On This Day. 1973: A Watergate bombshell: Testifying before Senate investigators, a former Nixon administration official, Alexander Butterfield, confirmed the existence of an extensive White House taping system /1 
Butterfield—who for a time was President Nixon’s deputy chief of staff—was one of the few people who knew of the taping system, because he told the Secret Service to install it. Had it not been for Butterfield, the Nixon tapes - his undoing - might never have been known
On This Day. 1985: Ronald Reagan transferred presidential power to Vice President George H.W. Bush for eight hours - while Reagan underwent surgery to remove a cancerous polyp /1
During Reagan’s surgery, Bush did nothing and at 7:22 p.m. that evening, Reagan signed another letter reclaiming his authority. 'I am able to resume the discharge of the constitutional powers and duties of the office of the President,'' the letter said
