John Dean details his time as the White House counsel chair in the Nixon administration, becoming the “desk officer” on Watergate, and having one on one meetings with Richard Nixon. He discusses the Pentagon Papers, being on the wrong side of the law, and Nixon’s resignation. John Wesley Dean III was born on October 14, 1938 in Akron, Ohio. After graduating from the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia he went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree at The College of Wooster in Ohio in 1961. He then attended Georgetown University Law Center and received his Juris Doctor in 1965. He obtained a junior associate position at the Washington law firm of Welch & Morgan upon his graduation from Georgetown. Dean served as chief minority council for the Judiciary Committee in the United States House of Representatives from 1966 to 1967. He then spent the next two years as Associate Director of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws before working as an Associate Deputy Attorney, General Office of Criminal Justice, and Department of Justice, between 1969 and 1970. On July 9, 1970, Dean became Counsel to President Richard Nixon 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 ultimately resulted in a reduced sentence. Barred from practicing law due to his conspiracy conviction, Dean worked as an investment banker, lecturer, author, and political commentator. From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee,” about one of America's most influential and celebrated newspaper editors, who found himself at the center of many of the 20th Century's most seismic storms, including: World War II, John F. Kennedy, Watergate and the fall of Richard Nixon. Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: https://www.lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: https://www.youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifestoriesinterviews/ John Dean, White House Counsel, 1970-1973 Interviewed By: John Maggio Interview Date: February 15, 2017 Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:10 Starting in the Nixon Administration 01:53 Wanting to work in the Nixon administration 02:38 First Impressions of Nixon 03:40 Nixon vs. the press 07:01 Advising Nixon on Watergate 07:58 The Pentagon Papers 12:45 The Watergate break-in 15:42 The Watergate scandal 19:52 Unraveling the Watergate web 23:59 The slush fund 25:08 Watergate and The Washington Post 26:42 The Watergate cover-up 30:28 The pre-election coverage of Watergate 32:38 Watergate after the election 35:51 Investigating the White House 38:22 All the President’s Men 39:20 The loss-frame theory 41:47 A cancer on the presidency 45:44 The FBI investigation 47:17 Fact-checking the Post’s coverage 48:57 Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt’s failed operation 50:06 Nixon’s response to scandal 51:10 Spying on the Post 53:34 Interviewing the grand jury 54:14 The scapegoat 57:31 Surrendering to the legal system 58:15 Defendants and deals 01:01:15 The Watergate story explodes 01:02:54 The Post got it right 01:04:58 Nixon’s Enemies List 01:06:17 Auditing Nixon’s enemies 01:07:19 Nixon’s resignation 01:09:28 Ben Bradlee’s lasting legacy © Home Box Office and Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

• published: 19 Jan 2023
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