rhd123 --
As you undoubtedly know, there has been much speculation over the
years since Woodward and Bernstein wrote "All the President's Men,"
and the list of possible candidates is long.
Under the circumstances, the most useful way to approach your question
is to focus on a systematic four-year study of the question conducted
by journalism students at the University of Illinois under the
direction of a respected former investigative reporter at the Chicago
Tribune, Bill Gaines. That study was published in 2003 and is
described in detail and downloadable in full at this site:
Who is Deep Throat?
http://deepthroatuncovered.com/story/
As the study progressed, the professor and his students came up with
seven finalists as the most likely suspects and then concluded that
Fred Fielding, who was the assistant to Nixon's White House Counsel,
John Dean, was Deep Throat.
Here is the list of the seven finalists for "Deep Throat," which,
given the care and thoroughness of the study, qualifies as the best
short list of those most likely to have earned that title:
Fred Fielding, an attorney and assistant to White House chief legal
counsel John Dean.
Patrick Buchanan, speechwriter and special assistant to Nixon and
later a newspaper columnist and presidential candidate;
Stephen Bull, a personal aide to Nixon;
David Gergen, White House speechwriter;
Raymond Price, White House speechwriter;
Jonathan Rose, attorney for regulatory affairs;
Gerald Warren, deputy press secretary.
Given your interest in this subject, I think you will this
"user-friendly" website to be a useful and fascinating source of
information about the four-year investigation and about the Watergate
scandal in general.
Additional Information:
This recent article by an investigatory journalist names L. Patrick
Gray, Mark Felt and Alexander Haig as additional "leading suspects:"
American Journalism Review: Who is Deep Throat? Does It Matter?, by Mark Feldstein
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3736
This Smithsonian Magazine article by Professor Bill Gaines gives a
good brief summary of the University of Illinois study:
Smithsonian Magazine: Who Was Deep Throat? (December 2003)
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues03/dec03/presence.html
This June 2002 article from CNN.com (written before the conclusion of
the U. of Illinois study) adds two FBI executives (Charles Bates and
Robert Kunkel) to the list of likely suspects, as well as Henry
Kissinger, the late Ron Ziegler and Leonard Garment:
CNN.com: Just who is Deep Throat? (June 17, 2002)
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/06/17/deep.throat.facts/
Finally, Leonard Garment -- a candidate himself -- wrote a book in
which he said that his own candidate for "Deep Throat" was John Sears,
a deputy special counsel to Nixon:
Book Reporter: "IN SEARCH OF DEEP THROAT"
http://aolsvc.bookreporter.aol.com/reviews/0465026141.asp
Search Strategy:
I found the information using a variety of Google searches, the most
useful of which was this one:
"who is OR was deep throat" watergate
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22who+is+OR+was+deep+throat%22+watergate&btnG=Search
I am confident that the list I have provided is the best currently
available information on the most likely candidates for "Deep Throat."
It is based on a serious study supervised by a respected
investigatory journalist. While the results of the study are not
proven facts, they are based on much supporting evidence that you can
evaluate yourself on the website linked in the answer.
If anything is unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.
markj-ga |
