ample reserves. The President's largest known contributors were identified in a partial list of contributors required to be filed with the General Accounting Office under the new Federal Election Campaign Act that become effective in April. [New York Times]
- If he is elected President on Nov. 7, Senator George McGovern, the Democratic nominee, expects President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam and his "cohorts" to flee Saigon into exile, and a Communist-dominated coalition to take control of South Vietnam. Mr. McGovern said that "arrangements should be made," perhaps including a negotiated agreement with the Viet Cong, to "reduce the danger of assassination and recriminations" against political and military leaders loyal to President Thieu. [New York Times]
- National police in South Korea reported that at least 264 persons had been killed in floods and landslides caused by the worst rains in South Korea's modern history. Fifty-seven others were still missing and a total of 248 were injured. The death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers continued to find more bodies at landslide sites. The police said more than 150,000 persons were made homeless across the country, including 127,000 in Seoul. [New York Times]
- North Vietnamese troops were reported to have seized the western half of the key Queson Valley south of Danang. Meanwhile, South Vietnamese forces fought to reopen three highways cut at points 25 to 60 miles from Saigon by enemy troops. [New York Times]
- Gripping placards and chanting, hundreds of Ugandans marched through downtown Kampala in a demonstration supporting the government's move to expel Asian shopkeepers and businessmen. Haji Musa Sebaduka, the president of the Uganda Africa Traders Association, said, "We have been suffering too long," and added, "They have taken our commerce and trade and now it is our turn, the African's turn." [New York Times]