News stories from Wednesday July 26, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Thomas Eagleton says that he now realizes it was a mistake not to inform George McGovern earlier about his past psychiatric treatments. Eagleton stated that his medical history has turned out to be of greater significance than he thought, but if the office of the presidency were to fall upon him he is confident that he has learned to pace himself to withstand the stress. In a unity meeting with Democratic party and labor representatives, Eagleton joked that at least the problem of his anonymity has now vanished. Eagleton is currently en route to Hawaii. [CBS]
- Democrats are sweating out the public and political reaction to the Eagleton story. Nixon campaign manager Clark MacGregor said that Republicans had been apprised by people in Missouri who were familiar with the issues which arose between Rep. Thomas Curtis and Thomas Eagleton during the 1968 senatorial campaign. MacGregor stated that President Nixon mandated that no comment be made on Eagleton's medical record, even before Eagleton's disclosure. The President instructed his press secretary to tell the media that he was not aware of Eagleton's medical history until yesterday, and that he never discussed the Eagleton case with MacGregor. [CBS]
- Eagleton's fellow senators defended their colleague. Democratic leader Mike Mansfield expressed the utmost confidence in Eagleton, whom he calls a man of integrity. Republican leader Hugh Scott called Eagleton a fine and decent man. Senator Harold Hughes said that the difference between nervous exhaustion and a heart murmur, for example, is only in the minds of the public, and treatment for exhaustion is more successful than that for the common cold. Hughes noted Governor Wallace's psychiatric treatment and the governor's statement that he has a certificate to prove he's sane, while those who haven't seen a psychiatrist don't know if they are sane. [CBS]
- George McGovern stated that he is 1,000% behind Thomas Eagleton, and he has no intention of dropping him from the ticket. But McGovern press secretary Richard Dougherty said that initial reaction has not all been good, and Henry Kimelman, McGovern's national financial chairman, is dismayed. Senator Eagleton offered to resign from the Democratic ticket, but aides said that McGovern refused to discuss it with him. McGovern is not even angry that Eagleton didn't tell him about his medical history before coming on board. [CBS]
- President Nixon said that he will veto any bill which calls for excessive spending which threatens the federal budget. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese paratroopers raised their nation's flag over Quang Tri city's citadel, but control of the fortress is still in question. U.S. bombers flew through a dusty sky, pounding North Vietnamese positions in the citadel. There's scarcely a building with a roof left in the entire city; fighting will probably continue for some time. [CBS]
- The State Department responded to charges that U.S. planes have been systematically destroying the North Vietnam dike network. The administration claims that American bombing of North Vietnamese military targets has had only an incidental and minor impact on dikes. Photographic evidence supporting the government's case is said to exist but was not shown at today's press briefing. There is a strong sense that top administration officials decided that their case was not strong enough to counter Hanoi's propaganda challenge. [CBS]
- Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir applauded her adversary, President Anwar Sadat, for ordering Soviet military advisers out of Egypt. She also appealed for face-to-face peace talks. [CBS]
- The threat of a nationwide protest strike in Britain diminished as the Industrial Relations Court freed the freed longshoremen who had been arrested for picketing. [CBS]
- The Agriculture Department reported that retail food prices were up 0.9% in June. [CBS]
- NASA has dropped Apollo 15 commander David Scott from the astronaut corps, giving him a desk job within the program. He is one of three astronauts who were recently reprimanded for their involvement in a scheme to sell postage stamps that had been smuggled onto a moon flight. Astronaut Al Worden is also to be retired; Jim Irwin has already resigned. [CBS]
- Rockwell International of Downey, California, won the $2.5 billion contract to develop the "space shuttle". That could mean 160,000 jobs in southern California over a six-year period. [CBS]
- The seventh game of 24 in the world championship chess tournament ended in a draw. Bobby Fischer has won 4 games so far, Boris Spassky 3. [CBS]
- The wife of the Democratic vice-presidential nominee is on the campaign trail. At 38, Barbara Eagleton is the perfect image of a political wife. An attractive mother of two, she is at ease in the public limelight of sudden national prominence. In Los Angeles, she attended a reception, toured an education center and appeared on radio and TV. In an interview with a reporter for KNXT-TV, she talked about the decision to reveal her husband's medical past, noting that George McGovern was pleased with Eagleton's "politics of truth" in disclosing his medical history. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 932.57 (-1.88, -0.20%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| July 25, 1972 | 934.45 | 107.60 | 17.18 |
| July 24, 1972 | 935.36 | 107.92 | 18.02 |
| July 21, 1972 | 920.45 | 106.66 | 14.01 |
| July 20, 1972 | 910.45 | 105.81 | 15.05 |
| July 19, 1972 | 916.69 | 106.14 | 17.88 |
| July 18, 1972 | 911.72 | 105.83 | 16.82 |
| July 17, 1972 | 914.96 | 105.88 | 13.17 |
| July 14, 1972 | 922.26 | 106.80 | 13.91 |
| July 13, 1972 | 916.99 | 106.28 | 14.74 |
| July 12, 1972 | 923.69 | 106.89 | 16.15 |