Bush as Deep Throat?
Author: Former prez was secret source behind Watergate.Saturday, 2/5/05
A new theory about Deep Throat, the most mysterious figure in American political history, has been posted on a media Web site.Could former President George H.W. Bush be the elusive source who brought down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal by leaking key information to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward?That's the opinion of Adrian Havill, the author of a 1993 biography ``Deep Truth'' on reporters Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Havill, a Virginia-based writer, previously had concluded the unnamed Watergate source was not one person but a composite. Now, after new research, he posted a note on the Romenesko site of the Poynter Institute (poynter.org) targeting the elder Bush as Woodward's unnamed contact.Havill said he began to suspect Bush when his president son, who dislikes the press, gave Woodward an unusual seven hours of interviews.
Also:The elder Bush had motivation to dislike Nixon, who had urged him to leave a safe congressional seat for an assistant Secretary of Treasury position and hinted he would replace Spiro Agnew on the 1972 ticket. Nixon reneged, and Bush ``was given the thankless task of heading the Republican National Committee in 1973,'' Havill said.Bush was United Nations ambassador in New York from 1971 to 1973 but came to his Washington home on weekends. Seven of the eight Deep Throat/Woodward meetings were on weekends.
Bush, who later became CIA director, had intimate knowledge of Washington. ``This is a guy with deep political contacts from way back,'' Havill said.
Both Woodward and Bush are Navy men and Yale graduates.Woodward has said he will reveal Deep Throat's identity only when the source is dead. Bush may not want to come forward because the revelation he took down Nixon would make the entire Bush clan the ``black sheep'' of the GOP, Havill said. A call to a Bush spokesman at his presidential library in Houston was not returned.Havill posted his theory after Watergate notes from the two reporters, sold in 2003 for $5 million to the University of Texas, went on display - minus Deep Throat's identity.
By Stephanie Schorow
Author: Former prez was secret source behind Watergate.Saturday, 2/5/05
A new theory about Deep Throat, the most mysterious figure in American political history, has been posted on a media Web site.Could former President George H.W. Bush be the elusive source who brought down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal by leaking key information to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward?That's the opinion of Adrian Havill, the author of a 1993 biography ``Deep Truth'' on reporters Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Havill, a Virginia-based writer, previously had concluded the unnamed Watergate source was not one person but a composite. Now, after new research, he posted a note on the Romenesko site of the Poynter Institute (poynter.org) targeting the elder Bush as Woodward's unnamed contact.Havill said he began to suspect Bush when his president son, who dislikes the press, gave Woodward an unusual seven hours of interviews.
Also:The elder Bush had motivation to dislike Nixon, who had urged him to leave a safe congressional seat for an assistant Secretary of Treasury position and hinted he would replace Spiro Agnew on the 1972 ticket. Nixon reneged, and Bush ``was given the thankless task of heading the Republican National Committee in 1973,'' Havill said.Bush was United Nations ambassador in New York from 1971 to 1973 but came to his Washington home on weekends. Seven of the eight Deep Throat/Woodward meetings were on weekends.
Bush, who later became CIA director, had intimate knowledge of Washington. ``This is a guy with deep political contacts from way back,'' Havill said.
Both Woodward and Bush are Navy men and Yale graduates.Woodward has said he will reveal Deep Throat's identity only when the source is dead. Bush may not want to come forward because the revelation he took down Nixon would make the entire Bush clan the ``black sheep'' of the GOP, Havill said. A call to a Bush spokesman at his presidential library in Houston was not returned.Havill posted his theory after Watergate notes from the two reporters, sold in 2003 for $5 million to the University of Texas, went on display - minus Deep Throat's identity.
By Stephanie Schorow
