title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Upon birth, a child is initiated into the family ritually according to the Rig Veda for the Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmins. The naming ceremony of the child may happen many weeks or even months later, and it is called the "barsa". In many Hindu communities around India, the naming is almost often done by consulting the child's horoscope, in which are suggested various names depending on the child's Lunar sign (called Rashi). However, in Deshastha families, the name that the child inevitably uses in secular functioning is the one decided by his parents. If a name is chosen on the basis of the horoscope, then that is kept a secret to ward off casting of a spell on the child during his or her life. During the naming ceremony, the child's paternal aunt has the honour of naming the infant. When the child is 11 months old, he or she gets their first hair-cut. This is an important ritual as well and is called "Jawal".


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: When a male child reaches his eighth birthday he undergoes the initiation thread ceremony variously known as Munja (in reference to the munja grass that is of official ritual specification), "Vratabandha", or Upanayanam. From that day on, he becomes an official member of his caste, and is called a dwija which translates to "twice-born" in English, in the sense that while the first birth was due to his biological parents, the second one is due to the initiating priest and Savitri. Traditionally, boys are sent to gurukula to learn Vedas and scriptures. Boys are expected to practice extreme discipline during this period known as brahmacharya. Boys are expected to lead a celibate life, live off alms, consume selected vegetarian saatvic food and observe considerable austerity in behaviour and deeds. Though such practices are not followed in modern times by a majority of Deshasthas, all Deshasthas boys undergo the sacred thread ceremony. Many still continue to get initiated around eight years of age. Those who skip this get initiated just before marriage. Twice-born Deshasthas perform annual ceremonies to replace their sacred threads on Narali Purnima or the full moon day of the month of Shravan, according to the Hindu calendar. The threads are called "Jaanave" in Marathi and "Janavaara" in Kannada.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The Deshasthas are historically an endogamous and monogamous community for whom marriages take place by negotiation. The Mangalsutra is the symbol of marriage for the woman. Studies show that most Indians' traditional views on caste, religion and family background have remained unchanged when it came to marriage, that is, people marry within their own castes, and matrimonial advertisements in newspapers are still classified by caste and sub-caste. Deshastha Yajurvedi do not allow cross cousin marriage, while the Deshastha Rigvedi sub-group, allow cross cousin marriage, just like many other Marathi castes. In South Maharashtra, Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmins even allow uncle-niece marriage.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: While arranging a marriage, "gana", "gotra", "pravara", "devak" are all kept in mind. Horoscopes are matched. The marriage ceremony is described as follows: "The groom, along with the bride's party goes to the bride's house. A ritual named "Akshat" is performed in which people around the groom and bride throw "haldi" (turmeric) and "sindur" (vermilion) coloured rice grains on the couple. After the "Kanyadan" ceremony, there is an exchange of garlands between the bride and the groom. Then, the groom ties the Mangalsutra around the neck of the bride. This is followed by "granthibandhan" in which the end of the bride's "sari" is tied to the end of the groom's dhoti, and a feast is arranged at the groom's place."


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: A Deshasthas marriage ceremony includes many elements of a traditional Marathi Hindu wedding ceremony. It consists of "seemant poojan" on the wedding eve. The "dharmic" wedding includes the "antarpat" ceremony followed by the vedic ceremony which involves the bridegroom and the bride walking around the sacred fire seven times to complete the marriage. Modern urban wedding ceremonies conclude with an evening reception. A Deshastha woman becomes part of her husband's family after marriage and adopts the gotra as well as the traditions of her husband's family.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: After weddings and also after thread ceremonies, Deshastha families arrange a traditional religious singing performance by a Gondhal group.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Deshastha Brahmins dispose their dead by cremation. The dead person's son carries the corpse to the cremation ground atop a bier. The eldest son lights the fire to the corpse at the head for males and at the feet for females. The ashes are gathered in an earthen pitcher and immersed in a river on the third day after the death. This is a 13-day ritual with the "pinda" being offered to the dead soul on the 11th and a "Śrāddha" ceremony followed by a funeral feast on the 13th. Cremation is performed according to vedic rites, usually within a day of the individual's death. Like all other Hindus, the preference is for the ashes to be immersed in the Ganges river or Godavari River. "Śrāddha" becomes an annual ritual in which all forefathers of the family who have passed on are remembered. These rituals are expected to be performed only by male descendants, preferably the eldest son of the deceased.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Deshasthas follow the Saka calendar. They follow several of the festivals of other Hindu Marathi people. These include Gudi Padwa, Rama Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Narali Pournima, Mangala Gaur, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Kojagiri Purnima, Diwali, Khandoba Festival (Champa Shashthi), Makar Sankranti, Maha Shivaratri and Holi.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Of these, Ganesh Chaturthi is the most popular in the state of Maharashtra, however, Diwali, the most popular festival of Hindus throughout India, is equally popular in Maharashtra. Deshasthas celebrate the Ganesha festival as a domestic family affair. Depending on a family's tradition, a clay image or "shadu" is worshiped for one and a half, three and a half, seven or full 10 days, before ceremoniously being placed in a river or the sea. This tradition of private celebration runs parallel to the public celebration introduced in 1894 by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. "Modak" is a popular food item during the festival. Ganeshotsav also incorporates other festivals, namely Hartalika and the Gauri festival, the former is observed with a fast by women whilst the latter by the installation of idols of Gauris.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The religious amongst the Deshasthas fast on the days prescribed for fasting according to Hindu calendar.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Typical days for fasting are Ekadashi, Chaturthi, Maha Shivaratri and Janmashtami. Hartalika is a day of fasting for women. Some people fast during the week in honour of a particular god, for example, Monday for Shiva or Saturday for Hanuman and the planet Saturn, Shani.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Gudi Padwa is observed on the first of the day of the lunar month of Chaitra of the Hindu calendar. A victory pole or Gudi is erected outside homes on the day. The leaves of "Neem" or and shrikhand are a part of the cuisine of the day. Like many other Hindu communities, Deshasthas celebrate Rama Navami and Hanuman Jayanti, the birthdays of Rama and Hanuman, respectively, in the month of Chaitra. A snack eaten by new mothers called Sunthawada or Dinkawada is the prasad or the religious food on Rama Navami. They observe Narali-pournima festival on the same day as the much widely known north Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan. Deshastha men change their sacred thread on this day.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: An important festival for the new brides is Mangala Gaur. It is celebrated on any Tuesday of Shravana and involves the worship of lingam, a gathering of womenfolk and narrating limericks or "Ukhane" using their husbands' first name. The women may also play traditional games such as Jhimma, and Fugadi, or more contemporary activities such as Bhendya till the wee hours of the next morning.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Krishna Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna on which day Gopalkala, a recipe made with curds, pickle, popped millet ("jondhale" in Marathi) and chili peppers is the special dish. Sharad Purnima also called as Kojagiri Purnima, the full moon night in the month of Ashvin, is celebrated in the honour of Lakshmi or Parvati. A milk preparation is the special food of the evening. The first born of the family is honoured on this day.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: In Deshastha families Ganeshotsav is more commonly known as Gauri-Ganpati because it also incorporates the Gauri Festival.In some families Gauri is also known as Lakshmi puja. It is celebrated for three days; on the first day, Lakshmi's arrival is observed. The ladies in the family will bring statues of Lakshmi from the door to the place where they will be worshiped. The Kokanstha Brahmins, instead of statues, use special stones as symbols of Gauri. The statues are settled at a certain location (very near the Devaghar), adorned with clothes and ornaments. On the second day, the family members get together and prepare a meal consisting of puran poli. This day is the puja day of Mahalakshmi and the meal is offered to Mahalakshmi and her blessings sought. On the third day, Mahalakshmi goes to her husband's home. Before the departure, ladies in the family will invite the neighbourhood ladies for exchange of haldi-kumkum. It is customary for the whole family to get together during the three days of Mahalakshmi puja. Most families consider Mahalakshmi as their daughter who is living with her husband's family all the year; but visits her parents' (maher) during the three days.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Navaratri, a nine-day festival starts on the first day of the month of Ashvin and culminates on the tenth day or Vijayadashami. This is the one of three auspicious days of the year. People exchange leaves of the "Apti" tree as symbol of gold. During Navaratri women and girls hold "Bhondla" referred as bhulabai in Vidarbh region, a singing party in honour of the Goddess.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Like all Hindu Marathi people and to a varying degree with other Hindu Indians, Diwali is celebrated over five days by the Deshastha Brahmins. Deshastha Brahmins celebrate this by waking up early in the morning and having an "Abhyangasnan". People light their houses with lamps and candles, and burst fire crackers over the course of the festival. Special sweets and savouries like Anarse, Karanjya, Chakli, Chiwda and Ladu are prepared for the festival. Colourful Rangoli drawings are made in front of the house.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Deshastha Brahmins observe the Khandoba Festival or "Champa Shashthi" in the month of Mārgashirsh. This is a six-day festival, from the first to sixth lunar day of the bright fortnight. Deshastha households perform "Ghatasthapana" of Khandoba during this festival. The sixth day of the festival is called Champa Sashthi. For Deshastha, the Chaturmas period ends on Champa Sashthi. As it is customary in many families not to consume onions, garlic and eggplant (Brinjal / Aubergine) during the Chaturmas, the consumption of these food items resumes with ritual preparation of Vangyache Bharit (Baingan Bharta) and "rodga", small round flat breads prepared from "jwari" (white millet).


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Makar Sankranti falls on 14 January when the Sun enters Capricorn. Deshastha Brahmins exchange "Tilgul" or sweets made of jaggery and sesame seeds along with the customary salutation "Tilgul Ghya aani God Bola", which means "Accept the Tilgul and be friendly". "Gulpoli", a special type of chapati stuffed with jaggery is the dish of the day.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Maha Shivaratri is celebrated in the month of Magha to honour Shiva. A chutney made from curd fruit ("Kawath" in Marathi) is part of the cuisine of the day.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Holi falls on the full moon day in Phalguna, the last month. Deshasthas celebrate this festival by lighting a bonfire and offering Puran Poli to the fire. Unlike North Indians, Deshastha Brahmins celebrate colour throwing five days after Holi on Rangapanchami.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The Deshasthas of Maharashtra and Karnataka practised priesthood as their hereditary occupation, who traditionally offer socio-religious services to the other communities. The secular among them who had agricultural land practised agriculture. However, the absentee landlords among Deshasthas lost their lands when the newly independent India enshrined in its constitution, agrarian or land reform. Between 1949 and 1959, the state governments started enacting legislation in accordance with the constitution implementing this agrarian reform or "Kula Kayada" in Marathi. The legislation led to the abolition of various absentee tenures like "inams" and "jagirs". This implementation of land reform had mixed results in different States. On official inquiry, it was revealed that not all absentee tenures were abolished in the State of Maharashtra as of 1985. Other social and political issues include anti-Brahminism and the treatment of Dalits.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: During British rule in the 19th century, social reformers such as Jotiba Phule launched campaigned against Brahmin domination of society and in government employment.The campaign was continued in the early 20th century by the maharaja of Kolhapur, Shahu. In the 1920s the non-Brahmin political party under Keshavrao Jedhe led the campaign against Brahmins in Pune and rural areas of western Maharashtra. This period saw Brahmins losing their landholding and their migration to urban centers


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Maharashtrian Brahmins were the primary targets during the anti-Brahmin riots in Maharashtra in 1948, following Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. The rioters burnt homes and properties owned by Brahmins. The violent riots exposed the social tensions between the Marathas and the Brahmins.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: In recent history, on 5 January 2004, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune was vandalised by 150 members of the Sambhaji Brigade, an organisation promoting the cause of the Marathas. The organisation was protesting against a derogatory remark made by the American author James Laine, on Shivaji's Parentage in his book, "Shivaji: A Hindu King in an Islamic Kingdom". BORI was targeted because Srikant Bahulkar, a scholar at BORI, was acknowledged in Laine's book. The incident highlighted the traditionally uncomfortable Brahmin-Maratha relationship. Recently, the same organisation demanded the removal of Dadoji Konddeo from the "Statue of Child Shivaji ploughing Pune's Land" at Lal Mahal, Pune. They also threatened that if their demands were not met, they would demolish that part of statue themselves.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Until recent times, like other high castes of Maharashtra and India, Deshastha also followed the practice of segregation from other castes considered lower in the social hierarchy. Until a few decades ago, a large number of Hindu temples, presumably with a Deshastha priest, barred entry to the so-called "untouchables" (Dalit). An example of this was the case of the 14th century saint Chokhamela of the Varkari movement, who belonged to the Mahar caste. He was time and again denied entry to the Vitthal temple in Pandharpur, however, his mausoleum was built in front of the gate of the temple. In the early 20th century, the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar, while attempting to visit the temple, was stopped at the burial site of Chokhamela and denied entry beyond that point for being a Mahar. Deshastha caste-fellow Dnyaneshwar and his entire family were stripped of their caste and excommunicated by the Deshasthas because of his father's return from "sanyasa" to family life. The family was harassed and humiliated to an extent that Dnyaneshwar's parents committed suicide. Other saints like Tukaram (Kunbi caste) were discriminated against by the Brahmins.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The Maharashtra Government has taken away the hereditary rights of priesthood to the Pandharpur temple from the Badve and Utpat Deshastha families, and handed them over to a governmental committee. The families have been fighting complex legal battles to win back the rights. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an organisation founded by K. B. Hedgewar advocates Dalits being head priests at Hindu temples.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Prior to the rise of the Konkanastha Peshwas, the Konkanastha Brahmins were considered inferior in a society where the Deshasthas held socio-economic, ritual and Brahminical superiority. After the appointment of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat as Peshwa, Konkanastha migrants began arriving en masse from the Konkan to Pune, where the Peshwa offered some important offices to the Konkanastha caste. The Konkanastha kin were rewarded with tax relief and grants of land. Historians point out nepotism and corruption during this time.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The Konkanasthas were waging a social war on Deshasthas during the period of the Peshwas. By the late 18th century, Konkanasthas had established complete political and economic dominance in the region. As a consequence, many members of the literate classes, including Deshastha and Karhade Brahmins, left their ancestral region of Western Maharashtra and migrated to other areas of the Maratha empire such as around the east Godavari basin in the present-day states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. For example, many Deshasthas, Saraswats and CKPs moved to newly formed Maratha states ruled by the Scindias, Gaikwads and others that were at the periphery of the Peshwa's kingdom.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: After the Maratha empire under the command of Chimaji Appa, the brother of Peshwa Bajirao I (1700-1740), captured Vasai from the Portuguese in 1739, local chitpavan brahmins contested the claim of the local Shukla yajurvedi brahmins, who had lived under Portuguese rule for nearly two hundred years, of being brahmins . The full Brahmin status of the Vasai Yajurvedis was affirmed by an assembly of learned Brahmins in 1746. However, the case came up again in 1808 in the waning years of Peshwai.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Richard Maxwell Eaton states that this rise of the Konkanastha is a classic example of social rank rising with political fortune. Since then, despite being the traditional religious and social elites of Maharashtra, the Deshastha Brahmins failed to feature as prominently as the Konkanastha. The Deshasthas looked down upon the Konkanasthas as newcomers in the 18th and 19th centuries. They refused to socialise and intermingle with them, not considering them to be Brahmins. A Konkanstha who was invited to a Deshastha household was considered to be a privileged individual, and even the Peshwas were refused permission to perform religious rites at the Deshastha "ghats" on the Godavari at Nasik. The Konkanasthas on their part, pursued for greater intellectual ability and better political acumen. During the British colonial period of 19th and early 20th century, Deshasthas dominated professions such as government administration, music, legal and engineering fields, whereas Konkanasthas dominated fields like politics, medicine, social reform, journalism, mathematics and education. The relations have since improved by the larger scale mixing of both communities on social, financial and educational fields, as well as with intermarriages.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: The Deshastha Rigvedi sub-caste have community organisations in many major cities such as Mumbai, Dombivali, Belgaum, Nasik, Satara etc. Most of these organisations are affiliated to Central organisation of the community called Akhil Deshastha Rugvedi Brahman Madhyavarty Mandal (A. D. R. B. M.) which is located in Mumbai. The activities of ADRBM includes offering scholarships to needy students, financial aid to members, exchange of information, and Matrimonial services. The Deshastha community organisations are also affiliated to their respective local All Brahmin Umbrella Organizations.


title: Deshastha Brahmin

text: Similar to the Rigvedi community, there are organisations and trusts dedicated to the welfare of the Yajurvedi sub-caste.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is a philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah was the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, before moving to New York University (NYU) in 2014. He holds an appointment at the NYU Department of Philosophy and NYU's School of Law. Appiah was elected President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in January 2022.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah was born in London, England, to Peggy Cripps Appiah (née Cripps), an English art historian and writer, and Joe Appiah, a lawyer, diplomat, and politician from Ashanti Region, Ghana. For two years (1970–72) Joe Appiah was the leader of a new opposition party that was made by the country's three opposing parties. Simultaneously, he was the president of the Ghana Bar Association. Between 1977 and 1978, he was Ghana's representative at the United Nations.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Kwame Anthony Appiah was raised in Kumasi, Ghana, and educated at Bryanston School and Clare College, Cambridge, where he earned his BA (First Class) and PhD degrees in philosophy. He has three sisters: Isobel, Adwoa and Abena. As a child, he spent a good deal of time in England, staying with his grandmother Dame Isobel Cripps, widow of the English statesman Sir Stafford Cripps.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah's mother's family has a long political tradition: Sir Stafford was a nephew of Beatrice Webb and was Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer (1947–50) under Clement Attlee; his father, Charles Cripps, was Labour Leader of the House of Lords (1929–31) as Lord Parmoor in Ramsay MacDonald's government; Parmoor had been a Conservative MP before defecting to Labour.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Through his grandmother Isobel Cripps, Appiah is a descendant of John Winthrop and the New England Winthrop family of Boston Brahmins as one of his ancestors, Robert Winthrop, was a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and migrated to England, becoming a distinguished Vice Admiral in the British Navy. Through Isobel, he is also descended from the British pharmacist James Crossley Eno.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Through Professor Appiah's father, a Nana of the Ashanti people, he is a direct descendant of Osei Tutu, the warrior emperor of pre-colonial Ghana, whose reigning successor, the Asantehene, is a distant relative of the Appiah family. Also among his African ancestors is the Ashanti nobleman Nana Akroma-Ampim I of Nyaduom, a warrior whose name the Professor now bears.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: He lives with his husband, Henry Finder, an editorial director of "The New Yorker", in an apartment in Manhattan, and a home in Pennington, New Jersey with a small sheep farm. Appiah has written about what it was like growing up gay in Ghana.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah taught philosophy and African-American studies at the University of Ghana, Cornell, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton Universities from 1981 to 1988. He was, until recently, the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton (with a cross-appointment at the University Center for Human Values) and was serving as the Bacon-Kilkenny Professor of Law at Fordham University in the fall of 2008. Appiah also served on the board of PEN American Center and was on a panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award. He has taught at Yale, Cornell, Duke, and Harvard universities and lectured at many other institutions in the US, Germany, Ghana and South Africa, and Paris. Until the fall of 2009, he served as a trustee of Ashesi University College in Accra, Ghana. Currently, he is a professor of philosophy and law at NYU.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: His Cambridge dissertation explored the foundations of probabilistic semantics. In 1992, Appiah published "In My Father's House", which won the Herskovitz Prize for African Studies in English. Among his later books are "Colour Conscious" (with Amy Gutmann), "The Ethics of Identity" (2005), and "Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers" (2006). He has been a close collaborator with Henry Louis Gates Jr., with whom he edited "Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience". Appiah was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: In 2008, Appiah published "Experiments in Ethics", in which he reviews the relevance of empirical research to ethical theory. In the same year, he was recognised for his contributions to racial, ethnic, and religious relations when Brandeis University awarded him the first "Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize".


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: As well as his academic work, Appiah has also published several works of fiction. His first novel, "Avenging Angel", set at the University of Cambridge, involved a murder among the Cambridge Apostles; Sir Patrick Scott is the detective in the novel. Appiah's second and third novels are "Nobody Likes Letitia" and "Another Death in Venice".


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah has been nominated for, or received, several honours. He was the 2009 finalist in the arts and humanities for the Eugene R. Gannon Award for the Continued Pursuit of Human Advancement. In 2010, he was named by "Foreign Policy" magazine on its list of top global thinkers. On 13 February 2012, Appiah was awarded the National Humanities Medal at a ceremony at the White House.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah currently chairs the jury for the Berggruen Prize, and serves on the Berggruen Institute's Philosophy & Culture Center's Academic Board. He was elected as President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in January 2022.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah argues that the formative denotation of culture is preceded by the efficacy of intellectual interchange. From this position he views organisations such as UNICEF and Oxfam in two lights: on the one hand he seems to appreciate the immediate action these organisations provide while on the other he points out their long-term futility. His focus is, instead, on the long-term political and economic development of nations according to the Western capitalist/democratic model, an approach that relies on continued growth in the "marketplace" that is the capital-driven modern world.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: However, when capitalism is introduced and it does not "take off" as in the Western world, the livelihood of the peoples involved is at stake. Thus, the ethical questions involved are certainly complex, yet the general impression in Appiah's "Kindness to Strangers" is one which implies that it is not up to "us" to save the poor and starving, but up to their own governments. Nation-states must assume responsibility for their citizens, and a cosmopolitan's role is to appeal to "our own" government to ensure that these nation-states respect, provide for, and protect their citizens.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: If they will not, "we" are obliged to change their minds; if they cannot, "we" are obliged to provide assistance, but only our "fair share," that is, not at the expense of our own comfort, or the comfort of those "nearest and dearest" to us.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah's early philosophical work dealt with probabilistic semantics and theories of meaning, but his more recent books have tackled philosophical problems of race and racism, identity, and moral theory. His current work tackles three major areas: 1. the philosophical foundations of liberalism; 2. the questioning of methods in arriving at knowledge about values; and 3. the connections between theory and practice in moral life, all of which concepts can also be found in his book "Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers".


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: On postmodern culture, Appiah writes, "Postmodern culture is the culture in which all postmodernisms operate, sometimes in synergy, sometimes in competition; and because contemporary culture is, in a certain sense to which I shall return, transnational, postmodern culture is globalthough that emphatically does not mean that it is the culture of every person in the world."


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah has been influenced by the cosmopolitanist philosophical tradition, which stretches from German thinkers such as G. W. F. Hegel to African American thinkers like W. E. B. Du Bois, among others. In his article "Education for Global Citizenship", Appiah outlines his conception of cosmopolitanism. He therein defines cosmopolitanism as "universality plus difference". Building from this definition, he asserts that the first takes precedence over the latter, that is: different cultures are respected "not because cultures matter in themselves, but because people matter, and culture matters to people." But Appiah first defined it as its problems but ultimately determines that practising a citizenship of the world and conversation is not only helpful in a post-9/11 world. Therefore, according to Appiah's take on this ideology, cultural differences are to be respected in so far as they are not harmful to people and in no way conflict with our universal concern for every human's life and well-being.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: In his book "Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers" (2006), Appiah introduces two ideas that "intertwine in the notion of cosmopolitanism" (Emerging, 69). The first is the idea that we have obligations to others that are bigger than just sharing citizenship. The second idea is that we should never take for granted the value of life and become informed of the practices and beliefs of others. Kwame Appiah frequents university campuses to speak to students. One request he makes is, "See one movie with subtitles a month."


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: In "Lies that Bind" (2018), Appiah attempts to deconstruct identities of creed, colour, country, and class.


title: Kwame Anthony Appiah

text: Appiah has been a critic of contemporary theories of Afrocentrism. In his 1997 essay "Europe Upside Down: Fallacies of the New Afrocentrism," he argues that current Afrocentricism is striking for "how thoroughly at home it is in the frameworks of nineteenth century European thought," particularly as a mirror image to Eurocentric constructions of race and a preoccupation with the ancient world. Appiah also finds an irony in the conception that if the source of the West lies in ancient Egypt via Greece, then "its legacy of ethnocentrism is presumably one of our moral liabilities."


title: Shillelagh

text: A shillelagh ( ; or , "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.


title: Shillelagh

text: The name shillelagh is the Hiberno-English corruption of the Irish (Gaelic) form , where means "willow" or "cudgel" and is genitive for meaning "thong", "strap", "leash", and "string", among others.


title: Shillelagh

text: As an alternate etymology, Anna Maria Hall and Patrick Weston Joyce have written that the name may have derived from the wood being sourced from forest land in the village or barony of Shillelagh, County Wicklow. The geographic name Shillelagh derives from , or "Descendants of Éalach" in English.


title: Shillelagh

text: Shillelaghs are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood ("Prunus spinosa") or oak. With the scarcity of oak in Ireland the term came increasingly to denote a blackthorn stick, and indeed blackthorn stick is sometimes glossed as equivalent to shillelagh.


title: Shillelagh

text: Wood from the root was prized since this would be used for the knob, and was less prone to crack or break during use.


title: Shillelagh

text: Most commonly, the chosen wood would be placed up a chimney to cure for a duration of several months to several years; the accumulated layer of soot gave the shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance.


title: Shillelagh

text: The less frequent methods were to bury the shank in a dung pile, or in slaked lime. The stick may require protection from its dung bath by being wrapped in well-greased oiled brown paper (steeped in hog's lard or oil).


title: Shillelagh

text: Both of the previous methods would be finished with oils or sealants, etc. A further coat of special soot finish may be applied, or a mixture of black lead and grease rubbed on with woolen cloth to a polishing finish. Some examples may just be given a coat of black paint.


title: Shillelagh

text: Rarer still was brining, where the shank was placed into a basin of saltwater. The saltwater, being a hypertonic solution, would pull moisture from the shank with little warping. One isolated case of this brining method being used, by Charlotte Brontë's uncle named Hugh, has been documented. Hugh Brontë is said to have rubbed train oil (whale oil) on the stick using chamois leather, and applied magpie blood to give it a darker appearance.


title: Shillelagh

text: They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent), or rather longer, about , as opposed to the walking stick measuring about . In the broad sense, the Shillealagh "bata" or sticks could include short mallets only in length to long poles measuring in length.


title: Shillelagh

text: Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight beyond the typical two pounds; this sort of shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'.


title: Shillelagh

text: The loaded types needed to have its knob fitted with iron ferrules to maintain structural integrity, and the sticks also have iron ferrules fitted onto their narrow end. Shillelaghs may also have a heavy knob for a handle which can be used for striking. Shillelaghs may also have a strap attached, similar to commercially made walking sticks, to place around the holder's wrist.


title: Shillelagh

text: The shillelagh was originally used for settling disputes in a gentlemanly manner — like a duel with pistols or swords. Modern practitioners of bataireacht study the use of the shillelagh for self-defence and as a martial art. Of the practice, researcher J. W. Hurley writes:


title: Shillelagh

text: Methods of shillelagh fighting have evolved over a period of thousands of years, from the spear, staff, axe and sword fighting of the Irish. There is some evidence which suggests that the use of Irish stick weapons may have evolved in a progression from a reliance on long spears and wattles, to shorter spears and wattles, to the shillelagh, alpeen, blackthorn (walking-stick) and short cudgel. By the 19th century Irish shillelagh-fighting had evolved into a practice which involved the use of three basic types of weapons, sticks which were long, medium or short in length.


title: Shillelagh

text: Shillelaghs are sometimes referred to in a similar context in folk songs. In the ballad "Finnegan's Wake" occurs the phrase "Shillelagh law did all engage", signifying that a brawl has broken out; "shillelagh law" itself has been explained as meaning the accepted rule governing the usage of the weapon.


title: Shillelagh

text: The novelty song "It's the Same Old Shillelagh" was written by Pat White and recorded by him in 1927. Its subject is a young Irish-American who inherits his father's shillelagh.


title: Shillelagh

text: The anti-recruiting folk song "Arthur McBride", where the recruiters are struck with a shillelagh, and in the 19th-century song "Rocky Road to Dublin", in which references are made to fashioning a shillelagh ("I cut a stout blackthorn"), and using it ("shillalah") to hold a tied bag over one's shoulder, and using it as a striking weapon.


title: Shillelagh

text: Charles Dibdin the younger wrote a song entitled "The Twig of Shelaly", later reprinted as "The Twig of Shillelah".


title: Shillelagh

text: The shillelagh came to be regarded as a stereotypical symbol of Irishness in popular culture, particularly in an Irish-American context.


title: Shillelagh

text: Members of a number of Irish regiments in the British Armed Forces have traditionally carried Blackthorn sticks, including officers of the Irish Guards, the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Dragoon Guards. Officers and senior non-commissioned officers of the 1st Battalion/69th Infantry Regiment (The Fighting 69th) of the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade also carry shillelaghs whilst on parade.


title: Shillelagh

text: In sports, the Boston Celtics logo has a leprechaun leaning on his shillelagh, and it also features with the leprechaun on some logos of Brothers Rugby league teams in Australia. In San Diego, Padres broadcaster Mark Grant popularised the shillelagh as a rallying call, by using terms like "Shillelagh Power" to describe late-game heroics by the Padres. The success of the phrase led the San Diego Padres store to carry inflatable shillelaghs. Similarly, in the college games of American football, a Jeweled Shillelagh is the trophy given to the winner of the rivalry game between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.


title: Shillelagh

text: A number of items take their name from the shillelagh, including the MGM-51 Shillelagh anti-tank missile, and several aircraft of the 357th Fighter Group which were named for the club, and had similar representative nose art. In the tabletop game "Dungeons & Dragons", 'shillelagh' is a low-level spell used by casters to make simple clubs into powerful bludgeoning weapons.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the sidekick and valet of Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Wong first appeared in the comic "Strange Tales" #110 (July 1963) but was unnamed until "Strange Tales" #119. In the 2006 miniseries "Dr. Strange: the Oath", it was revealed that Wong stems from a family of monks living in Kamar-Taj. He has a cousin currently in training in the occult and has talked to him about one day replacing Wong as a servant to Dr. Strange.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: The character was portrayed by Clyde Kusatsu in the 1978 television film "Dr. Strange". Benedict Wong portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films "Doctor Strange" (2016), "" (2018), "" (2019), "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), "" (2021), and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" as well as the Disney+ series "" (both 2022). Additionally, he voices an alternate timeline version in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?" (2021)


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong is the descendant and look-alike of Kan, a Chinese monk who lived roughly one thousand years ago and was a student of the occult. Kan was also a teacher and a healer, and though his order of monks was devoted to the ways of peace, he was also a skillful warrior who would fight when necessary.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: One day Kan discovered a strange temple. Exploring it, Kan was drawn against his will through a mystical black mirror into an other-dimensional realm. There Kan met Jehan, king of Siridar, his sister, Princess Shialmar, and their court magician, Vung, the one who had cast the spell drawing Kan through the mirror. Jehan persuaded Kan to lead his people in a war against the Wizard Kings who ruled this other-dimensional realm. Kan agreed to do so. During his time in this realm, Kan and Shialmar fell in love with each other.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Ultimately Kan led his forces to complete victory over the forces of the Wizard Kings, and all but one of the Wizard Kings were killed. But Kan did not realize he was a pawn in Vung's secret plans. Vung captured both Kan and Shialmar and prepared to sacrifice them to the demonic race he secretly served, the N'Garai. Shialmar offered the N'Garai her own soul in exchange for power. The N'garai complied, transforming Shialmar into the Shadowqueen, a sorceress of great mystical power who was nearly incapable of love. The Shadowqueen slew Vung and sent Kan back to China.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Back on Earth, Kan returned to the life of a priest. Kan deeply regretted aiding Vung in defeating the Wizard Kings and sought to atone by devoting his life and those of his first-born male descendants to the service of mystics who themselves serve the forces of good. Ever since then, the firstborn males of Wong's family have carried on this tradition. For the ten generations preceding Wong's, the first-born males have served the Ancient One, the former sorcerer supreme of the Earth dimension. The last of the members of Wong's family to serve the Ancient One was Wong's own father, Hamir the Hermit, who remained with the Ancient One up to the time of the latter's death.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong was born in Kamar-Taj, the first-born son of Hamir, and thus his life was dedicated to the Ancient One from earliest childhood. When Wong was four years old, Hamir presented him to the Ancient One. Subsequently, Wong was sent to a remote monastery to become a student of the martial and mystic arts of Kamar-Taj, and receive training in how to serve a master sorcerer. Wong's relatives were allowed to visit him on occasions. Shortly before Wong's tenth birthday, Hamir brought a young couple to the monastery to visit Wong and made a marriage pact with them, betrothing Wong to their as yet unborn daughter. During his training at the monastery, Wong mastered certain Eastern martial arts. He remains highly adept in the martial arts, although since actually becoming a servant he no longer practices them as much as he once did.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: When Wong reached adulthood, the Ancient One sent him to the United States to become a servant of his disciple, Doctor Stephen Strange. Wong was the first member of his family to come to America. Wong has now served Strange loyally and well for many years. During that time Strange has succeeded the Ancient One as sorcerer supreme of the Earth dimension.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Strange's secretary, Sara Wolfe, became strongly attracted to Wong, who began to reciprocate her feelings. However, Wong put an end to what might have become a romance with Wolfe when he was notified that Imei Chang, the woman to whom he was betrothed, had at last come of age to be married.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: At one point Wong was turned into a vampire by Dracula; he was soon restored to humanity by Doctor Strange. Wong was later abducted by other-dimensional sorcerers to the realm that was still ruled by the Shadowqueen. Doctor Strange followed Wong there and rescued him from the Shadowqueen's dungeon. Wong helped Strange battle the Shadowqueen, who finally perished. Wong was then attacked by a N'Garai demon.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong and the empath, Topaz, were both abducted to another planet by the alien sorcerer, Urthona, when the latter used his magical powers to steal Doctor Strange's house and the mystical talismans and books it contained. Urthona even viciously mutilated Wong's face while holding him prisoner. Strange defeated Urthona and rescued Wong and Topaz. Back on Earth, Topaz used her healing powers to restore Wong's face to normalcy.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: In order to rescue Wong and Topaz, Strange had found it necessary to unleash mystical forces that, he believed, destroyed the mystical talismans and books that Urthona had stolen, thus preventing Urthona from using them for evil purposes (In actuality unknown to Strange, the books and talismans were not destroyed but were instead spirited away by the mystical entity, Agamotto. ). The disappearance of these talismans from the Earth dimension broke certain ancient spells holding various mystical menaces in check.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Strange subsequently cast a spell causing the population of the world, including Wong and Sara Wolfe, to believe him dead. As a result, Wong and Wolfe perceived Strange as a man named Stephen Sanders. Strange made Wong and Wolfe the joint administrators and co-directors of the Stephen Strange Memorial Metaphysical Institute, an institution for research into the occult. Strange then embarked on a long quest during which he succeeded in defeating a number of the menaces that the disappearance of the talismans had unleashed, most notably Shuma-Gorath.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Following the defeat of Shuma-Gorath, Strange returned to New York City and released Wong and Sara Wolfe from his spell. Realizing that Strange was not dead, Wong and Wolfe regained their full memory of him and warmly welcomed him back; Wong was also reunited with Imei Chang. Since then, the general populace has also learned that Doctor Strange is still alive and Strange has regained his missing talismans and books.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: When Imei was apparently altered into a hideous demon by one of Strange's enemies, Wong hoped that Strange would be able to help her. Strange was having problems of his own at the time, and Wong took this as a sign that Strange wouldn't be able to help Imei. This resulted in the first friction between the Sorcerer Supreme and his old friend. Finally, Strange managed to redirect some attention to this matter; the magical probe revealed that the demon just acted like Imei. In fact he discovered that it wasn't Imei at all, but only a construct that was made to believe it was and that the true Imei had been killed. Although Wong is as yet unmarried and childless, he has stated that his first-born son will follow the family tradition of serving a mystic devoted to good.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong's father is Hamir the Hermit, the former valet to Doctor Strange's mentor, the Ancient One. Hamir still tends the Tibetan monastery as the Ancient One's spiritual successor (while Dr. Strange was the Ancient One's mystical successor).


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong traveled to America to serve as both bodyguard and valet to the doctor. He has faithfully served Doctor Strange through many adventures, such as when Strange led the Defenders, Secret Defenders and partly through his leadership of the Midnight Sons.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong almost loses his life when he was kidnapped and mauled by a brutal, alien sorcerer. Wong was one of the very few outside, involved entities to the Infinity Gauntlet incident, though he initially perceives it as a troubling dream or vision.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Sara Wolfe, Strange's neighbor and old friend, enters Wong's life. Ancient demons called 'Eye Killers' slay Wolfe's boyfriend Douglas Royce. Strange later encounters the monsters in battle. Wolfe eventually becomes Strange's secretary and becomes involved romantically with Wong.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong has also been romantically involved with Imei, a woman betrothed to him when he was much younger. After many adventures with Wong and Dr. Strange, Imei perishes, killed by Sister Nil. This is during a difficult battle when Strange is faced with a choice of saving Imei, or saving many others. He did not choose Imei. This incident causes Wong to become mentally unhinged. For a while he operates as a staunch opponent of Strange, even those who might be Strange as for some time Stephen operated under multiple identities. Wong, allying himself with what he believed to be Imei, kidnapped the real Strange to bring him to the ancient demoness Salome. She was defeated. The two eventually make their peace, which involves traveling to another dimension so Wong can make his goodbyes to the real Imei's spirit. They re-establish their old relationship, though now both try to treat each other as equals, instead of master and servant.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong has been a supporting character in the pages of "New Avengers", after the events of the "Civil War". Many superheroes who did not wish to register with the government go on the run and Strange opens his home to them. Wong adapts to serving them and later, Strange's new love interest, the Night Nurse. Around this time, Wong develops cancer, and Strange goes on a magical quest that results in a cure. In this same period, Wong is making a shopping trip in New York on Christmas Eve when he encounters a terrorist Hydra cell endangering civilians. His courage in confronting the villains alone causes the human-hating dragon, Fin Fang Foom to assist Wong. After the threat is neutralized, Wong tries to invite the dragon back to the Sanctum but is turned down.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Doctor Strange becomes injured after self-confessed unwise use of dark magics. Returning home, the New Avengers are set upon by the Hood's super-villain army. When Doctor Strange is attacked and shot by the Hood, Wong beats him back. The supervillain army's defeat damages the Sanctum enough so that S.H.I.E.L.D. is able to take over. Doctor Strange leaves on a road trip. Wong's whereabouts are unclear. It is later shown he is in the running for the new position of Sorcerer Supreme, but the duties later go to Brother Voodoo.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong resurfaced at the behest of Doctor Strange to serve as the New Avengers' housekeeper. After the "Fear Itself" storyline, multiple heroes reorganize themselves at the Avengers Mansion; Wong is angry at this, threatening the butler Jarvis if the man interferes with his kitchen. Wong later goes into hiding at the behest of Doctor Strange, who is being pursued by a murderous spirit. Wong also assists Strange and Deadpool in battling evil versions of dead American Presidents.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Strange later re-establishes himself at his Bleecker Street Sanctorum. Wong moves back in to provide his essential services. Some of which, as he states to one of Strange's patients are "Chef, housekeeper, martial arts instructor, mystical guardian and insatiable adventurer". It is later established that Wong has been keeping a secret life from Strange. To keep unstable magics from harming the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong has established a willing sect of magical practitioners that take the magical harm upon themselves. Strange believes unstable magics are neutralized by confusing visits to the basement of his Sanctum Sanctorum.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Damnation" storyline, Wong was approached by the ghost of Doctor Strange's talking dog Bats so that he can help Doctor Strange at the time when Mephisto has established Hotel Inferno in Las Vegas. To help Doctor Strange, Wong summoned Blade, Doctor Voodoo, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, and Man-Thing. While Wong has assembled a team made up of those he has summoned, they were overpowered by the demons roaming around Las Vegas. This attack got Wong and Bats' ghost separated from the rest. They ran into Doctor Strange's Ghost Rider form. When Mephisto was defeated, Wong remained at Hotel Inferno to keep an eye on its casino.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Death of Doctor Strange" storyline, Wong makes Doctor Strange some coffee before he takes Bats' ghost for a walk. When Wong and Bats find Doctor Strange dead, Zelma and Doctor Voodoo try to detect his spirit as Baron Mordo and Kaecilius arrive. As Wong accuses Baron Mordo of killing Doctor Strange with Kaecilius prepared to fight Wong, Baron Mordo states that he didn't kill Doctor Strange and that somebody stole the opportunity from him. Just then, a classic version of Doctor Strange arrives having sensed that the worst has happened and asks what year is it. When Classic Doctor Strange catches a falling Clea, Wong briefs her on what happened to Doctor Strange. Clea states to him and everyone present that the inter-dimensional warlords like Aggamon, Dagoth, Tiboro, and Umar are fleeing from the Three Mothers. When the Three Mothers arrive, Wong witnesses the Avengers' disastrous fight with them before the Three Mothers retreat vowing to come back for them later.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong is a master martial artist, having achieved mastery in the martial arts of Kamar-Taj, and is capable of incapacitating all manner of terrestrial foe with speed and efficiency. Moreover, he is well-acquainted with the dark arts. Wong can hold his own against mystical forces, having developed enough competence at sorcery to be considered a candidate for Sorcerer Supreme at one point.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: In the dystopian future of Earth X, Dr. Strange's astral form has been slain by Clea. Wong takes care of Strange's body. However Wong himself had been altered by the Terrigen Mists unleashed across the planet. This left him open to manipulation by Mephisto, who promised Wong a world that works against Strange's interest.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Jason Wong was a friend of Stephen Strange from his college years. Strange suffered a severe mental breakdown after his car accident and Wong became his caretaker. After multiple doctors could not help, Wong took Strange to a man he knew called the 'Ancient One'. Strange's mental illnesses were slowly healed with rudimentary magic-based meditation techniques. In the process, Wong and the Ancient One became fast friends. They later moved to Strange's Bleecker Street Sanctum Sanctorum where they sometimes enjoy competitive video game sessions.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: In Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness #3, Wong, while alone in the Sanctum, gives shelter to the bitten and turned Doctor Druid. Despite the man's attempt to control his hunger, he kills and devours Wong.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong is presented as an equal, yet headstrong disciple to the Ancient One. When he learns of several relics capable of commanding the powerful Vishanti entities, he ventures out from the monastery to secure them. Before and during this adventure, he mentors Stephen Strange in aspects of self-defense and magical arts. Though he is tempted by the vast power gained by control of the relics, he willingly gives them up.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: In this limited series, Wong is introduced as a young Tibetan boy who was rendered mute after witnessing the slaughter of his family at the age of four. Several years later Stephen Strange, a medical student volunteering in Tibet, fixes his broken arm and lends him a watch. This act of kindness restores his ability to speak. He decides to travel to America and study medicine where he opens an orthopedic clinic under the name "Stephen Wong." At some point, he also joins the Ancient One and trains in both magic and martial arts. After injuring his hands, Dr. Strange visits his clinic in hope that he can restore full mobility to his hands. There, Strange learns that Wong and Clea are trained mystical warriors serving the Ancient One, working to keep him alive. He joins Clea and the inexperienced Doctor Strange against the assembled forces of Baron Mordo and Dormammu. After the defeat of their enemies, Wong, unsure if it is a 'good thing', willingly takes the position as Strange's servant.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong also made several appearances in the Ultimate Universe, where he was once again a servant to Dr. Strange, Junior.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Wong appears in "Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme", voiced by Paul Nakauchi. This version has a full head of grey hair, is a master sorcerer, and serves as Doctor Strange's mentor.


title: Wong (Marvel Comics)

text: Benedict Wong portrays Wong in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version is one of Stephen Strange's teachers rather than a servant as well as the librarian of Kamar-Taj who eventually becomes the Sorcerer Supreme. Additionally, he does not perform any martial arts and is nearly humorless, with this deadpan attitude serving as comic relief. Wong is introduced in the live-action film "Doctor Strange" (2016), and makes further appearances in the live-action films "" (2018), "" (2019), "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), "" (2021) and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022). as well as the live-action Disney+ series "". Furthermore, Wong voices alternate timeline versions of the character in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?" (2021).


title: White House Plumbers

text: The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week after the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" in June 1971, during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Its task was to stop and/or respond to the leaking of classified information, such as the "Pentagon Papers", to the news media. The work of the unit "tapered off" after the bungled "Ellsberg break-in" but some of its former operatives branched into illegal activities while still employed at the White House together with managers of the Committee to Re-elect the President, including the Watergate break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal. The group has been described as Nixon's "fixers".


title: White House Plumbers

text: On Thanksgiving, 1971, David Young arrived home from his planning at the Special Investigative Unit, when his grandmother asked him, "What do you do at the White House?" He replied, "I am helping the president stop some leaks." She exclaimed, "Oh, you're a plumber!" Young, E. Howard Hunt, and G. Gordon Liddy then put up a sign on their office with the title "The Plumbers", but it was taken down as their operations were intended to be top secret. Still, the name stuck for the group.


title: White House Plumbers

text: The Plumbers came to include several Watergate figures including Frank Sturgis. Hunt was recommended by Charles Colson, and Liddy was recommended by Egil Krogh. Liddy coined his own sensitivity indicator for the group in the form of "ODESSA".


title: White House Plumbers

text: Some authors believe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer John Paisley was a member of the Plumbers. Paisley was assigned to the CIA's Office of Security, of which Nixon campaign security coordinator and Watergate burglar James McCord was once a member. On August 9, 1971, Young's memo indicates he met with Paisley and OS Director Howard Osborn, in which Paisley provided a list of objectives for the Special Investigations Unit.


title: White House Plumbers

text: The Plumbers' first task was the burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's Los Angeles psychiatrist, Lewis J. Fielding, in an effort to uncover evidence to discredit Ellsberg, who had leaked the "Pentagon Papers". The operation was reportedly unsuccessful in finding Ellsberg's file and was thus reported to the White House. However, Fielding himself stated the file was in his office; he found it on the floor on the morning after the burglary and quite clearly, someone had gone through it. In a September 1971 conversation, John Ehrlichman advised Nixon, "We had one little operation; it's been aborted out in Los Angeles which, I think, is better that you don't know about." Eventually, the case against Ellsberg was dismissed due to government misconduct.


title: White House Plumbers

text: Aside from the Fielding burglary, there are few other activities the Plumbers were known to have been engaged in. Hunt reportedly looked into the Ted Kennedy-Chappaquiddick incident; and Liddy reported the alleged involvement of the Kennedy administration in the assassination of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem.


title: White House Plumbers

text: After the California break-in, Liddy—who was general counsel, a member of the finance committee of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) and promoted from aide to Krogh and Young—worked with Campaign political-intelligence operations. Ehrlichman, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs and Special Investigations Unit, knew about Liddy's goal to perform an intelligence-gathering operation for the CRP. Liddy involved Hunt in the operations which would later include the Watergate burglary.


title: Dan Jeannotte

text: Daniel Jeannotte (born 22 September 1981) is a Canadian actor. He gained recognition for his roles as Brandon Russell in the American-Canadian fantasy television series "Good Witch", and as James Stuart in the CW period drama series "Reign." He also portrayed Arno Dorian through performance capture in "Assassin's Creed Unity", an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. In April 2017, Jeannotte joined the Freeform drama series "The Bold Type" as Ryan Decker, a writer at "Pinstripe" magazine, who is Jane Sloan's (Katie Stevens) romantic interest.


title: Impeachment process against Richard Nixon

text: The impeachment process against Richard Nixon began in the United States House of Representatives on October 30, 1973, following the series of high-level resignations and firings widely called the "Saturday Night Massacre" during the course of the Watergate scandal. The House Committee on the Judiciary set up an impeachment inquiry staff and began investigations into possible impeachable offenses by Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States. The process was formally initiated on February 6, 1974, when the House granted the Judiciary Committee authority to investigate whether sufficient grounds existed to impeach Nixon of high crimes and misdemeanors under , of the United States Constitution. This investigation was undertaken one year after the United States Senate established the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities to investigate the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex during the 1972 presidential election, and the Republican Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement; during those hearings the scope of the scandal became apparent and the existence of the Nixon White House tapes was revealed.


text: Following an April 1974 subpoena from the Judiciary Committee, edited transcripts of 42 taped White House conversations relevant to the Watergate cover-up were finally made public by Nixon. However, the committee pressed for the audio tapes themselves, and subsequently issued subpoenas for additional tapes, all of which Nixon had refused. That same month, Nixon also refused to comply with a subpoena from special prosecutor Leon Jaworski for 64 Watergate-related tapes. Ultimately, on July 24, 1974, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision against Nixon, which ordered him to comply. On May 9, 1974, formal hearings in the impeachment inquiry of Nixon began, culminating July 27–30, 1974, when members of the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee eventually approved three articles of impeachment. These articles charged Nixon with: 1) obstruction of justice in attempting to impede the investigation of the Watergate break-in, protect those responsible, and conceal the existence of other illegal activities; 2) abuse of power by using the office of the presidency on multiple occasions, dating back to the first year of his administration (1969), to unlawfully use federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as establishing a covert White House special investigative unit, to violate the constitutional rights of citizens and interfere with lawful investigations; and 3) contempt of Congress by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas. These articles were reported to the House of Representatives for final action, with 7 of the committee's 17 Republicans joining all 21 of its Democrats in voting in favor of one or more of the articles. Two other articles were debated in committee but were rejected. Based on the strength of the evidence presented and the bipartisan support for the articles in committee, House leaders of both political parties concluded that Nixon's impeachment by the full House was a certainty if it reached the House floor for a final vote, and that his conviction in a Senate trial was a distinct possibility.


text: On August 5, 1974, Nixon released a transcript of one of the additional conversations to the public, known as the "smoking gun" tape, which made clear his complicity in the Watergate cover-up. This disclosure destroyed Nixon politically. His most loyal defenders in Congress announced they would vote to impeach and convict Nixon for obstructing justice. Republican congressional leaders met with Nixon and told him that his impeachment and removal were all but certain. Thereupon, Nixon gave up the struggle to remain in office, resigning the presidency on August 9, 1974, before the full House could vote on the articles of impeachment. Although arrangements for a final House vote along with a Senate trial were being made at the time, further formal action was rendered unnecessary by his resignation, so the House brought the impeachment process against him to an official close two weeks later.


text: Nixon was the first U.S. president in over a century, since Andrew Johnson in 1868, to be the subject of formal impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. Two of Nixon's successors have undergone similar proceedings, and both, like Johnson, were impeached but then acquitted at the consequent Senate trial. Thus, while Nixon himself was not impeached, the impeachment process against him is so far the only one to cause a president's departure from office.


text: The Watergate scandal began with the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. In January 1973, the same month in which President Nixon began his second term, the burglars each went on trial separately before U.S. District Judge John Sirica; all pleaded or were found guilty. That February, the United States Senate voted to create a special investigative committee to look into the scandal. The resultant Senate Watergate hearings, led by Sam Ervin, commenced in May 1973. Broadcast "gavel-to-gavel" nationwide by PBS and (alternately) by the three U.S. commercial networks—ABC, CBS and NBC, the hearings aroused and held great public interest through that summer. Senators heard testimony that the president had approved plans to cover up administration involvement with the Watergate break-in, and learned of the existence of a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office.


text: Separately, on May 25, 1973, Attorney General Elliot Richardson appointed Archibald Cox as special prosecutor for the federal investigation into possible Nixon administration ties to the Watergate burglary. When the existence of tape recorded White House conversations became known in July of that year, both Cox and the Senate Watergate Committee asked Judge Sirica to issue a subpoena for several "relevant and important" recordings and documents. The president, who denied prior knowledge of the Watergate burglary or participating in its cover-up, which he claimed to have been unaware of until earlier in 1973, refused to comply with the subpoenas, citing executive privilege and national security concerns. During an address to the nation on Watergate the following month, Nixon justified his refusal:


text: Nixon's adamant refusal to comply with the subpoenas for the tapes sparked a constitutional crisis between the White House and Congress and the special prosecutor. On August 9, the Senate committee filed suit in federal district court to force President Nixon to make the subpoenaed tapes available. Hoping to avoid making a ruling, the Court asked the parties to negotiate an out of court solution; their effort to find an acceptable compromise failed however, largely due to Nixon's intransigence. Nevertheless, Nixon soon began contemplating ways to accommodate Cox, the Senate Watergate committee, and Sirica after two polls showed that public opinion was solidly against him: 61 percent of those responding to a Gallup Poll said the president should release the subpoenaed tapes to the court; 54 percent of those responding to a Harris Poll said Congress would be justified in beginning impeachment proceedings against the president if he refused to obey a court order directing him to turn over the tapes.


text: In a 5–2 ruling on October 12, a U.S. court of appeals upheld Sirica's subpoena. Weakened by the decision, the president, together with Chief of Staff Alexander Haig and Press Secretary Ron Ziegler, moved forward with a proposed compromise: the White House would prepare transcripts of the tapes, Senator John C. Stennis, a Democrat, and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, would be asked to listen to the tapes himself and make a comparison between the transcripts and the tapes. His authenticated version would be submitted to the court. The White House also wanted to empower Stennis to paraphrase language that in its original form would, in his judgment, be embarrassing to the President, and wanted an assurance from Cox that no other tapes would be subpoenaed by his office. The administration's explanation was that Stennis would be sensitive to matters of national security contained within. However, as Stennis was hard-of-hearing and on heavy doses of medication since being mugged and shot earlier in the year, it is believed that the president did not want the tapes entered into the public record verbatim, because they contained recordings of him and others using coarse language and racial slurs, and making possibly incriminating statements. When the plan was presented to him, Cox categorically rejected it.


text: Afterward, on October 20, after being directed by the White House to make no further attempts to obtain tapes, notes or memoranda of presidential conversations, Cox held a news conference to state that he would continue pressing in court for the tapes, even if it meant asking that Nixon be held in contempt if the White House refused to turn them over. Nixon thereupon ordered that Cox be fired, precipitating the immediate departures of Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus in what became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre."


text: During the opening months of the 93rd Congress, multiple resolutions calling for a presidential impeachment inquiry were introduced in the House and referred to its Judiciary Committee. The committee began an examination of the charges under its general investigative authority. In February 1973, the House approved a resolution providing additional investigative authority that did not specifically mention impeachment.


text: The first resolution to directly call for President Nixon's impeachment was introduced on July 31, 1973, by Robert Drinan. His resolution, which did not contain specific charges, was made in response to Nixon's clandestine authorization of the bombing of Cambodia, as well as his actions relative to the growing Watergate scandal. The resolution was effectively ignored by leaders of both parties. House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill later said,


text: By September 1973, there was a sense that Nixon had regained some political strength, the American public had become burned out by the Watergate hearings, and Congress was not willing to undertake impeachment absent some major revelation from the White House tapes or some egregious new presidential action against the investigation. There was, nonetheless, a public appetite for information about impeachment, piqued by the legal maneuvering over the tapes. Accordingly, the Judiciary Committee prepared a 718-page book on the topic. Published in October 1973, it traces the origin of the impeachment power, cites all the instances in which that power had previously been used by Congress and gives a detailed description of Andrew Johnson's 1868 Senate impeachment trial.


text: The October 20 "Saturday Night Massacre" rapidly became a public relations disaster for Nixon. Shortly after the White House announced the firing and the resignations, NBC News anchor John Chancellor interrupted the network's prime time programming with a dire message: "The country tonight is in the midst of what may be the most serious constitutional crisis in its history." The next day, "The New York Times" declared: "The nation is in the hands of a president overcome with dictatorial misconceptions of his constitutional authority." The White House and congressional offices were deluged with a record shattering 450,000 telegrams, most demanding Nixon's impeachment; hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the White House, loudly demanding the same.


text: Nixon's firing of Archibald Cox triggered an uproar in Congress as well. Beginning on October 23, outraged House Democrats introduced 22 separate impeachment-related resolutions, variously calling for impeachment or an impeachment investigation or, at least, a new special prosecutor. Additionally, Nixon was the subject of several resolutions that either sought to censure him or that called for him to resign. Speaker of the House Carl Albert referred the various resolutions to the Judiciary Committee.


text: Further, Nixon's actions were widely criticized by Republican congressional leaders, who demanded "full and complete disclosure" to investigators of all subpoenaed Watergate materials as well as the appointment of a new special prosecutor. That same day, Nixon agreed to turn the subpoenaed tapes over to Judge Sirica. The president also reversed course on his decision to abolish the office of the special prosecutor, which he had done when he fired Cox. One week later, Leon Jaworski was appointed to the post by the acting attorney general, Robert Bork.


text: Speaker Albert, who at the time was first in the presidential line of succession, following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew on October 10, cautioned the committee against taking impulsive or action on impeachment; he also called on Congress to take swift action on the nomination of Gerald Ford to fill the vice presidential vacancy. During the vacancy, Albert came under increasing pressure from various liberal House Democrats, such as Bella Abzug, to do the opposite. By using his political power to delay Ford's confirmation as vice president and expedite Nixon's impeachment and removal from office, Albert would become acting president and the Democratic Party would assume control of the executive branch without having to win an election. He rejected that course of action, however, though he did develop a 19-page contingency plan for a presidential transition, just in case. Likewise, Rodino refused to be pressured, telling the committee that the Ford nomination would not be held "hostage" until the impeachment inquiry was completed.


text: The Judiciary Committee voted on October 30, to begin consideration of possible impeachment of President Nixon by a 21–17 party-line vote, with all the committee's Democrats voting "yes" and all Republicans voting "no", and took up the matter in earnest that December, upon completing the Ford confirmation hearings. The committee was led by Peter W. Rodino, who, until assuming its chairmanship in January 1973, had kept a low profile in Congress. Now front and center in the political limelight, he told a reporter: "If fate had been looking for one of the powerhouses of Congress, it wouldn't have picked me." Those wishing to expedite the impeachment were critical of the slowness of running the process through the Judiciary Committee and of Rodino's leadership abilities. But Albert, who thought Rodino and his committee had done a fair and thorough job during the Ford hearings, was content to let the committee handle the process.


text: On November 4, 1973, Senator Edward Brooke became the first congressional Republican to publicly urge President Nixon to resign. That same week, several newspapers, including "The Atlanta Journal", "The Denver Post", "The Detroit News", and "The New York Times", published editorials also urging him to resign. "Time" magazine, in its first editorial in 50 years of publication, did so as well, declaring that the president "has irredeemably lost his moral authority" to govern effectively, and that Nixon "and the nation have passed a tragic point of no return." Later in November, the ACLU, which two months earlier had become the first national organization to publicly call for the president's impeachment and removal, released a 56‐page handbook detailing "17 things citizens could do to bring about the impeachment of President Nixon."


text: With momentum on impeachment quickly building in Congress, Nixon held a live one-hour televised press conference on November 17 to defend himself. In addition to Watergate-related matters, the president addressed a variety of topics, including the nation's energy crisis and his personal finances. In response to a question concerning allegations of fraud on his tax returns, he stated categorically: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook."


text: Over the next two months, as the impeachment investigations began, there was speculation in Washington that Nixon might resign. Despite several attempts to do so, Nixon had not been able to put Watergate behind him, and the momentum of events was against him. In the climate of anxiety and skepticism engendered by the Watergate scandal, the president's health and morale, as well as the motives behind his words and actions became the subject of much speculation. Rumors persisted that he was in poor mental and physical shape, and the White House became ultra-sensitive to any assessment of the president's public behavior that might cast doubt on his ability to govern.


text: Meanwhile, to ensure a "fair and principled inquiry" by keeping the impeachment process out of the hands of overzealous liberals, Rodino, with the support of the committee's ranking minority member Edward Hutchinson, decided to hire an independent lead special counsel for the inquiry whom the committee would oversee. John Doar, formerly a civil rights attorney in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, was hired for the position in December 1973. A registered Republican, he shared with Rodino a view that the Senate hearings had gone overboard with leaked revelations and witnesses compelled to testify under immunity grants; they were determined to do things in a more thorough and objective process. He also shared Rodino's view that the process would be as even-handed as possible, and was given the freedom to hire his own inquiry staff, separate from that handling regular Committee business.


text: While assembling his team, Doar began meticulously reviewing the Watergate grand jury testimony, Senate Watergate committee files and the earlier-released taped White House conversations. He supervised a staff which in due course grew to 100 people, including some 43 attorneys, of whom four were black and two were women. Nearly early all were recent (1968 or after) law school graduates. Among them was Bill Weld, who would go on to become the governor of Massachusetts. He worked on researching case law regarding what constituted grounds for presidential impeachment, and whether impoundment of appropriated funds was an impeachable offense. Another staff member was Hillary Rodham, not yet married to Bill Clinton, who would go on to become first lady of the United States, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State. She helped research procedures of impeachment, and like Weld, the historical grounds and standards for impeachment. She also worked on a task force led by Evan A. Davis, that gathered and organized the facts pertaining to the Watergate break-in and cover-up by: reading through earlier Senate Watergate Committee testimony; examining the various documents and tape recordings released by Nixon in April 1974; and interviewing witnesses.


text: Albert E. Jenner Jr., who had previously served as assistant counsel to the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, was named in January 1974 as senior counsel on the inquiry staff for the Republican minority on the Judiciary Committee, and Sam Garrison, who previously had been staff counsel and legislative liaison to Vice President Agnew, was named deputy counsel. Additionally, Nixon shuffled his legal team, and in January 1974, James D. St. Clair, a Boston lawyer, supplanted Charles Wright as the president's lead attorney. At its height his legal team employed 15 lawyers. St. Clair's defense was centered around the notion that while Nixon had made a number of statements that looked bad, he had committed no crimes. He also stated on numerous occasions during the proceedings, in explanation of his role: "I don't represent Mr. Nixon personally. I represent him in his capacity as president."


text: As the Judiciary Committee prepared to begin a formal impeachment inquiry, the president tried once more to contain the situation. At the conclusion of his 1974 State of the Union Address on January 30, Nixon asked for an expeditious resolution to any impeachment proceedings against him, so the government could function fully effectively again. He told Congress directly that "one year of Watergate is enough" and asserted that he had no "intention whatever" of resigning.


text: On February 6, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee was authorized to launch a formal impeachment inquiry against the president. The House approved the resolution 410–4. Voting against authorizing the inquiry were Republicans Benjamin B. Blackburn, Earl Landgrebe, Carlos Moorhead and Dave Treen. The vote, which was not a test of impeachment sentiment, validated the investigation begun by the committee the previous October. During the debate over this measure, Chairman Rodino said: "Whatever the result, whatever we learn or conclude, let us now proceed with such care and decency and thoroughness and honor that the vast majority of the American people, and their children after them, will say: "This was the right course. There was no other way."" House Minority Leader John Jacob Rhodes said Rodino's vow to conduct the inquiry fairly and within a short amount of time was "good with me."


text: The first task Doar assigned to the attorneys on the inquiry staff was to examine the constitutional and legal questions related to impeachment and to ascertain what constituted "high crimes and misdemeanors"one of the grounds stated in of the Constitution for impeachment of a federal official. This was a necessary first step as it had been over a century since the only prior American presidential impeachment, that of Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Judiciary Committee members desired guidance on the history, standards, and process of impeachment. Moreover, it had been nearly 40 years since the committee had even initiated an impeachment inquiry, not since 1936 against U.S. District Judge Halsted Ritter. Impeachment staff Senior Associate Special Counsel Joseph A. Woods Jr. supervised the staff's constitutional and legal research.


text: As a result of an in-depth study of how the constitutional language about impeachment came to be adopted during the 1787 Constitutional Convention and of the long history of British impeachment cases, the staff produced a guide for the Judiciary Committee, a 64-page report, entitled "Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment." A key determination made in the report was that there did not need to be a criminal act on the part of the president to justify impeachment. It stated: "The Framers did not write a fixed standard. Instead they adopted from English history a standard sufficiently general and flexible to meet future circumstances and events, the nature and character of which they could not foresee." It further concluded that impeachable offenses could fall into three categories: "exceeding the powers of the office in derogation of those of another branch of government," "behaving in a manner grossly incompatible with the proper functions and purpose of the office," and "employing the power of the office for an improper purpose or personal gain."


text: The document became a focal point of the Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry. The White House was quick to reject the report's central conclusion, asserting that only criminal offenses of "a very serious nature" are grounds for impeaching the president. When the committee's anti-impeachment Republicans ordered a separate report prepared, one more in line with the White House view, Albert Jenner, who disagreed with that position, delayed completing the request. The assignment was carried out by Sam Garrison. Following this event there would be ongoing tension between the two men, which would color their respective relationships with members of the committee.


text: Overseeing the factual investigations were senior associate special counsels Richard Cates and Bernard Nussbaum. Under their guidance, inquiry staff members, working in teams, endeavored to collect and assemble factual information and evidence relevant to the various allegations made against Nixon. Major investigations were conducted into: his complicity in covering up the Watergate burglary; his creation of the covert White House special investigative unit and that unit's subsequent illegal activities; and his personal finances since entering office, to determine whether he had committed tax fraud. Among the dozens of other matters considered by the investigators were allegations that International Telephone and Telegraph and American Milk Producers benefited politically from contributions to Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign, and charges that the Nixon administrated had interfered with the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Robert Vesco, who had donated $200,000 in 1972 to the Committee to Re-Elect the President. The case was put together on more than 500,000 five-by-seven-inch note cards that were cross-indexed against each other. Mastering this filing system became a requirement of anyone working on the inquiry.


text: A constant worry among impeachment inquiry staff leaders was that developments from their research, discussions and preliminary conclusions would leak to the press. To minimize leaks, Doar established strict rules of conduct that included this directive: "The staff of the impeachment inquiry shall not discuss with anyone outside the staff either the substance or procedure of their work or that of the committee." Security guards patrolled the halls of the House Annex-1 building in which a myriad of lawyers, investigators, clerks, and stenographers worked in rooms with closed blinds. Doar in particular had the attorneys on the inquiry working on isolated areas so that only a few of the senior counsels knew the big picture. In a March 9, 1974, story Bill Kovach wrote in "The New York Times" that staff members worked "under security conditions that suggest a classified defense project." Opinions differ, however, as to how successful these efforts were at preventing leaks. Later, in 2005, Doar said of Rodino:


text: On March 1, 1974, the federal district court grand jury that had been impaneled in July 1972 to investigate the Watergate break-in handed up indictments against seven Nixon advisers and aides, including H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and John N. Mitchell. As Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski advised the grand jury that in his opinion the Constitution prohibited the indictment of an incumbent president, thus making the House Judiciary Committee the constitutionally appropriate body under the Constitution for examining evidence relating to the president's role in the Watergate conspiracy, jurors recommended that the material supporting the criminal case against him be turned over to the committee. The grand jury, it was disclosed later, had named Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in a sealed addendum to the other indictments.


text: The documentation consisted of a 55-page index that enumerated testimony, tapes, and other items of evidence, but omitted legal analysis and offered no conclusions regarding whether there were impeachable actions in Nixon's behaviors. The grand jury action, an unprecedented move that enabled Jaworski to get around the legal restrictions preventing him from handing the evidence directly to Congress, was challenged in federal court, but permitted to proceed under seal. Known collectively as the "Road Map," the evidence furnished the Judiciary Committee with "the sum total of the evidence that we had assembled up to that point," Jaworski later said.


text: Buffeted by allegations that, since taking office, Nixon had greatly underpaid what he owed the IRS in taxes, the president had agreed in December 1973 to publicly release his returns covering the years 1969 through 1972. He also asked Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation to examine his personal finances. The committee's report, issued April 3, 1974, found several problems with Nixon's returns, and said he owed $476,431 including interest for unpaid taxes over four years. Doar was quick to state that an examination of whether fraud was involved in the preparation of the tax returns and the claiming of certain large deductions was clearly within the scope of the impeachment inquiry.


text: From the beginning, Rodino and Doar understood that their ability to build a case against Nixon was dependent upon the president's willingness to comply with their requests for material. Though the documentation received from the grand jury contained actionable information, they both concluded more information was needed. Their case was still circumstantial, consisting mostly of broad practices of abuse on the part of the administration, and lacked direct evidence proving that the president had knowledge of or was a participant in the Watergate conspiracy; for this, they needed the tapes, and to receive them they would need Nixon's cooperation.


text: On April 11, 1974, by a 33–3 vote, the Judiciary Committee subpoenaed 42 White House tapes of pertinent conversations. A week later, Jaworski obtained a subpoena from Judge Sirica ordering Nixon to release 64 additional recordings in connection with his case. Nixon initially wanted to refuse both requests completely, but James St. Clair, along with Dean Burch, the counselor to the president, and others, advised him that such a stance would be untenable politically. Consequently, Nixon agreed that transcripts of the tapes requested by the Judiciary Committee, with certain passages edited or removed, would be released, but that Jaworski's request for tapes and other documents would be denied. Jaworski could be stonewalled for months, the president reasoned, whereas the committee could not. Nixon announced this decision to a national television audience on April 29. Upon inspecting the transcripts, Nixon, shocked by several profanity-laced discussions among his inner circle, ordered that every use of profanity be replaced by "EXPLETIVE DELETED."


text: The next day, April 30, some 1,250 pages of transcripts, edited by the president and his aides to remove portions deemed "not relevant" to the Watergate investigation, were made public. Of the transcripts released, Nixon said: "They include all the relevant portions of all of the subpoenaed conversations that were recorded—that is, all portions that relate to the question of what I knew about Watergate or the cover-up and what I did about it." He further claimed that, notwithstanding some ambiguous passages, the transcripts as a whole would "tell it all" and vindicate his narrative of his actions. One week later, St. Clair announced that Nixon would not be providing any more tapes to either the Judiciary Committee or the special prosecutor.


text: The released transcripts quickly dominated the news and even the popular culture landscape. A few newspapers printed the transcripts in full, and two quickly produced paperback books containing them, resulting in sales of more than a million copies. Also, the phrase "expletive deleted" became a widely used catchphrase. More broadly, their release marked a turning point in support for the president, with the crudity of what was revealed, and of what was masked by the repeated phrase "expletive deleted", beginning an erosion of support among Republicans.


text: There were six special House elections in 1974 to fill vacant seats. Held between February and June, they provided the first broad test of public sentiment regarding the scandal-plagued Nixon administration. Democrats won five of the elections, each in a district previously represented by a Republican. One Democratic gain was , which Gerald Ford had long held before becoming vice president. Another was , which had not elected a Democrat to Congress in more than 40 years. The message for the president and the Republican Party in general was ominous, and according to "The Almanac of American Politics", this streak of Democratic victories "helped convince Republicans that Nixon needed to resign."


text: The House Judiciary Committee on May 9, 1974, began formal hearings on the impeachment of President Nixon. The initial 20 minutes of that day's proceedings were broadcast on the major U.S. television networks, after which the committee met for 10 weeks in closed sessions to receive evidence, including the confidential report from the Watergate grand jury, and to hear witnesses out of the public eye. During an interview several days later with columnist James J. Kilpatrick, President Nixon stated unequivocally that he would not resign. Doing so, he said, "knowing that I am not guilty of any offense under the Constitution that is called an impeachable offense," would set a bad precedent for future presidents.


text: During the first phase of the hearings, May 9June 21, the committee's impeachment inquiry staff reported their accumulated evidence on the various charges against the president. First, detailed evidence was presented showing how President Nixon had obstructed justice and abused presidential power during the investigation of the Watergate break-in. The staff then turned the committee's attention to evidence that the money given to the Nixon presidential campaign by International Telephone and Telegraph and American Milk Producers contravened campaign finance laws. Afterwards, the committee heard evidence concerning various other acts of alleged wrongdoing on Nixon's part, including, the unconstitutional impoundment of federal funds appropriated for domestic programs (about $18 billion in fiscal year 1973), violations of the Constitution's Domestic Emoluments Clause (Article II, Clause 7) and tax fraud.


text: In considering whether any one of the various allegations made against the president constituted an impeachable offense, the committee focused foremost on Article II, Section4 of the Constitution, which specifies the grounds on which a president can be impeached: "treason, bribery, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." During the course of the hearings there was fervent debate about the nature of an impeachable offense under Article II, whether only criminally indictable offenses qualified as "high crimes and misdemeanors" or whether the definition was broader. Republicans on the committee maintained that a president could "be impeached only for committing a serious felony," while Democrats asserted that a president could "be impeached for severe violations of public trust that are not inherently criminal."


text: As the committee began examining the accumulated evidence it concluded that Nixon's edited transcripts did not comply with the terms of the earlier April subpoena. Two subpoenas were then issued on May 15 for the tape recordings of 11 conversations believed to concern the Watergate case, and diaries of Nixon's White House meetings during an eight‐month period in 1972 and 1973. Nixon, filled with indignation by "the continued succession of demands for additional presidential conversations," refused to comply, stating in a letter to Chairman Rodino that "he had already submitted all material pertinent to his role in the Watergate case." Nixon further declared that he would likewise reject any future subpoenas. This refusal later became the basis for the committee's third article of impeachment.


text: On May 30 the committee responded in a stern letter, again informing the president that it was not within his power to decide what evidence should be presented. Issued by a vote of 28–10, the letter also warned the president that his continued refusal might lead committee members to draw "adverse inferences" concerning the substance of the materials (that is, whether they contained incriminating evidence), and that the noncompliance itself might constitute grounds for impeachment. Eight Republicans joined the committee Democrats in approving the letter. The committee then approved a third subpoena for Watergate-related material, asking the White House for tapes of 45 conversations and for material from certain White House files related to the break-in and cover-up; only Republican Edward Hutchinson voted against issuing the subpoena. At the close of the first phase of the hearings, the committee, on June 24, issued four more subpoenas for additional White House tapes and materials related to a variety of issues of concern.