Free Republic

It has been fifty years since that momentous break-in at the Watergate office complex, and it seems a good time to revisit that episode, especially in light of the current abuses of power that seem so ubiquitous. Geoff Shepard's book, The Real Watergate Scandal and the just published book by Garrett Graff, Watergate, a New History, offer different perspectives. Shepard is more interested in the legal process and its abuse, while Graff's book relies more on the infamous White House tapes. It is the more comprehensive of the two. Here are some of observations based on these histories. *** Most...

[snip] Watergate remains the greatest political scandal in modern American history. It culminated not only in President Nixon’s announcement of his resignation, 39 years ago Thursday, but in the conviction and imprisonment of his three most senior aides. Attorney General John Mitchell, White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs John Ehrlichman were found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury in the three-month Watergate cover-up trial, which ended on January 1, 1975. [snip] I was a young lawyer working on the White House staff and assisting in Nixon’s defense efforts. It...

It was, they said, the crime of the century. An attempted coup d'etat by Richard Nixon, stopped by two intrepid young reporters from The Washington Post and their dashing and heroic editor. The 1976 movie, "All the President's Men," retold the story with Robert Redford as Bob Woodward, Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and Jason Robards in his Oscar-winning role as Ben Bradlee. What did Bradlee really think of Watergate? In a taped interview in 1990, revealed now in "Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee," Bradlee himself dynamites the myth: "Watergate ... (has) achieved a place in...

It seems only civilized that every expiring political secret should get a decent burial.... ...So why did many Deep Throat researchers -- especially insiders -- reject the idea of Mr. Felt? Because much information that Deep Throat provided was a matter less of specific facts about the Watergate investigation than about the nature of the Nixon White House. Deep Throat talked about the clockwork craziness the White House had become, about the sound of Nixon angry and the character of individuals involved in the cover-up. These insights were presented with the certainty of personal experience. But they were not within...

With the most tantalizing mystery in recent political history solved, the cottage industry of amateur detectives devoted to uncloaking Deep Throat has turned to confront one of the last remaining questions: How did so many people guess so wildly wrong for such a long time? W. Mark Felt... who revealed himself on Tuesday as The Washington Post's secret source on the Watergate scandal, usually fell low on the list of suspects, if he was there at all, in scores of books and articles speculating on the subject.... Yet even now, some skeptics are unconvinced Mr. Felt is the Deep Throat...

WASHINGTON -- Mark Felt, finally revealed as the "Deep Throat" who divulged the Watergate scandal, is wearing the hero's laurel 32 years later. But that designation comes across as peculiar to those of us who lived through the turbulent times. Felt deserves praise for breaking the rules as FBI associate director, providing Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post the guidance to determine whether they were on the correct path in uncovering the machinations of President Nixon. However, Felt was considered by reformers at the FBI to be part of the problem rather than the solution. He was...

...[L]eaking is not unknown in Washington, and in our experience the motives of leakers are complicated and often self-interested. ...It's fascinating to consider what might have happened had Mr. Felt helped to crack the coverup before the election of 1972, when voters could have had a say rather than have to endure a painful impeachment two years later. We will certainly be interested in hearing Mr. Felt explain why he acted as he did. All the more so because the larger story of Watergate was about holding the Presidency accountable for the misuse of that office's vast power. One lesson...

[SNIP] O'Malley, who ran for Montgomery County State's Attorney in 1998, put a copy of his manuscript, titled ``Deep Throat: Fact or Fiction,'' on the Internet last week. The book can be downloaded for $12. Dean is expected to publish his own e-book on the online magazine site Salon.com on June 17, the 30th anniversary of the bungled Watergate break-in, with his theories of who Deep Throat was. O'Malley said he doesn't need to put forth any theories, he has a confession from the source himself - Joe Lowther, a former aide to Watergate Judge John J. Sirica and one-time...