John Dean

John Dean (1972)

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938 in Akron , Ohio ) is an American lawyer . He was legal advisor to Richard Nixon and thus belonged to the inner circle of the US President . Dean was a key figure in the Watergate affair . At first he was loyal to the president and one of the people who led the cover-up. However, when he was about to be scapegoated, he switched sides and became the main witness to the scandal. Today Dean works as a book author, television columnist and publicist.

Life

Life until the Watergate Scandal

John Dean received his first degree from Wooster College in 1961 . In 1965 he finished his law degree at Georgetown University . After that, Dean worked in a Washington law firm . After an internal dispute, he was fired there. He then became Chief Legal Advisor to the Republicans in the United States House of Representatives . In 1969 he moved to the Ministry of Justice in a leading position. He then became legal advisor to the White House .

Watergate scandal

As legal advisor to the President, Dean was privy to the illegal machinations of the "plumbers". The plumbers were a small and secret police and spy group called the Special Investigations Unit. Dean was one of those responsible for the cover-up alongside Jeb Magruder . As the scandal continued to spread, he warned Nixon in a personal conversation "of a cancer that threatened his presidency".

After the journalists besieged Dean in front of his Porsche, Nixon invited Dean to relax for a few days in the presidential camp David . There was only one catch to this invitation: Dean was supposed to write a report on Watergate about his previous activities for Nixon. This report would have been the President's shield and sword at the same time. On the one hand, Nixon could have said "look here, that's all I know about Watergate, and only through this report." On the other hand, Dean would have become the sole culprit. So Dean changed sides. He hired his lawyer to appear before the prosecutor. The offer read: Statement from a senior White House employee against Dean's impunity. The public prosecutor's office agreed.

John Dean (2008)

Dean pointed out to the prosecutor, who were still only investigating one break-in, that the Watergate break-in was just the continuation of a whole series of break-ins by the "plumbers". His statements showed the true extent of the Watergate affair. When it later became known that all conversations in the White House had been recorded by a tape recording system (see also Alexander Butterfield ) and Dean was confronted with it, Dean only smiled. Now it was clear that the tape recordings confirmed Dean's statements (otherwise only Dean's statement would have stood against the President's word).

His appearance before the committee of inquiry was prepared down to the smallest detail. For example, Dean (who usually only wore contact lenses) wore horn-rimmed glasses that gave him the appearance of an accountant. In addition, his wife Maureen “Mo” can be seen in the background in the look of a model wife. Dean testified before the committee without reservation. Despite his testimony, the hardliners prevailed against Dean within the public prosecutor's office and charged him. His willingness to testify had a mitigating effect, so that he was sentenced to only four months in prison for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and fraud against the government.

After Watergate

Shortly after the Watergate scandal, Dean became an investment banker and retired in 2000. He also works as an author and lecturer to this day. In 1976 he published Blind Ambition, a Book of Memoirs . The book was later filmed as a television series. Defamation lawsuits against Gordon Liddy's 1991 book Silent Coup followed . Dean lives in Beverly Hills , California .

Fonts

• Lost Honor (1982)
• The Rehnquist Choice. The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court. (2001)
• Unmasking Deep Throat (2002)
• Together with Arthur M. Schlesinger : Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents) . (2004)
• Worse Than Watergate. The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush (2004)
• The Nixon Defense. What He Knew And When He Knew It. (2014)

Web links

• Columnist John Dean (English)
• Literature by and about John Dean in the catalog of the German National Library