News stories from Tuesday May 2, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI for the past 48 years, has died at the age of 77 from high blood pressure. He dined last night with his assistant, Clyde Tolson; his housekeeper found him this morning. Hoover took over the FBI in 1924 during the Coolidge administration, beginning a career spanning eight presidents. In later years, he came under criticism from liberals. Hoover last visited the Capitol Building on March 10 to testify at a congressional hearing; his body will be returned there tomorrow to lie in state. The funeral will be held at National Presbyterian Church on Thursday. President Nixon will deliver the eulogy.
Nixon stated that he mourns loss of Hoover, a personal friend, who served with unparalleled devotion, ability, and dedication; he ordered flags to be flown at half mast. Acting Attorney General Richard Kleindienst commended Hoover for bearing criticism with courage and dignity, and for keeping the FBI from becoming tainted with political influence. Hoover, a Washington, DC native, never married. President Nixon will name a temporary successor to Hoover tomorrow.
[CBS] - Communist tanks and troops rolled down Highway 1 between Quang Tri city and Hue. South Vietnam's northern defense is crumbling; the northernmost 35 miles of South Vietnam are now in the hands of the enemy. Thousands of South Vietnamese troops are streaming down Highway 1, away from the war, with no leadership. A U.S. Marine battalion is collecting M-16 rifles that have been thrown away by departing soldiers. Refugees are also fleeing south, each group more pathetic than the last. Hue may be the next target of North Vietnam.
Refugees are streaming into Hue from the north, others have left Hue and are heading south for Danang. At Phu Bai, 2,000 soldiers have been put on yellow alert. Four American jets and three helicopters were shot down by a new, hand-held, heat-seeking missile. In the Central Highlands, Fire Base Lima was overrun, further endangering the city of Kontum.
[CBS] - The President's foreign policy adviser, Dr. Henry Kissinger, is gone from Washington. The White House hinted that he is in Paris for secret negotiations with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho. [CBS]
- Voters in Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, and Washington, DC are marking their primary ballots today. Ohio is a two-man race between Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern. Voting machine irregularities in Cleveland caused a judge to order that polls remain open until midnight. The Indiana ballot includes Edmund Muskie, but the race is between Humphrey and George Wallace.
Wallace drove on the racetrack during an Indianapolis campaign stop. He is working to cultivate the support of union members on the issues of busing and taxes (claiming that he was the first to raise those issues), but Humphrey has the traditional support of organized labor. Democrat labor leaders in Indiana produced a new TV ad, saying that when Wallace got third-party votes in '68 it caused Nixon to get into the White House, and Nixon caused unemployment. Wallace criticized the ad, but Humphrey is trying to capitalize on it.
[CBS] - 17 Republican governors ended a two-day conference in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where they adopted a resolution praising President Nixon's foreign and domestic policies; they also pledged to work for the re-election of President Nixon and Vice President Agnew. [CBS]
- The FBI has arrested another UMW official in connection with the 1969 murder of Joseph Yablonski and his family. Albert Pass, secretary-treasurer for the United Mine Workers' district in Middlesboro, Kentucky, is accused of obstructing justice. Another official, William Prater, was arrested last month. [CBS]
- In Detroit, three men were charged with supplying Portugal with blueprints of an American armored amphibious vehicle in 1966. [CBS]
- At the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, geologists reported that the Apollo 16 astronauts brought back a fantastically lucky cross-section of rocks. [CBS]
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 935.20 (-7.08, -0.75%)
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* |
| May 1, 1972 | 942.28 | 106.69 | 12.88 |
| April 28, 1972 | 954.17 | 107.67 | 14.16 |
| April 27, 1972 | 945.97 | 107.05 | 15.74 |
| April 26, 1972 | 946.94 | 106.89 | 17.71 |
| April 25, 1972 | 946.49 | 107.12 | 17.03 |
| April 24, 1972 | 957.48 | 108.19 | 14.65 |
| April 21, 1972 | 963.80 | 108.89 | 18.20 |
| April 20, 1972 | 966.29 | 109.04 | 18.19 |
| April 19, 1972 | 964.78 | 109.20 | 19.18 |
| April 18, 1972 | 968.92 | 109.77 | 19.41 |