How Barbara Jordan's 1974 Speech Marked a Turning Point in the Watergate Scandal Representative Jordan's primetime remarks on the Constitution riveted the nation and underscored the grave role of serving as a check on the executive branch. Author: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Representative Jordan's primetime remarks on the Constitution riveted the nation and underscored the grave role of serving as a check on the executive branch. In a perfect storm of unlikely circumstances, Barbara Jordan, a junior congresswoman from Houston, Texas, who grew up in segregation, landed a primetime spot to deliver an opening statement on July 25, 1974, during President Richard Nixon’s impeachment hearings. Jordan's speech catapulted her onto the national platform, but it wasn’t just her oratory skills and command of constitutional law that awed the nation. Jordan had made history as the first African American woman from a southern state to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1973-1979.