History in Journalism and Journalism in History: Anthony Lewis and the Watergate Crisis

Let me plunge right into a Lewis column to convey his marvelous craft in weaving the past into a contemporary moment. This one is from July 8, 1974. The column is about the oral argument before the Supreme Court in the Executive Privilege case, which was to enter the constitutional canon as United States v. Nixon . ¹ Lewis writes as both eyewitness and commentator. He begins with constitutional history by invoking the legendary case of Marbury v. Madison :