Most Americans are familiar with two notable events of the early 1970s: The downfall and resignation of President Richard Nixon and the breakup of the Beatles. What is not widely known is that the contributing circumstances of these events occurred at Disney World hotels. Within three years, Richard Nixon, John Lennon, and Disney World would be inexplicably tied through circumstance. The story of how these radically different figures intertwine is one of fascinating coincidence.
The year 1971 was pivotal for politicians, Beatles fans, and Walt Disney World. On February 16, President Richard Nixon ordered the installation of a taping system to record all Oval Office conversations. That following June, The New York Times and The Washington Post began publishing the Pentagon Papers, detailing the Defense Department’s secret history of the Vietnam War.
John Lennon of the Beatles moved to New York City in 1971. There on a visa, he associated himself with anti-war activists like Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. That December, Lennon sang at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally / antiwar protest in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the first Beatle to perform publicly in five years. In response, the Nixon Administration began secretly taping Lennon in an effort to glean enough information to deport him.
On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, opened to the public. It would grow to become the most popular tourist destination in the world.
Richard Nixon, Resigned
As it celebrates its 55th year in operation, Walt Disney World is now the world’s most profitable amusement complex. Spanning approximately 47 square miles, Disney World is twice the size of Manhattan. It features four theme parks, two water parks, hotels, shopping, golf courses, spas, restaurants, and extensive recreational facilities. Disney World maintains 77,000 employees (“cast members”), and remains the largest single-site employer in the United States.
This was not always the case, though. When Disney World opened just five years after Walt Disney’s death, it comprised only the Magic Kingdom, a man-made lake called “the Seven Seas Lagoon”, a monorail system, and just two hotels: The Contemporary and the Polynesian.
For Richard Nixon, the Contemporary Hotel at Disney World was the beginning of the end, for it was there that he issued his most infamous line: “I am not a crook.”
On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested breaking into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, triggering the scandal that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation. By the fall of 1973, Watergate was front-page news everywhere. On October 20, Nixon ordered the firing of the man investigating the scandal, Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. The US Attorney General and his deputy, Elliot Richardson, and William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest. Dubbed “The Saturday Night Massacre”, it was within this climate that Nixon uttered the infamous declaration of innocence that comics would mock for generations.
On November 17, 1973, less than one month after The Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon appeared at the Annual Convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association. The convention was held at the Ballroom of the Americas at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
“…I am not a crook…” was neither part of a scripted speech, nor was it about the Watergate scandal. The President was simply holding a question-and-answer session with reporters, and Joseph Ungaro of the Providence Evening Bulletin queried Nixon about another incident: paying his back taxes.
Nixon’s reply to Ungaro totalled 839 words. The President referenced his San Clemente property, his Oldsmobile, his years as a legislator, his considerable finances, and a denial that he had ever obstructed justice. It was only at the very end of his answer that Nixon issued the denial, “…And I think, too, that I could say that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination, because people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I am not a crook. I have earned everything I have got.”
Later, it was revealed that Nixon did, in fact, owe the IRS nearly half a million dollars in income taxes. Nixon repaid the government the following May in 1974; of course, this isn’t why Nixon is remembered today. The Watergate scandal ended Nixon’s presidency, resulting in his resignation on August 9, 1974.
The Beatles, Terminated
Just four months after Nixon’s resignation, another ending occurred, but garnered far less fanfare. On December 29, 1974, at the Polynesian hotel across the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Contemporary, John Lennon officially ended the Beatles.
The Polynesian’s room 1601 is located on the west side of the first floor. It includes a ground-level patio with a view of the lagoon, pool, and a partial view of Cinderella’s castle. The former Beatle was staying there with his son Julian and his personal assistant, May Pang, Yoko Ono’s assistant. They were in room 1601 when John was presented with a massive document by one of Apple Records’ lawyers.
Lennon’s former bandmates had already signed the legal documents necessary to dissolve their partnership. Paul McCartney and George Harrison signed on December 19, 1974, at New York’s Plaza Hotel, which, coincidentally, was the epicenter of Beatlemania in America ten years earlier. Ringo Starr had signed in England earlier that month.
John Lennon, who had lived near the Plaza Hotel at the Dakota since 1973, was expected to attend with McCartney and Harrison, but was absent. George Harrison’s lawyer called Lennon and was informed he would not be signing that day because “the stars weren’t right”. Instead, Lennon went to West Palm Beach and then Disney World. It was there, on December 29, that he finally signed.
Records show the crowds at the Magic Kingdom were overwhelming on the day Lennon visited, December 29, 1973. According to Cast Member Hal East, Lennon, Julian, and May Pang rode the monorail twice. The second time, Lennon asked if Julian could operate it. The excessive crowds may have contributed to Lennon’s decision to return to the Polynesian.
The signing itself, while momentous, was bittersweet. According to Pang, Lennon joked that she should get out her camera. Looking out the window at the Seven Seas Lagoon, he picked up his pen and scrawled “John Lennon” at the bottom of the page.
As the years have passed, history has been kinder to John Lennon than to Richard Nixon. Routinely derided by historians, Nixon’s negative reputation persists many years after his death in 1994. The Beatles would never perform together again, and just six years after his trip to Disney World, John Lennon’s life ended tragically.
To the company’s credit, Disney has not attempted to capitalize on the notoriety of either incident. The Ballroom of the Americas still exists at the Contemporary resort, as does room 1601 at the Polynesian Resort. To outside observers, room 1601 offers few differences from the other rooms, and there is no mention of Nixon’s speech at the Contemporary. Insiders, however, know that history was made in that room.
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