Former Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus died at age 87 following a storied career in the Department of Justice under the Nixon administration.
According to members of his family, Ruckelshaus died Wednesday in his home in Seattle, Washington. Ruckelshaus, along with Attorney General Elliot Richardson, refused President Richard Nixon’s order to fire top prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Watergate investigation during the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.
Their replacement, Robert Bork, followed Nixon’s orders and fired Cox, but the actions of Ruckelshaus and Richardson were honored by many who saw their refusal as a bold action to ensure the president was not above the law. Nixon resigned, and Richardson was reinstated by President Gerald Ford. Ruckelshaus, however, returned to Washington state to join a law firm.
Prior to his time as deputy attorney general, Ruckelshaus was assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s civil rights division, acting FBI director, and was the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
He returned to public service in D.C. under President Ronald Reagan, where he returned to his position at the top of the EPA from 1983 to 1985. Ruckelshaus was also appointed to the United States Commission on Ocean Policy under President George H.W. Bush.
President Barack Obama awarded Ruckelshaus the Presidential Medal of Freedom, citing his work to protect the environment and his role in Nixon’s eventual resignation.
