Video: Sept. 21, 1952 (at 4:30)

(Sunday, September 21, 1952, 10:00 p.m. PDT, during the 1952 U.S. presidential campaign) — During a telephone call, GOP vice presidential nominee Richard Nixon, who had decided to make a television/radio broadcast to defend himself against charges he had improperly kept a “secret” fund, asked GOP presidential nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower if the general would be able to make a decision on Nixon’s fate immediately after the broadcast.

When Eisenhower hesitated, Nixon angrily burst out: “General, there comes a time in matters like this when you’ve either got to shit or get off the pot.”

Eisenhower replied that it might take three or four days to gauge public reaction.