Chapter+12


 * Chapter 12

H.R. Haldeman** H.R. Haldeman - White House Chief of Staff

Harry Robins Haldeman was born on October 27, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. His father, Bob, was first a plumber and then an air conditioning businessman. His mother, Marston, was the co-founder of Better American Foundation of California, one of the first anti-communism foundations in America. Haldeman said he was not into politics early in his life but said, "I was not only apolitical, but had gone completely the other route. I was a rah-rah college type, a homecoming chairman, no less, and a campus leader." Haldeman attended the University of Redlands and the University of California and then served as a Naval Reserve in WWII. After the war, Haldeman attended and the University of California, Los Angeles and graduated in 1948. While at UCLA, he met John Ehrlichman, who later would become a friend while working at the Nixon Administration. After graduating, Haldeman worked for the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency and became aquainted with several collegees he would later work with under President Nixon. Haldeman first worked for Nixon when Nixon ran for vice-president in 1956 and Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 run for presidency. Haldeman helped Nixon win the 1968 election by using his advertising skills to help the public perception of Nixon. Nixon named Haldeman Chief of Staff.
 * Early Life**

While in the White House, Haldeman and Ehrlichamn gained the reputation as gate keepers to Nixon and became known as the “Berlin Wall”. Haldeman was proud to call himself "Richard Nixon's son of a bitch”. From day 1, Haldeman kept a daily journal of the events that happened every day. Haldeman admitted that Nixon had started the “Watergate break in” and Haldeman had covered it up since “day 1”. Six days after the break-in at the Watergate hotel, Haldeman spoke with Nixon to diverge the CIA’s effort to investigate the break-in. The conversation with Nixon was not record and the 18 and ½ minute gap in the recording led to suspicion. Two years later, the White House released the missing tape of the conversation that became known as “the smoking gun” and provided conclusive evidence that Nixon had covered up the Watergate scandal all along. Haldeman and Ehrlichamn were asked by Nixon to resign. On January 1, 1975, Haldeman was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 1-4 years in prison after an appeal of an initial 2 and 1/2 to 8 years in prison.
 * Watergate**

After serving 18 months, in prison, Haldeman was released on Parole. Haldeman went on to be a businessman and co-authored The Ends of Power in which he took responsibility in creating the Watergate atmosphere. His memoirs of his White House days were later published in The Haldeman Diaries. Haldeman died of reported abdominal cancer in house in Santa Barbara, California on November 12, 1993.
 * Post-Watergate**

Katharine Graham - Executive President of the //Post//
 * Katharine Graham**

Katharine Graham was born on June 16, 1917, in New York City. She was the daughter to Agnes Elizabeth, who was an author, and Eugene Meyer, who was a wealthy banker. Katharine attended a prep school by the name of, Madeira School, and worked on the student newspaper. She attended Vassar College in 1935, but then transferred to the University of Chicago, which she found to be more highly developed when it came to her gaining more knowledge. By that time in her life, her father Eugene had bought //The Washington Post//, which at the time was a newspaper with many financial troubles. While her father was spending vast amounts of money to improve the newspaper, Katharine worked at the //Post// during summer vacations. She would later receive her bachelor’s degree in 1938, and take on a job as a reporter for the //San Francisco News//. Graham would return to the //Post// the following year due to her father’s insistence and work in the circulation and editorial departments of the Sunday edition. In 1940, she married Philip L. Graham, a Harvard law school graduate who was a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court justice, Felix Frankfurter. After returning from World War II, Graham’s husband was hired by her father as the //Post’s// associate publisher. Six months later in July of 1946, he would become publisher of the newspaper. In 1948, Katharine's father sold her and her husband the all the voting stock in the Post for one dollar. By 1962, Graham's husband had acquired the //Washington Times-Herald// and bought //Newsweek// magazine, causing great and progressive expansion for the //Post//. He also had founded an international news service with the //Los Angeles Times//, and gained the ownership of a radio station and two television stations for the //Post.//

Once Graham's husband gained the power and wealth he desired, he would then hold her in contempt, diminish her self-confidence, and criticize her until no end. After getting a divorce from her husband because of his involvement with another woman, Graham would once again come back to the //Post.// She would assume the presidency position over the company, and would immediately shape the //Post// in her own vision. By the year 1966, Graham had brought the Post to be ranked third in the nation's newspapers in advertising, while at the same time increased the editorial budget and raised workers salaries. In 1971, both the //Post// and //The New York// Times fought an attempt by President Nixon to prevent the newspapers from publishing the Pentagon Papers; secret government documents that revealed American dishonesty and deceptiveness in the Vietnam War. Although this was a great moment in the //Post's// history, their shining moment came in the early 1970s when they were the only newspaper in the country to pursue a lead about a break-in that took place at the Watergate hotel. The break-in was done by Nixon operatives who were trying to bug the phone in the Democratic International Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The investigation was led by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and had encouraged congressional hearings and the uncovering of the illegal activities that led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. In April of 1998, Graham would win the Pulitzer Prize for the memoir she published the year before. Graham overcame diversity and created a corporation which produced a successful and critically acclaimed newspaper which was among the most powerful in the nation. Katharine Graham's death occurred on July 17, 2001 in Sun Valley, Idaho due to head injuries she sustained in a fall.

**Mark Felt**

Mark Felt was one of the key informants during the Watergate scandal. Felt had been working with the FBI for some time when he was promoted to the position of right-hand-man to director J. Edgar Hoover in 1971. This position remained intact even when Hoover had died and L. Patrick Gray had taken his place. Gray would later resign after it was disclosed that he had destroyed the papers of E. Howard Hunt who had organized the Watergate break-in. During the Watergate scandal, W. Mark Felt was a key informant for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post. One of the editors at the Washington Post had nicknamed him “Deep Throat”. Felt met with Woodward somewhat frequently and there was a certain process that took place to schedule a meeting. Felt went on to inform Woodward and Bernstein for the years that the coverage of the Watergate story went on. Some time after Nixon resigned, Felt was charged with violating civil rights after the FBI had been accused of wrongdoing while investigating. Felt was only charged $5,000 rather than a 10 year prison sentence, though he would later be pardoned by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The identity of “Deep Throat” remained a mystery until 2005 when his lawyer went public with it, but Felt had already suffered a stroke that hampered his memory in 2001. Felt died in hospice care in 2008.

Hamilton, Neil. "Katharine Graham." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 8 May 2010. [|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com]. Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Katharine Graham." //Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide//. Web. 08 May 2010. . Drehle, David Von. //Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines//. Web. 8 May 2010. . "Mark Felt : Biography." //Spartacus Educational - Home Page//. Web. 8 May 2010. . Smith, J.Y. "H.R. Haldeman Dies." //Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines//. Web. 7 May 2010. . "H. R. Haldeman: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article." //AbsoluteAstronomy.com//. Web. 7 May 2010. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/H._R._Haldeman.
 * Sources:**

Meg Kelly Rich Killian Chris Jankun**
 * Joe Guarino