Richard M. Nixon Archives

Duet of the Day: Cass Elliot and John Denver “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

Cass Elliott was an amazing talent who left us too soon in 1974. With the Mamas and the Papas, her voice always stood out. Similarly, John Denver had a wonderful tenor voice and was a great songwriter (although some music fans ignore the talent as a reaction to Denver becoming so popular in his heyday). Despite their talents, one might think they never crossed paths due to being in slightly different music genres. But one night on television in 1972, Elliot and Denver joined forces on one of Denver’s classic songs, “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”

The duet is from the August 19, 1972 premiere of the 90-minute NBC television show The Midnight Special. Those of us who grew up in the 1970s remember the Friday night show fondly. As a kid, I would stay up late to watch the show to see the latest music. Long before we had MTV, The Midnight Special was one of the few places to regularly catch current rock and pop stars performing on television.

So, one night on television in 1972, Elliot and Denver joined forces. Their voices intertwined on the choruses to create something special. Check it out.

This episode of The Midnight Special featured the Mamas and the Papas and Denver. And it was a special treat to hear Elliot and Denver together on the song. The tune had originally been a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary when they released it in 1969. But by 1972, Denver had become so popular, he could keep the songs he wrote as hits for himself.

In addition to being wonderful singers, both Cass Elliot and John Denver were involved in important social causes during their lives. You hear a little of that in Elliot’s introduction to the song about the importance of voting.

The country was divided at the time, as the Vietnam War continued with President Richard Richard M. Nixon in the White House. Two days after the Elliot-Denver performance, the Republican National Convention nominated Nixon and Spiro Agnew for a second term. But amidst the divisions in the country at the time, Mama Cass and John Denver showed America a little harmony.

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The Music Is You, John Denver

Peter Paul & Mary’s First Contract . . . and Puff

With Glowing Hearts: “O Holy Night” By John Denver

Trini Lopez: Hammerin’ Out Danger

Favorite Live Albums: An Evening With John Denver

Peter, Paul & Mary’s Ode to Playing “Right Field”

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Daniel Ellsberg: The Most Dangerous Man

Most Dangerous Man On April 7, 1931, Daniel Ellsberg was born in Chicago. He would grow up to serve in the Marines and work at the Pentagon and for Rand Corporation, eventually becoming disillusioned with the Vietnam War and receiving notoriety as the man behind the release of government documents about the Vietnam War. After the New York Times began publishing the papers in June 1971, the actions prompted the wrath of President Richard M. Nixon and one of the most important Supreme Court cases on the First Amendment.

The 2009 documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers tells the story of Ellsberg’s life and the Pentagon Papers. Directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, the film is required viewing for anyone interested in the Vietnam War. The movie reveals much about the controversies on the home front as well as the lies told by U.S. leaders.

The documentary approaches the tale by letting Ellsberg and others report the story from first-hand accounts (while Nixon’s perspective only comes through in recordings made at the White House). As much as you think you might know about Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, you likely will learn new information from the film.

For example, we see the role that Ellsberg’s wife played in his decisions. We also learn that Egil Krogh — one of the “White House Plumbers” involved in breaking into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist — came to see Ellsberg as a principled man.

The Most Dangerous Man in America takes the position that Ellsberg is an American hero who was willing to go to prison if necessary to try to end an unjust war. While some may disagree with the admiring portrayal, the lessons from the Pentagon Papers still resonate in modern times as we still face issues like Edward Snowden’s release of documents. Thus, the story of Daniel Ellsberg is just as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.

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Harry Shearer’s New Series on Richard Nixon

Oh Oh Domino (Theory)

My Lai and “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley”

Springsteen’s Tribute to Walter Cichon and “The Wall”

Duet of the Day: Cass Elliot and John Denver “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

Pete Seeger: “Bring Them Home”

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Harry Shearer’s New Series on Richard Nixon

Actor Harry Shearer, famous for his work in This Is Spinal Tap, Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons, is tackling a new character with his YouTube mini-series, former president Richard M. Nixon. In the new series, entitled Nixon’s the One, Shearer portrays Nixon by following transcripts of actual audio recordings of Nixon. The results are both illuminating and funny.

Shearer and Nixon scholar and author Stanley Kutler listened to Nixon recordings to find segments that reveal Nixon’s everyday life. Shearer explained to CBS that he always felt that portrayals of Nixon missed something about the man. Shearer sees him as “this strange, self-torturing, self-destroying guy who was, in my point of view, darkly comic.” These new episodes attempt to capture that tragic and comic part of Nixon.

This segment of Nixon’s the One gives a hidden-camera view of Nixon talking to Henry Kissinger about John F. Kennedy.

One episode captures Nixon’s conversations as he prepares to give his speech to the nation announcing his resignation. As Nixon engages the reporters in small talk as he prepares to resign, the result is funny but also heartbreaking. Certainly, it captures the loneliness of Nixon at that moment. .

It should not be too surprising that the man who does the voice of Mr. Burns would help us see another side of President Nixon. Check out other segments of Nixon’s the One on YouTube. If you want to compare the resignation video to the real thing, see below.

Who is your favorite actor to portray Nixon? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Daniel Ellsberg: The Most Dangerous Man

Dylan Releases “Murder Most Foul”

Duet of the Day: Cass Elliot and John Denver “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

The Uncommon Champion of the Common Man: Henry Wallace

RFK (and Aeschylus) on MLK Assassination

Trailer for “11.22.63” Stephen King Miniseries

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Mingo Sanders and Teddy Roosevelt’s Dishonorable Discharge

While recently enjoying Ken Burns’s excellent documentary episodes The Roosevelts (2014), one of the stories about Theodore Roosevelt made me want to find out more. The narrator mentioned President Teddy Roosevelt’s handling of a black regiment in Brownsville, Texas. Roosevelt gave a dishonorable discharge to a black sergeant who had once shared his food rations with Roosevelt in Cuba. I became curious to find out more about this unnamed man who was treated so poorly. And with a little research I soon found his name was Mingo Sanders.

Sanders’ Early Service

Mingo Sanders, who had been born in March 1858 in Marion, S.C., enlisted in the Army on May 16, 1881. In 1888, he went to Missoula, Montana (there are conflicting stories whether or not he was married yet, in which case he brought his wife Luella). There, he served with Company B of the 25th Infantry.

In 1897, the 39-year-old Sergeant Sanders played an important role in helping Lt. James A. Moss test the military use of bicycles on a trip between Missoula and St. Louis. Sanders was older than the other men and was partially blind from an explosion during his long military service. But he earned the admiration of his men on the difficult 41-day journey.

Sanders Encounters Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba

Not long after the trip, the Spanish-American War broke out and the 25th Infantry’s commission in Missoula ended. Many of the men, including Sanders, were sent to Cuba.

Sanders and his colleagues would play a brave and important role in the capture of San Juan Hill, the battle that made Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders famous. Despite all the credit given to Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, black soldiers made up about 25% of the U.S. forces in Cuba and played an important role in the battles.

It was in Cuba where Sanders first crossed paths with Roosevelt. On one occasion, Roosevelt went to Sanders and asked Sanders to give some of his unit’s hardtack rations to the Rough Riders.

Sanders continued to have a distinguished career. Eight years after his efforts in Cuba, he rescued five white prisoners during a conflict between the United States and the First Philippine Republic. For his work, he received a medal of honor.

The Dishonorable Discharge

Unfortunately for Sanders, his life would cross paths with Roosevelt’s responsibilities once again. In 1906, Sanders had served in the military for 26 years and was near retirement. That year, the 25th Infantry was stationed in Brownsville, Texas, where the town was not welcoming of the black soldiers. After some arguments in the town, on Aug. 13, 1906, someone or some people fired shots, killing a white bartender and wounding a police officer.

Some of the townspeople blamed the black soldiers. But their white officers insisted the men were all at the barracks at Fort Brown at the time of the shooting.

At this time Theodore Roosevelt was president. Amid rising racial tensions in the Brownsville area, he sent officers to conduct an inquiry. Through interviews with the men of the 25th Infantry, they found no witnesses.

Without any type of trial, President Roosevelt ordered the men to be given dishonorable discharges. Among the men was Mingo Sanders, the man who had once shared his food with Roosevelt. President Roosevelt waited until after Congressional elections in November 1906 to order the discharge, so that black voters would not abandon the party.

After the Discharge

In later elections, though, many used the Brownsville decision against Roosevelt. President Taft had even appointed Sanders to federal positions as sort of an anti-Roosevelt reminder. Sanders settled in Washington, D.C. with his wife, eventually dying on August 23, 1929 and then being buried at Arlington Cemetery, where his wife Luella was also buried in 1942.

In 1972, Congress would reopen the case of the Brownsville shooting. It absolved Mingo Sanders and his fellow soldiers of the shooting. President Richard M. Nixon signed a bill giving the men honorable discharges.

The following video from Montana PBS recounts the story of Sanders’s Montana unit that tested out the use of bicycles for soldiers. It also tells about Roosevelt’s order discharging Sanders and the other men. Check out The Bicycle Corps: America’s Black Army On Wheels (2000).