Editing American Civil Liberties Union (section)

====Watergate era====
[[File:Richard M. Nixon, ca. 1935 - 1982 - NARA - 530679.jpg|thumb|The ACLU was the first national organization to call for the impeachment of [[Richard Nixon]].]]

The ACLU supported ''[[The New York Times]]'' in its 1971 suit against the government, requesting permission to publish the [[Pentagon Papers]]. The court upheld the ''Times'' and ACLU in the ''[[New York Times Co. v. United States]]'' ruling, which held that the government could not preemptively prohibit the publication of classified information and had to wait until after it was published to take action.<ref>Walker, pp. 289–90.</ref>

On September 30, 1973, the ACLU became first national organization to publicly call for the impeachment and removal from office of President [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Jones| first=Glyn| title=ACLU Would Impeach Nixon| url=http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=18506&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1| work=Greenfield Recorder| publisher=Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association| location=Deerfield, Massachusetts| date=November 10, 1973| access-date=October 16, 2019| id=#L06.052| via=Online Collection – Memorial Hall Museum| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201015708/http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=18506&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1| archive-date=December 1, 2019| url-status=dead}}</ref> Six civil liberties violations were cited as grounds: "specific proved violations of the rights of political dissent; usurpation of Congressional war-making powers; establishment of a personal secret police which committed crimes; attempted interference in the trial of Daniel Ellsberg; distortion of the system of justice and perversion of other Federal agencies".<ref>{{Cite news| title=A.C.L.U. Asks Impeachment of Nixon| last=Clack| first=Alfred E.| date=October 5, 1973| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/05/archives/aclu-asks-impeachment-of-nixon.html| work=The New York Times| access-date=October 15, 2019| via=Times's print archive}}</ref> One month later, after the House of Representatives began an [[Impeachment process against Richard Nixon|impeachment inquiry against him]], the organization released a 56-page handbook detailing "17 things citizens could do to bring about the impeachment of President Nixon".<ref>{{Cite news| title=Impeachment Book Offered By A.C.L.U.| work=The New York Times| date=November 25, 1973| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/25/archives/impeachment-book-offered-by-aclu.html| access-date=October 15, 2019| via=Times's print archive}}</ref> This resolution, when placed beside the earlier resolution opposing the Vietnam war, convinced many ACLU critics, particularly conservatives, that the organization had transformed into a liberal political organization.<ref>Walker, p. 294</ref>