A MASTERMIND behind the Watergate burglary, G. Gordon Liddy, has died on Tuesday at the age of 90.
Liddy, who became a radio talk show host after he was released from prison, was a former FBI agent and Army veteran who played a large role in setting up the Watergate burglary on behalf of President Richard Nixon.
Gordon Liddy, a mastermind behind the Watergate break in, is dead at age 90Credit: Getty Images
He was a well-known political operative who suggested political assassinations in addition to the hotel break inCredit: Rex
His son Thomas Liddy confirmed his death but didn’t reveal the cause, other to say it was not Covid-related.
Liddy was instrumental in Nixon’s break-in into Democratic headquarters at the hotel, ultimately spending four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement.
He was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the scandal that ultimately saw the resignation of Nixon. But he had no regrets.
“I’d do it again for my president,” Liddy said years later.
He would drive around with a license plate that read: “H20GATE”Credit: AP
Liddy was well known for his bullish behavior both in politics and later on when he took on his emceeing abilities as a radio host.
He would recommend assassinating political enemies, bombing left-leaning think tanks, and kidnapping war protestors.
Unfortunately for Liddy, his suggestions were often ignored by his White House colleagues.
One of his suggestions that was taken up was the Watergate scandal – an insane idea to break into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel in June 1972 to steal documents and conduct opposition research.
Liddy and a fellow operative Howard Hunt, along with the five burglars arrested at Watergate, were indicted on federal charges after the break-in.
While Hunt and his colleagues pleaded guilty in January 1973, Liddy was found guilty. Nixon then resigned on August 8, 1974.
Liddy’s license plate read “H20GATE” after his failed robbery attempt.
Liddy would tell people how to kill federal agents on his radio talk showCredit: Getty Images
Aside from his Watergate scandals, Liddy was convicted of conspiracy in the September 1971 burglary of defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, which detailed the secret history of the Vietnam War.
Liddy became a popular and controversial talk show host following his release from prison, doing some stints as a security consultant, writer and actor in between.
He offered tips on air on how to kill federal firearms agents and chastised people for cooperating with prosecutors.
Liddy was born as George Gordon Liddy in Hoboken, New Jersey, a town populated by mostly German-Americans. With friends and a maid who German, Liddy developed a fascination with Adolf Hitler and listened to his radio speeches in the 1930s.
“If an entire nation could be changed, lifted out of weakness to extraordinary strength, so could one person,” Liddy wrote in “Will,” his autobiography.
He also held similar beliefs about personal fears.
He once roasted and ate a rat at age 11 to overcome his fear of rats, writing in his book: “From now on, rats could fear me as they feared cats.”
Liddy would later go on to attend Fordham University and serve in the Army before getting his law degree from his alma mater. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York in 1968, joined the FBI, and later organized Nixon’s presidential campaign in the state.
He was named a special assistant to Treasury and served under Treasury Secretary David M. Kennedy after Nixon won.
Liddy quickly moved up into the White House and then joined Nixon’s reelection campaign as general counsel.
During the Nixon administration, Liddy was in charge of a team of Republican operatives called “the plumbers” who were tasked to find leakers of information they found damaging to Nixon.
His specialty was finding information damaging to Democratic opponents of the president.
In one instance, he tried to recruit a woman to join his team, convincing her that no one would be able to force him (through torture or other methods) to reveal her identity.
To demonstrate this, he held his hand over a flaming cigarette lights, badly burning his hand and the woman ultimately turning down the job.
Liddy’s brutish character was known on and off the political field – as was his loyalty to Nixon.
He recalled telling White House counsel John Dean: “If someone wants to shoot me, just tell me what corner to stand on, and I’ll be there, OK?”
Dean allegedly responded: “I don’t think we’ve gotten there yet, Gordon.”
Nixon was “insufficiently ruthless” by not destroying taped recordings he had with top aides, Liddy said during a “60 Minutes” interview.
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
