who was richard nixon's lawyer

by Gaston Wolf IV 5 min read

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 Nixon's lawyer James St Clair?

James St. Clair, Nixon's Watergate Lawyer, Is Dead at 80. Mr. St. Clair represented the Rev. William Sloane Coffin in 1968, when Mr. Coffin, then chaplain of Yale University, was accused of conspiring to counsel young men on how to evade the draft.

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.

Did Nixon’s defense lawyers claim prosecutors cheated?

One of Richard Nixon’s defense lawyers claimed recently that Tricky Dick didn’t receive due process because “the prosecutors cheated.” Now Geoff Shepard, 76, has filed an official complaint of attorney misconduct with the federal Department of Justice against Watergate prosecutors — 47 years after the fact.

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Who were Nixon's attorneys?

John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns.

Who was Nixon's Watergate lawyer?

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.

Who succeeded John Mitchell as attorney general?

Richard KleindienstPreceded byJohn MitchellSucceeded byElliot Richardson10th United States Deputy Attorney GeneralIn office January 20, 1969 – June 12, 197222 more rows

What did James McCord do?

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.

Who revealed the Nixon tapes?

Alexander ButterfieldBornAlexander Porter Butterfield April 6, 1926 Pensacola, FloridaAlma materUniversity of Maryland, College Park (BS) George Washington University (MS) University of California, San Diego (MA)AwardsDistinguished Flying CrossMilitary service13 more rows

Did Richard Nixon get a presidential funeral?

April 27, 1994Richard Nixon / Date of burial

What is the Martha Mitchell Syndrome?

The Martha Mitchell effect refers to the process by which a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health clinician, or other medical professional labels a patient's accurate perception of real events as delusional, resulting in misdiagnosis.

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 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.

When was the Rehnquist Choice published?

In 2001, Dean published The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court, an exposé of the White House's selection process for a new Supreme Court justice in 1971, which led to the accession of William Rehnquist to the United States' highest court.

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 Richard Nixon?

Richard Nixon was a Republican congressman who served as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon ran for president in 1960 but lost to charismatic Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Undeterred, Nixon returned to the race eight years later and won the White House by a solid margin.

What did Richard Nixon say about his brother?

Nixon's early life was hard, as he characterized by saying, "We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn't know it.". The family experienced tragedy twice early in Nixon's life: His younger brother died in 1925 after a short illness, and in 1933, his older brother, whom he greatly admired, died of tuberculosis.

What was Eisenhower's agreement with Nixon?

The health scares prompted Eisenhower to formalize an agreement with Nixon on the powers and responsibilities of the vice president in the event of presidential disability; the agreement was accepted by later administrations until the adoption of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1967.

How many votes did Nixon get in the election?

In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon won the election by nearly 500,000 votes. He was sworn in as the 37th president of the United States on January 20, 1969.

How many debates were there between Nixon and Kennedy?

The 1960 presidential campaign proved to be historic in the use of television for advertisements, news interviews and policy debates, something that would play right into Kennedy's youthful hands. Four debates were scheduled between Nixon and Kennedy, and Nixon had his work cut out for himself from the beginning.

Why did Nixon gain popularity?

While the exchange (later dubbed the "Kitchen Debate") had little bearing on the United States/Soviet rivalry, Nixon gained popularity for standing up to the "Soviet bully," as Khrushchev was sometimes characterized, and greatly improved his chances for receiving the Republican presidential nomination in 1960.

What did Nixon's campaign exploit?

Nixon's campaign exploited notions about Voorhis's alleged communist sympathies, a tactic that would recur throughout his political life, and it worked, helping Nixon win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1946.

Who was the attorney for Nixon?

James Draper St. Clair (April 14, 1920 – March 10, 2001) was an American lawyer, and practiced law for many years in Boston with the firm of Hale & Dorr. He was the chief legal counsel for President Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal .

Who was Richard Nixon's counsel?

In December 1973, St. Clair was appointed as a special counsel to Richard Nixon. He had previously been offered the position of chief litigator for special prosecutor Archibald Cox, however he chose to work for Nixon instead, as he wanted to be in charge rather than report to another attorney. He assisted Republican counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Albert E. Jenner Jr. and defended Nixon before the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon. The court ruled unanimously against Nixon. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974 and St. Clair 's assignment as his legal counsel ended on August 14 after completing Judge John Sirica 's request to make a final search for a missing White House tape.

What law firm did Richard Nixon work for?

Instead, he returned to California and was admitted to the California bar in 1937. He began practicing in Whittier with the law firm Wingert and Bewley, working on commercial litigation for local petroleum companies and other corporate matters, as well as on wills. In later years, Nixon proudly said he was the only modern president to have previously worked as a practicing attorney. Nixon was reluctant to work on divorce cases, disliking frank sexual talk from women. In 1938, he opened up his own branch of Wingert and Bewley in La Habra, California, and became a full partner in the firm the following year.

How did Richard Nixon die?

Nixon suffered a severe stroke on April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge, New Jersey home. A blood clot resulting from the atrial fibrillation he had suffered for many years had formed in his upper heart, broken off, and traveled to his brain. He was taken to New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. Damage to the brain caused swelling ( cerebral edema ), and Nixon slipped into a deep coma. He died at 9:08 p.m. on April 22, 1994, with his daughters at his bedside. He was 81 years old.

How many votes did Nixon get in the race against Humphrey?

In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate former Alabama Governor George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by nearly 500,000 votes (seven-tenths of a percentage point), with 301 electoral votes to 191 for Humphrey and 46 for Wallace.

What school did Richard Nixon attend?

Richard attended East Whittier Elementary School, where he was president of his eighth-grade class. His parents believed that attending Whittier High School had caused Richard's older brother, Harold, to live a dissolute lifestyle before he fell ill of tuberculosis (he died of it in 1933), so they sent Richard to the larger Fullerton Union High School. He had to ride a school bus for an hour each way during his freshman year and received excellent grades. Later, he lived with an aunt in Fullerton during the week. He played junior varsity football, and seldom missed a practice, though he was rarely used in games. He had greater success as a debater, winning a number of championships and taking his only formal tutelage in public speaking from Fullerton's Head of English, H. Lynn Sheller. Nixon later remembered Sheller's words, "Remember, speaking is conversation...don't shout at people. Talk to them. Converse with them." Nixon said he tried to use a conversational tone as much as possible.

How many Nixon brothers were there?

Nixon had four brothers: Harold (1909–1933), Donald (1914–1987), Arthur (1918–1925), and Edward (1930–2019). Four of the five Nixon boys were named after kings who had ruled in medieval or legendary Britain; Richard, for example, was named after Richard the Lionheart.

What party was Nixon in?

A member of the Republican Party, Nixon previously served as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, having risen to national prominence as a representative and senator from California.

Why did Richard Nixon resign?

In light of his loss of political support and the near-certainty that he would be impeached and removed from office , Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. The resignation speech was delivered from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television. Nixon said he was resigning for the good of the country and asked the nation to support the new president, Gerald Ford. Nixon went on to review the accomplishments of his presidency, especially in foreign policy. He defended his record as president, quoting from Theodore Roosevelt 's 1910 speech Citizenship in a Republic :

Who was the president of Nixon's White House counsel?

On June 26, 1973, the growing Watergate scandal was already a year old, and John W. Dean III, President Richard M. Nixon’s former White House counsel, was in his second day of testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee when Herman Talmadge, a Democrat from Georgia, directed his attention to exhibit 34-47.

When did Nixon fire Dean?

Nixon fired Dean on April 30. Two months later, the nation watched as Dean testified live before the Senate Watergate Committee, becoming the first witness under oath to directly connect the president to the illegal activity. In October, Dean pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

Who was the master manipulator of Watergate?

The FBI called Dean the “master manipulator of the Watergate cover-up.”. When it came to names and dates, meetings and roles, Dean was the man in the middle. He knew it all. Ehrlichman put Krogh in charge of the Plumbers in 1971.

When was the public view of lawyers at an all time high?

In a 1998 law review article tracing attitudes toward lawyers, Marc Galanter, now a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that public regard for lawyers was at an all-time high in the 1960s, when lawyers were viewed as fighting for justice and civil rights in real life and in the movies.

What was the first break in at Watergate?

THE EARLIEST BREAK-IN. Watergate actually was the culmination of a chain of events that began months before the failed break-in at the Democratic Party offices. In March 1971, presidential assistant Charles Colson helped create a $250,000 fund for “intelligence gathering” of Democratic Party leaders.

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Overview

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…

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.

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.