Dan Casey's account of the role M. Caldwell Butler played in the Watergate saga ("January 6 Hearings to reveal 'Horror,'" June 5) reminded me of two things that stayed with me after that scandal of the 1970s.
The first occurred when the White House tapes provided conclusive evidence that Republican President Nixon participated in the crimes. The Republican congressperson from Nixon's district in California, Charles E. Wiggins, who until that moment staunchly defended the president, gave an emotional speech about Nixon's duplicity. The California congressperson expressed outrage at this betrayal. Wiggins announced that he would vote for the impeachment bill, and he encouraged the president to resign. Several other congresspeople, including the representative from Roanoke, did the same. The other thing that stayed with me occurred after Nixon resigned, and the country shouted with great relief, "The system works!"
Congresspeople like Charles E. Wiggins and M. Caldwell Butler understood their oath to "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…." Is Liz Cheney the only GOP congressperson of that ilk today? And whatever became of that system that worked?
Steve Bailey, Richmond