who was nixons lawyer during hearings

by Aylin Wisozk 8 min read

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a former attorney who served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973.
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John Dean
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byCharles Colson
Succeeded byLeonard Garment
Personal details
11 more rows

What law firm did Richard Nixon work with?

Except for his period of military service, Mitchell practiced law in New York City from 1938 until 1969 with the firm of Rose, Guthrie, Alexander and Mitchell and earned a reputation as a successful municipal bond lawyer. Richard Nixon was a partner in the firm from 1963 to 1968.

Who was the Attorney General during Nixon's presidency?

Political career. Mitchell is sworn in as Attorney General of the United States, January 22, 1969. Chief Justice Earl Warren administers the oath while President Richard Nixon looks on.

Who was Nixon's White House Counsel?

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973.

Who was the only person who knew about Nixon’s taping?

Not only was Butterfield one of only a few people who knew about the taping system, he was actually the person who helped the Secret Service to install it at Nixon’s request. “I’m sorry you asked,” Butterfield responded.

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What happened to john Mitchell?

Mitchell was sentenced on February 21 to two-and-a-half-to-eight years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, which he dubbed the "White House horrors". As a result of the conviction, Mitchell was disbarred from the practice of law in New York.

Who was Nixon's solicitor general?

Nixon then ordered the Solicitor General of the United States, Robert Bork, as acting head of the Justice Department, to fire Cox. Both Richardson and Ruckelshaus had given personal assurances to Congressional oversight committees that they would not interfere, but Bork had not.

Who was the special prosecutor in Watergate?

Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal.

Who led the Watergate hearings?

Working under committee chairman Sam Ervin, the committee played a pivotal role in gathering evidence that would lead to the indictment of forty administration officials and the conviction of several of Richard Nixon's aides for obstruction of justice and other crimes.

Is Elliot Richardson still alive?

December 31, 1999Elliot Richardson / Date of death

Who was Deep Throat during Watergate?

The character never identified himself as "Deep Throat" – the name was used by other characters when referring to him. It was never specifically mentioned whether he was initially intended to be the same Deep Throat from Watergate; eventually, the character was revealed to be a government official named Ronald Pakula.

What was James McCord role in Watergate?

James Walter McCord Jr. (January 26, 1924 – June 15, 2017) was an American CIA officer, later head of security for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign. He was involved as an electronics expert in the burglaries which precipitated the Watergate scandal.

What did Carl Bernstein do?

Carl Milton Bernstein (/ˈbɜːrnstiːn/ BURN-steen; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. Washington, D.C., U.S. While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal.

What was Leon Jaworski role in Watergate?

Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal.

Who chaired the Watergate Committee?

When news of the Watergate scandal broke in 1973, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield chose Ervin to chair the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, known as the Watergate Committee. Millions of Americans watched the televised hearings, and Chairman Sam Ervin became a kind of folk hero.

Why is Bob Woodward famous?

Career recognition and awards. Although not a recipient in his own right, Woodward made contributions to two Pulitzer Prizes won by The Washington Post. First, he and Bernstein were the lead reporters on Watergate and the Post won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1973.

Did Richard Nixon get a presidential funeral?

April 27, 1994Richard Nixon / Date of burial

Who was the first administration official to accuse Nixon of direct involvement with Watergate and the resulting cover-up in

Dean was the first administration official to accuse Nixon of direct involvement with Watergate and the resulting cover-up in press interviews. Such testimony against Nixon, while damaging to the president's credibility, had little impact legally, as it was merely his word against Nixon's.

Who was the Watergate Special Prosecutor?

He spent his days at the offices of Jaworski, the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and testifying in the trial of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson, which concluded in December. All except Parkinson were convicted, largely based upon Dean's evidence.

What happened to Dean at Watergate?

Howard Hunt, and revealed the existence of Nixon's enemies list. Archibald Cox, Watergate Special Prosecutor, was interested in meeting with Dean and planned to do so a few days later, but Cox was fired by Nixon the very next day; it was not until a month later that Cox was replaced by Leon Jaworski. On August 2, 1974, Sirica handed down a sentence to Dean of one-to-four years in a minimum-security prison. However, when Dean surrendered as scheduled on September 3, he was diverted to the custody of U.S. Marshals and kept instead at Fort Hola bird (near Baltimore, Maryland) in a special " safe house " primarily used for witnesses against the Mafia. He spent his days at the offices of Jaworski, the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and testifying in the trial of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson, which concluded in December. All except Parkinson were convicted, largely based upon Dean's evidence. Dean's lawyer moved to have his sentence reduced and on January 8, Judge Sirica granted the motion, adjusting Dean's sentence to time served, which wound up being four months. With his plea to felony offenses, Dean was disbarred as a lawyer in Virginia and the District of Columbia.

What documentary did Dean appear in?

Also in 2006, Dean appeared as an interviewee in the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon, about the Nixon administration's efforts to keep John Lennon out of the United States.

What was John Dean's life after Watergate?

John Dean in 2008 at the annual conference of the Society of American Archivists. Shortly after Watergate, Dean became an investment banker, author, and lecturer. Dean chronicled his White House experiences, with a focus on Watergate, in the memoirs Blind Ambition (1976) and Lost Honor (1982).

What law firm did Dean join?

After graduation, Dean joined Welch & Morgan, a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he was soon accused of conflict of interest violations and fired: he was alleged to have started negotiating his own private deal for a TV station broadcast license, after his firm had assigned him to complete the same task for a client.

Who requested Dean to report on Watergate?

On March 22, 1973, Nixon requested that Dean put together a report with everything he knew about the Watergate matter and even invited him to take a retreat to Camp David to do so. Dean went to Camp David and performed some work on a report, but since he was one of the cover-up's chief participants, the task placed him in the difficult position of relating his own involvement as well as others'; he correctly concluded he was being fitted for the role of scapegoat by higher-ups. Dean did not complete the report.

Who was Nixon's counsel?

Dean was Nixon’s White House counsel on June 17, 1972, the night burglars broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. He had no prior knowledge of the break-in or the White House’s involvement.

When did Nixon hand over tapes to Congress?

After the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes to Congress in the summer of 1974, prosecutors found they corroborated Dean’s testimony and implicated the president in the cover-up. “ [Dean] was first and one of the only, actually, in the higher echelons to give honest testimony,” Robenalt says.

Why did Nixon call Dean into his office?

Before Dean testified before Congress in the Watergate hearings, Nixon called Dean into his office in the Executive Office Building to try and make sure that Dean didn’t implicate him in his testimony. However, his bizarre behavior helped precipitate his downfall.

Why did Richard Nixon resign?

Nixon—the center of the whole scandal—received no punishment at all. He resigned on August 8, 1974 to evade impeachment. One month later, his former vice president, Gerald Ford, pardoned Nixon so that he’d never have to stand trial for his crimes, which were supported by evidence Nixon recorded himself.

Who was the senator who testified before the Senate Watergate Committee?

John Dean testifying for the second day before the Senate Watergate Committee. He said he was sure that President Nixon not only knew about the Watergate cover-up but also helped try to keep the scandal quiet.

Where did Nixon record his phone calls?

Nixon had microphones in the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, his Executive Office Building office and the Aspen Lodge at Camp David, and also recorded phone calls in the Lincoln Sitting Room. After the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes to Congress in the summer of 1974, ...

Did Nixon get a punishment for Watergate?

Still, some of the higher-level Watergate conspirators didn’t actually get a much harsher punishments than Dean. Former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman each served a year and a half in jail for their involvement. Nixon—the center of the whole scandal—received no punishment at all.

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Overview

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a former attorney who served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness. His guilty plea to a single felony in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution u…

Personal life

Dean was born in Akron, Ohio, and lived in Marion, the hometown of the 29th President of the United States, Warren Harding, whose biographer he later became. His family moved to Flossmoor, Illinois, where he attended grade school. For high school, he attended Staunton Military Academy with Barry Goldwater Jr., the son of Sen. Barry Goldwater, and became a close friend of the family. He attended Colgate University and then transferred to the College of Wooster in Ohio, where he ob…

Washington lawyer

After graduation, Dean joined Welch & Morgan, a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he was soon accused of conflict of interest violations and fired: he was alleged to have started negotiating his own private deal for a TV station broadcast license, after his firm had assigned him to complete the same task for a client.
Dean was employed from 1966 to 1967 as chief minority counsel to the Republicans on the Unit…

Nixon campaign and administration

Dean volunteered to write position papers on crime for Richard Nixon's presidential campaign in 1968. The following year, he became an associate deputy in the office of the Attorney General of the United States, serving under Attorney General John N. Mitchell, with whom he was on friendly terms. In July 1970, he accepted an appointment to serve as counsel to the president, after the previous holder of this post, John Ehrlichman, became the president's chief domestic adviser.

Watergate scandal

On January 27, 1972, Dean, the White House Counsel, met with Jeb Magruder (Deputy Director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President, or CRP and CREEP) and Mitchell (Attorney General of the United States, and soon-to-be Director of CRP), in Mitchell's office, for a presentation by G. Gordon Liddy (counsel for CRP and a former FBI agent). At that time, Liddy presented a preliminary plan for int…

Life after Watergate

Shortly after Watergate, Dean became an investment banker, author, and lecturer, based in Beverly Hills, California. Dean chronicled his White House experiences, with a focus on Watergate, in the memoirs Blind Ambition (1976) and Lost Honor (1982). Blind Ambition was ghost written by Taylor Branch and later was made into a 1979 TV miniseries.

Media appearances and portrayals

Dean frequently served as a guest on the former MSNBC and Current TV news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and The Randi Rhodes Show on Premiere Radio Networks.
In the 1979 TV mini-series Blind Ambition, Dean was played by Martin Sheen. In the 1995 film, Nixon, directed by Oliver Stone, Dean was played by David Hyde Pierce. In the 1999 film Dick, Dean was played by Jim Breuer. In the 2022 TV mini-series Gaslit, Dean was played by Dan Stevens.

Bibliography

• Dean, John W. (1976). Blind Ambition: The White House Years. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-22438-7.
• Dean, John W. (1982). Lost Honor: The Rest of the Story. Los Angeles: Stratford Press. ISBN 0-936906-15-4.
• Dean, John W. (2001). The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0 …

• Dean, John W. (1976). Blind Ambition: The White House Years. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-22438-7.
• Dean, John W. (1982). Lost Honor: The Rest of the Story. Los Angeles: Stratford Press. ISBN 0-936906-15-4.
• Dean, John W. (2001). The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-2607-0.