Mark Felt, who was the source known as “Deep Throat�? in the 1972 Watergate scandal, has died. He was 95.
Mark Felt died in his home in Santa Rosa, California. Felt was “Deep Throat,” the infamous source for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein regarding the burglary of the Democratic Party National Committee headquarters in 1972. The scandal that resulted from the break-in brought down former President Richard Nixon. The true identity of “Deep Throat” remained a secret until May 2005, when Felt’s identity was revealed in an article for Vanity Fair magazine.
For decades, he was known only as “Deep Throat,�? a name borrowed from the title of one of the most famous pornographic films of all-time.
Mark Felt was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1913. He received his B.A. at the University of Idaho in 1935. He moved to Washington shortly after graduation. He worked several jobs in Washington D.C. while earning a law degree at night at George Washington University in 1940.
He joined the FBI in 1941. He worked at a variety of posts with the FBI and worked his way up the organization during his more than three decades there. Felt ultimately became associate director of the FBI, the second highest position in the Bureau, shortly before the Watergate scandal broke in 1972.
In 1972, five men broke into the Watergate Hotel in Washington to install wiretaps in the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. The burglars were arrested by police. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigated the burglaries. Felt, who had met Woodward when Woodward was in the Navy years prior, became their primary source in connecting the burglaries to President Richard Nixon. Ultimately, Woodward and Bernstein’s articles in the Washington Post resulted in a special prosecutor investigation that led to President Nixon’s resignation.
In 1979, Felt published memoirs entitled “The FBI Pyramid from the Inside.” In the memoirs, he denied that he was “Deep Throat.” Until the Vanity Fair article in 2005, no one had publicly confirmed his historic role as “Deep Throat.”
Felt was married for over 40 years and had two children. His wife passed away in 1984.
December 19th, 2008 at 8:23 am
But it was much more than this that brought Nixon down. This was only the beginning. Your article implies that the Watergate breakin was all there was to it. To do this is the severly minimize the Watergate scandal and its impact upon American history.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Ed, the Watergate scandal was about a president lying and covering up. That’s all really. Obama is lying and covering up about his connection with the Illinois governor. Nobody gets outraged about these things anymore as we all grew cynical about government after Watergate. We expect our leaders to be crooks.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:36 am
What a name. Sounds like a pornstar.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Edward, you need to learn how to read. “scandal that resulted from….” includes the break-in, lies and cover-up. Watergate really stemmed from just a petty break-in. There was nothing more to it.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
It was just sex! No wait that Clinton who lied and covered up and had people lie for him.
When Nixon found out about it had he gone to the American people and told us about it and fired everyone involved and cooperated with the investigation, he would have remained President and we would not have gotten Jimmy Inept Carter. But he choose to cover it up and lie.
Had Trent Lott and the other splineless Republicans had any cojones, Clinton would have been ousted, Gore would be President and Obama would not.
See folks what happens when you lie.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Justin:
Ha thats pretty funny, but seriously a piece of history is gone today. I only wonder if he didn’t rat us out. Probably we would of had no carter, but no Reagan. Ford would have served on term and a democrat for eight years than republican. I would bet no clinton probably bush, but there still would be Soviet Union.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
“Watergate really stemmed from just a petty break-in. There was nothing more to it.”
Are you nuts, Ignatz? The depth and breath of the corruption of the Nixon administration that was uncovered as a result of the Watergate investigation takes one’s breath away. And you know what? We just come off of eight years of being troubled by some of the same monkeys–Rove, Cheney. Good riddance to them all.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Oh, MCCAIN, Nixon was personally involved. Remember the Smoking Gun?
Poor Obama, he is not even President yet, and already you are comparing him to Nixon.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Well sure! Obama lies like Nixon. And he covers up like Nixon. What’s the big deal? Nobody cares about Nixon anymore, and nobody cares about Obama. He is a corrupt Chicago politician who negotiated with a crooked governor to rig a Senate seat. Yawn. Move on to important things.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Justin:
Any chance I could type something for rightpundits. About either how we accept no experienced well known people just based on name. Or my top 10 for president which has on it Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Linda Lingle, Rudy Guiliani, George Allen, Newt Gingrich, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. I don’t ask for money or anything just to get my ideas toward politics out there.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
McCain:
You are a hundred percent correct. Liberals get away with everything Bill Clinton lies to the american people and he stays. Same goes with obama it’s a liberal media.
December 20th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Edward:
You liberal I have some statements for you. 1 Do you think that increasing taxes for welfare is good, especially when those on welfare have never worked in there lives. 2 Nafta done by Bill Clinton is the cause for all our problems, we could have low taxes and jobs threw business that don’t cost tax payers anything. 3 Democrats give to many regulations on companies we complain about the auto industry yet your party puts on regulations also your party believes in a theory that has not being proven real global warming. 4 Why are the rich portrayed as bad when they employ, also work hard for there money, unlike the poor there are people who have never even thought about getting a job. 4 Illegal immigrants take up millions of our jobs and break the law your party wants to give them welfare. 5 your leaders have no experience unlike ours. 6 We have liberated Iraq and if Al Gore was president with the information we had he would of went in to. 7 Bill Clinton caused 9/11 not Bush, Clinton was in office for eight years before this Bush was there for 9 months. 8 Bill Clinton only had a good economy in his 2 terms, because of the rise of the internet and online businesses. 9 Bill Clinton employed people by putting us in a area where if there was a war or national emergency we would have to raise taxes or lower the number of jobs. 10 Why did every country support obama, because other countries are afraid of republicans.
December 20th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Charles:
I sent you an email on the subject. Check your email.
December 21st, 2008 at 6:07 am
I cant seem to open that one email. Can you tell me what to do here. Or I’ll type it up here and you put it on rightpundits.
December 21st, 2008 at 6:45 am
Justin you can find my article on the bobby jindal page. Probably sometime this weak. And then tell me what you think and we can post it up.
December 21st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Justin:
Or on this page better yet. Also could you post it in my name.
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Justin:
Or is there any particular topic you would like to give me. I really do feel I could write for this website. I don’t want money just credit for my work. And a merry christmas happy new year and if you like Seinfeld a happy Festivis.