Ending up the look back at various years in review with 1974. Seems only fitting. Ending up one crazy year by looking at another crazy year in history.

That one that started off embroiled in major scandal and ending up with the resignation of a President, the first time it happened.

The Nixon era was over and the Ford era, short as it was, began.

The year started off with an Oil embargo and the Middle East took center stage, again. Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was abducted and slowly morphed into Tanya. The Turks invaded Cyprus. Ford pardoned Nixon. Haile Selassie was deposed as ruler of Ethiopia. Aerosol became persona non grata and PLO chief Yassar Arafat addressed the UN for the first time.

A year jammed with a lot of changes and drama.

The Year in Review with CBS-News from December 29, 1974.

They don't make years quite like that anymore. Not yet, anyway.

With all the hatred, rancor and vitriol flowing out of the halls of Congress of late, you wonder if it's always been this way. Has there always been this much division and sheer disgust for opposing schools of political and philosophical thought in Washington politics since the time of Washington?

The answer is no. If anything, it's been a recent phenomenon, no doubt fueled by the Media and its "Age Of Springer" mentality. By interest groups, and by malcontents.

I ran across this interview with then-House Majority Leader Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neil, given on the Washington Straight Talk Program of April 28, 1975. Among the subjects discussed, was the relationship O'Neill had with members of the opposing party. In talking about President Ford, he said this:

Thomas P “Tip” O’Neill: “Well of course the economy has gone bad and I don’t agree with his (Pres. Ford's) theory as far as the Vietnamese War is concerned. There’s one thing about Gerry Ford, interestingly enough, we’re social friends and we play Golf together I was in the House with him for 23 years. One of the great factors for America is, it’s different from other nations of the world that I can differ in my philosophy in government and yet I can still be friendly with the man. Other countries of the world don’t do that. I remember when Gerry Ford was elected . . .was sworn in as President of the United States, he made a telephone call to me one day concerning Mister Nixon. And he told me what he was going to and I told him I thought he was wrong at that particular time, and we talked about our Golf game and we talked about how his wife was feeling and how my Millie was and I said ‘Gerry, isn’t . .Mister President, isn’t it great that you and I can talk like this and yet, I said come sometime after the Summer and you’ll be a candidate for re-election possibly and I’ll be goin’ around the country I said, tearin’ you to ribbons, you and your philosophy and your policies and that you think of the days of the high-button shoe and that your satisfied with the status quo. But that’s America. He’s got a tough job. His philosophy is not my philosophy and I . . . .

Paul Duke (Interviewer): “Does he come to you for advice?”

O’Neill: “I wouldn’t say that he . . .well, to this degree – when we have leadership meetings there is indeed a dialog. Something that never happened under Mister Nixon.

Those days are long gone, but sheer attrition may make them return.

While tonight's Primaries are still fresh in everyone's mind, I thought would run a quick comparison to another June Primary - June 1976. The race was between Jimmy Carter and Gov. Gerry Brown on the Democratic side and Ronald Reagan and President Ford on the Republican side.

Here is a 90 minute snapshot of Primary Night, Tuesday June 8, 1976 as reported locally in Los Angeles by CBS Radio affiliate KNX-AM with returns from Primaries all over the country.

Still a horse race. Still down to counting ballots. Still confounding the polls, thirty-six years later.

April 6, 1976 - News was breaking, during this broadcast, of a possible settlement in the long running Teamsters Strike. President Ford campaigned in Wisconsin, ahead of Tuesday's Primary election. Democratic hopeful Morris Udall quietly campaigned in Wisconsin. UAW President Leonard Woodcock was quoted as saying if a Democrat wanted to be in the White House this election, he needs to consider that it's not less government, but better run government that''s the key. Whether anyone took his advice or not wasn't clear. Right Wing death squads were responsible for the systematic rounding up and murder of 15 people ages 20-25 during the latest reign of terror as part of the Military crackdown in Argentina. Terrorist bombs went off in Northern Ireland and Northern Portugal. Women stage the largest protest in Rome's history as several thousand march in opposition to the Vatican's position on contraception. And France tested another nuclear device in the South Pacific this day.

All that, via NBC News On The Hour for April 6, 1976.

No end to conflicts and potential hot spots, this February 23rd in 1975. Southeast Asia eruptions were continuing with the Mekon river blockade now effectively cutting off Phnom Penh and rebel fighting throughout Cambodia. Likewise in South Vietnam where terrorist attacks were inching closer to Saigon. All this activity triggered calls from President Ford to send military aid to the region. Congress wasn't thrilled. We'd been there. We'd done that. We got the bloodstains to prove it. Still, there were some such as Strom Thurmond who thought we should pour nothing but money into the region in exchange for their oil, if and when they found some.

Elsewhere in the Lovely Neighborhood - Secretary of State Henry Kissinger returned from a tour of the Middle East, saying he was "optimistic" that talks-about-talks-about-talks were looking up. Senator Ted Kennedy introduced legislation asking for a cut-off of military aid to the oil producing Persian Gulf nations, saying instability in the region begged for a hold-off on ordinance for at least six months. His crystal ball, it appears, was in much better shape than a lot of his colleagues.

Ethiopia was asking the U.S. for arms in the wake of increased tensions coming from the northern province of Eritrea and the separatist movement gathering steam there. New tensions in Cyprus between Greek and Turkish elements were springing up. Spain, despite a law prohibiting strikes handed down by the somewhat creaky Franco regime, went on strike over dissatisfaction with the decades-old authoritarian rule.

And back home - Judge Sirica handed down sentences for convicted Watergate figures. It went like this: Mitchell, Haldeman and Ehrlichman all got 2 1/2 years in jail and Robert Mardian got 10 months.

All that and a lot more for news ending the week of February 23rd, 1973 as reported on CBS Radio's The World This Week.

Feel better about your day now?

One billion Dollars a day was how it was roughly figured out, as Capitol Hill dissected the size of the Budget President Ford was handing to Congress this February 1st in 1975.

The astronomical sum didn't sit with most lawmakers, considering the U.S. was knee-deep in a recession that no intention of letting up anytime soon.

Money woes and the blame game were in massive supply all over Washington. With the price of gas having some called on a system of rationing in order to stop our dependence on Foreign Oil, which was indicated as a major contributor to our woes.

And the matter of Foreign Aid was another. A supplemental Aid bill to Southeast Asia was resoundingly defeated because, as one Senator pointed out - 55,000 casualties, untold billions already - enough was enough.

And it wasn't just Southeast Asia feeling the brunt of austerity. Aid to Turkey was pending and on hold because of the ongoing situation in Cyprus. The problem in this case was not having much idea of who exactly was running the show over in Istanbul.

To top it all off - our Trade Deficit had now achieved the dubious distinction of being the 2nd highest in the century.

Cold comfort and no doubt cause for another round of sleepless nights.

And so went the news for this February 1st 1975 as reported on CBS Radio's The World This Week (February 1st was a Sunday in 1975) as reported by Allan Jackson and a flood of reports.

Your average day, only this one was in 1975. Economic news was grim, with reports on the Recession getting worse. The Gross National Product dropped 9.1% the previous month. The worst since 1958. Inflation shot up 13%. The worst since 1947. Meanwhile, calls on Capitol Hill for Gasoline rationing were roundly poo-pooed by President Ford, saying it wasn't really all that necessary. The grumblings continued.

The Soviet Union proclaimed Detente wasn't dead, it was just wounded.

Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill - Congressional Hearings on the CIA brought up two former directors, Jesse Helms and William Colby who both had different takes on the matter of Domestic spying. It doesn't bode well when your own people can't get their stories straight.

Some good news from the Auto Industry, at least for consumers. Ford announced it was offering rebates of $200-500.00 on new car purchases.

In the Middle East, border skirmishes were taking place between Israel and Lebanon with artillery fire being traded back and forth. On the Negotiation front, Senator Charles Percy was in Cairo handing out peace feelers to Anwar Sadat in the hopes of getting something moving, however slow.

And in his Commentary, news analyst Eric Sevareid offered some pithy observations on World reaction to the Economic crisis.

All in all, a run-of-the-mill day for January 16, 1975 as reported by Douglas Edwards on CBS Radio's The World Tonight.

The week in Washington ending this day in 1975 saw Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in an almost perpetual state of motion over negotiating a Middle East Peace Settlement between Egypt and Israel. In lieu of getting any hopes up or giving information out, Kissinger remained non-committal as he left one leg of the mission and picked up another leg, despite rising expectations a settlement was near.

Portugal was another hot spot getting Kissinger's attention. President Ford was threatening to Veto legislation keeping Oil Price Controls in place while Congress was threatening to override Ford's Veto, and there was no chance former President Nixon would be called on to testify during investigations over the death of Chilean President Salvatore Allende and the overthrow of his government.

And it was learned Golf was the preferred game around the White House and had been for several administrations, even though Henry Kissinger scrupulously avoided the game, claiming a preference for Brinksmanship rather than Linksmanship. Another week via the CBS Radio Program The Washington Week with Neil Strawser for August 16, 1975.

Less of a cliffhanger day than the one we're currently in. July 29, 1965 nonetheless had it's fair share of historic moments. Reaction was swift and varied from President Johnson's address the night before. He called for a dramatic buildup in troops in South Vietnam, asking for 50,000.

Pres. Johnson: "This is a different kind of war."

And even as he was speaking, the 1st Brigade of the 101st airborne Division was readying to land in South Vietnam. The buildup also meant an increase in draft quotas and a call from House Minority Leader Gerald Ford to cut back on new Domestic spending in order to fund this excursion. Somewhat ironic, since the Medicare Bill passed the Senate with flying colors and was ready for LBJ to sign on the 30th. When in doubt, blame Medicare.

Overseas reaction was somewhat subdued with the Kremlin reaction noted as being "cool". Britain was hesitant to be all that committal, saying if the U.S. had observed the 1954 agreements regarding Vietnam, this buildup might not be happening. They suggested the UN Security Council engage in a peace settlement.

Elsewhere, Civil Rights demonstrations were starting up again in Greensboro Alabama after one peaceful demonstration turned violent. It also got violent in Americus Georgia overnight with one person killed in a driveby.

Aside from the Vietnam buildup occupying conversation on Capitol Hill, there was also talk about the appointment of Abe Fortas to the bench on the Supreme Court, taking over for Arthur Goldberg.

In hindsight, a momentous day which of course, we didn't know at the time. History is like that.

Here is the complete half-hour newscast from WCBS-FM in New York, including local New York City news and the World News Roundup for July 29, 1965.

At least it's a distraction.

Washington and Scandal. The two just go hand in hand, and on May 23rd in 1976 yet another scandal broke. This time via the House Administration Committee, Wayne Hays and his Secretary Elizabeth Ray. It seems the story broke on this particular morning in the Washington Post with tales of favors and lip-locks and steamy innuendos all aimed at the Congressman from Ohio with promises of more to come and careers tearfully dismantled. Oh, the seats of power.

But in other news, the Presidential Primary season for 1976 was heating up with Ford and Reagan engaging in a horse race - the prize projected to be California some days away and the campaign in overdrive with barbs traded and Reagan's infamous quote with regards to President Ford as "the man with prematurely orange hair" sending waves of chuckles throughout the Press Corps. Politics. Meanwhile, relations between the U.S. and Sweden warmed considerably as Henry Kissinger went on a fence-mending trip to see Olaf Palme and clean up some wreckage Nixon left behind. They shook hands and threatened to hug. Fighting continued in Beirut with the PLO actively engaged and the French Peacekeeping overtures actively rejected. The fabled Supersonic Transport (SST) was scheduled to make it's first appearance on U.S. shores after months of wrangling - but flights were restricted to Washington D.C. only. And U.S. Steel threatened to pull up stakes and head to Texas from it's former base in Pittsburgh because . . .well, they were polluting too much and Pennsylvania was getting tired of it and U.S. Steel just hated the idea of regulations.

All in a day, this May 24th 1976 via The CBS World News Roundup.