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Gordon C. Strachan | |
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 Strachan c. 1971 | |
| Born | Gordon Creighton Strachan July 24, 1943 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of Southern California (BA) University of California, Berkeley (JD) |
Gordon Creighton Strachan (born July 24, 1943) is an American attorney and political staffer who served as an aide to H.R. Haldeman, the chief of staff for President Richard Nixon and a figure in the Watergate scandal. He is the last surviving person to be part of the Watergate Seven.
Strachan was born in Berkeley, California. [1] At University of Southern California, he was a member of Trojans for Representative Government with future Watergate scandal participants Dwight L. Chapin, Tim Elbourne, Donald Segretti, Herbert Porter, and Ron Ziegler. In 1965, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Southern California.[ citation needed ] In 1968, received a Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law.[ citation needed ]
From 1968 until 1970 he worked for the New York City law firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander, the same firm Nixon worked for before he ran again for the presidency in 1968.
Strachan, who was recruited by Dwight Chapin, joined the White House Office in 1970 and initially worked as a staff assistant to Herbert G. Klein. He was assigned to be H. R. Haldeman's liaison to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP) when it was formed in March 1971. His duties at CRP focused on areas that he had previous experience with; as an advance man during 1970 mid-term election campaigns, he oversaw political operations. He testified as such before the United States Senate Watergate Committee and stated that John Dean oversaw all political intelligence-gathering, including the Watergate break-in, at CRP.
Strachan was indicted along with other White House staffers on March 1, 1974, but all charges against him were dropped on June 10, 1975.
He moved to Utah in 1975, and served as a clerk for Berman & Giauque in Salt Lake City. In 1977 his license to practice law was restored in Utah, and he was elevated to a lawyer at the firm, until he left for a partnership at Prince, Yeates & Geldzahler. He was a principal at the law firm, Strachan Strachan & Simon P.C., in Park City, Utah, but is now retired. His practice mainly focused on antitrust, personal injury and business litigation in the recreational sports industry. He served on the Olympic Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Games, and is also general counsel to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.[ citation needed ] He is the author of several articles on law.
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon which began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign breaking into and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972, and Nixon's later attempts to hide his administration's involvement.
All the President's Men is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for The Washington Post. The book chronicles the investigative reporting of Woodward and Bernstein from Woodward's initial report on the Watergate break-in through the resignations of Nixon Administration officials H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman in April 1973, and the revelation of the Oval Office Watergate tapes by Alexander Butterfield three months later. It relates the events behind the major stories the duo wrote for the Post, naming some sources who had previously refused to be identified for their initial articles, notably Hugh Sloan. It also gives detailed accounts of Woodward's secret meetings with his source Deep Throat, whose identity was kept hidden for over 30 years. Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former managing editor of The New York Times, has called the work of Woodward and Bernstein "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time."
Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Watergate scandal.
The Committee for the Re-election of the President was, officially, a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign during the Watergate scandal. In addition to fundraising, the organization also engaged in political sabotage against Nixon's opponents, the various Democratic politicians running in the election.
Jeb Stuart Magruder was an American businessman and high-level political operative in the Republican Party who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.
John Daniel Ehrlichman was an American political aide who served as White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. Ehrlichman was an important influence on Nixon's domestic policy, coaching him on issues and enlisting his support for environmental initiatives.
Ronald Louis Ziegler was the 13th White House Press Secretary, serving during President Richard Nixon's administration.
Herbert Warren Kalmbach was an American attorney and banker. He served as the personal attorney to United States President Richard Nixon (1968–1973). He became embroiled in the Watergate scandal due to his fundraising activities in the early 1970s, some of which supported undercover operatives directed by senior White House figures under Nixon. Kalmbach was convicted and served 191 days in jail for his part in the scandal, and lost his license to practice law for a time, although he was later reinstated.
Donald Henry Segretti is an attorney best known for working as a political operative with then-U.S. President Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President during the early 1970s. Segretti served four and a half months in prison after investigations related to the Watergate scandal revealed his leading role in extensive political sabotage efforts ("ratfucking") against the Democrats.
Louis Patrick Gray III was acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 3, 1972, to April 27, 1973. During this time, the FBI was in charge of the initial investigation into the burglaries that sparked the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon. Gray was nominated as permanent Director by Nixon on February 15, 1973, but failed to win Senate confirmation. He resigned as Acting FBI director on April 27, 1973, after he admitted to destroying documents that had come from convicted Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt's safe—documents received on June 28, 1972, 11 days after the Watergate burglary, and given to Gray by White House counsel John Dean.
John Wesley Dean III is a disbarred American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness. His guilty plea to a single felony in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution ultimately resulted in a reduced sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, Maryland. After his plea, he was disbarred.
Alexander Porter Butterfield is a retired United States Air Force officer, public official, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He revealed the White House taping system's existence on July 13, 1973, during the Watergate investigation but had no other involvement in the scandal. From 1973 to 1975, he served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dwight Lee Chapin is an American political organizer, businessman and retired public servant. He was Deputy Assistant to President of the United States Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Chapin was convicted of lying to a grand jury (perjury) during the scandal and served nine months at the Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc.
Richard Gordon Kleindienst was an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Attorney General during the early stages of Watergate political scandal. He resigned his post in disgrace for his involvement in the Watergate cover-up.
Hugh W. Sloan Jr. was treasurer of the Committee to Re-elect the President, Richard M. Nixon's 1972 campaign committee. Previously, he was an aide to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman.
The Watergate scandal refers to the burglary and illegal wiretapping of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, in the Watergate complex by members of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, and the subsequent cover-up of the break-in resulting in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, as well as other abuses of power by the Nixon White House that were discovered during the course of the scandal.
Murray M Chotiner was an American political strategist, attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of President Richard Nixon during much of the 37th President's political career. He served as campaign manager for the future president's successful runs for the United States Senate in 1950 and for the vice presidency in 1952, and managed the campaigns of other California Republicans. He was active in each of Nixon's two successful runs for the White House in low-profile positions.
Henry E. Petersen was an attorney and United States federal government official. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General during the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford administrations. He also engaged in ethically questionable communications with Nixon and his staff, providing inside information about the Watergate investigation prior to the appointment of the Special Prosecutor.
Operation Sandwedge was a proposed clandestine intelligence-gathering operation against the political enemies of U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration. The proposals were put together by Nixon's Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, domestic affairs assistant John Ehrlichman and staffer Jack Caulfield in 1971. Caulfield, a former police officer, created a plan to target the Democratic Party and the anti-Vietnam War movement, inspired by what he believed to be the Democratic Party's employment of a private investigation firm.
Blind Ambition is a four-part American miniseries that aired on CBS from May 20, 1979 to May 23, 1979 focusing on the 1972–74 Watergate scandal and based on the memoirs of former White House counsel John Dean and his wife Maureen.
