News stories from Saturday October 12, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Saying that the work of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force was largely finished, the special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, has announced he will resign as of Oct. 25. The announcement came as a surprise in Washington, although it had been known for some time that Mr. Jaworski was eager to return to his home in Texas. In his letter of resignation to Attorney General William Saxbe, Mr. Jaworski noted that the Watergate cover-up trial, probably the prosecution's last major undertaking, was now in progress with an associate special prosecutor, James Neal, in charge. [New York Times]
- The list of gifts released by Vice President-designate Nelson Rockefeller does not, according to a congressional source, give a full picture of "the Rockefeller interests and how they prosper" in part through the use of loans or gifts. The list, showing gifts of close to $2 million, was released publicly after reports of Mr. Rockefeller's generosity to state officials had appeared in a number of newspapers. [New York Times]
- President Ford's rating in the Gallup Poll has dropped 21 points since he look office Aug. 9. This is the sharpest decline recorded in such a short time for any President since the poll started measuring presidential popularity 35 years ago. The latest survey, taken between Sept. 27 and 30, was after the President's pardon of former President Nixon on Sept. 8 and before he presented his economic program to Congress last week. [New York Times]
- Despite assurances by President Ford's counsel that all Nixon administration papers would remain intact at the White House, at least one such carton was removed inadvertently on Sept. 26. The carton was mistakenly included in a shipment of 13 boxes of personal papers of Gen. Alexander Haig the day before he left the White House as chief of staff. When the mistake was discovered the box was returned, with seals still intact, to the White House. [New York Times]
- Vice President-designate Nelson Rockefeller has said he takes "full responsibility" for publication of a derogatory biography of Arthur Goldberg published during the 1970 campaign when Mr. Goldberg was the Democratic candidate for Governor opposing Mr. Rockefeller. The former Governor's press secretary, Hugh Morrow, said Mr. Rockefeller had acknowledged he had prior knowledge of the project and admitted he should have taken steps to see that it was stopped. [New York Times]
- Following a talk with King Hussein, Secretary of State Kissinger assured Jordan that the United States would press for a role for that country in any Middle Eastern peace negotiations. Mr. Kissinger flew to Israel on the fourth leg of his Middle East trip after his meeting with the Jordanian monarch. [New York Times]
- Secretary of State Kissinger, in an interview with the New York Times, said he believed the nations of the world were now "delicately poised" on the verge of a new historic era. The next decade, he believes, will be either "one of the great periods of human creativity or the beginning of extraordinary disarray.' [New York Times]
- While the Western nations have been struggling against the impact of higher oil prices, the Soviet Union has welcomed recent price increases by the cartel of producing countries for both economic and political reasons. As a significant oil exporter, the Soviet Union has been receiving substantially higher oil revenues to help pay for much-needed imports of advanced Western technology and the increased intake of foreign currency reduces Moscow's need for credits. [New York Times]