Deep Throat (Watergate) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Deep Throat was the name given to Bob Woodward's secret informant who leaked information about United States President Richard Nixon's involvement in Watergate. He was an important source for Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who wrote a series of articles about Watergate in the Washington Post. That scandal would eventually lead to the resignation of the president and prison terms for White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman and presidential adviser on domestic affairs John Ehrlichman.Deep Throat came to public attention when Woodward and Bernstein wrote All the President's Men, a book also made into an Academy Award-winning movie.
According to Woodward, Deep Throat was very nervous that his role in the Post investigation would be discovered. He demanded that the two stop conversing by phone, thinking that the line may be tapped, and they began meeting late at night in a Washington parking garage. If Woodward wanted a meeting with Deep Throat, the reporter would rearrange a potted plant in his apartment window. If Deep Throat wanted a meeting with Woodward, the source would somehow see that the number on page 20 of the edition of the Post delived to Woodward's apartment each morning was circled. Woodward claims that Deep Throat never gave him specific information but only confirmed information given by others and suggested avenues to explore.
The name Deep Throat came from an X-rated movie of the same name, which was popular during the period; it is also a play on the phrase deep background.
Identity
Three people besides the informant himself are said to know the identity of Deep Throat: Woodward, Bernstein and their editor, Benjamin C. Bradlee. Woodward has said in repeated interviews that the identity of Deep Throat will be kept secret until he (Woodward has confirmed that Deep Throat was male) dies, or allows his name to be revealed.
Over the years, there have been a number of hints and guesses as to the identity of Deep Throat. Some have suggested that Deep Throat is a fictional story-telling device, or a composite of multiple sources. Woodward denies this, stating that Deep Throat is a specific man in Nixon's administration.
Alexander Haig is a popular suspect, but this has been denied by both Haig and Woodward. Other candidates have included Henry Kissinger, CIA officials Cord Meyer, Jr (deceased) and William Colby (deceased), and FBI officials L. Patrick Gray, W. Mark Felt, Charles W. Bates and Robert Kunkel.
In June 2002, John Dean's Unmasking Deep Throat was published. [1] In it, Dean narrows his list of suspects to four: speechwriter Raymond Price, special assistant to the president Pat Buchanan, administrative assistant Stephen Bull and press secretary Ron Ziegler (now deceased).
In April 2003, the results of a detailed review of source material by William Gaines and his journalism students led them to conclude that White House lawyer Fred F. Fielding (assistant to John Dean) was Deep Throat. [1] [1]
In the movie All the President's Men, Deep Throat is portrayed by Hal Holbrook.
In the sitcom NewsRadio, the character of Jimmy James (played by Stephen Root) repeatedly claimed to be Deep Throat; however, his employees did not take him seriously.
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