I meant to add that I concur with the opinion that DT is really a composite character, the product of creative journalism. I heard that Woodward got rapped for the credibility of the supposed deathbead CIA-Iran-Contra-Whatever else “confessions” of William Casey, which according to what I’ve read never took place. DT may well be in that vein of creative writing, with some tips, tidbits, and gossip supplied by various disgruntled White House employees of high and low station.
I also want to add that while “Silent Coup” makes interesting reading, I was rather skeptical. I want proof.
Jeez, this is a blast from the past. Next there’ll be a post revealing who did the voicework on the Bonzo Dog Band’s We Are Normal.
Anyway, Sofa is right, the book I was mentioning was After the Fact. Taking every chance I get to plug it, I want to add this book is great and I recommend everyone read it.
In addition, there’s a new book out on the subject, In Search of Deep Throat: The Greatest Political Mystery of Our Time by Leonard Garment. I haven’t read it yet, but I’d like to hear from anyone who has and what they think of it. In fact, before opening this thread, I assumed that it was revived by the recent publication of this book.
Tragically, life doesn’t play out like the movies.
In 1972, Frank Wills was the security guard who noticed a door at the Watergate Hotel had been tampered with. He investigated and discovered the burglars. Essentially, you can say that if Frank Wills hadn’t been doing his job that night, Nixon and his gang would have gotten away with everything.
However, while a number of the Watergate conspirators went on to lucrative careers exploiting their crimes, Wills faded into obscurity (with the exception that he played himself in the 1976 film All the President’s Men). Wills lost his job and had a hard time finding another. He was told by one University that fired him that they feared a loss of their Federal grants if they kept him as an employee. In 1983, Wills was again in the news when he shoplifted a pair of shoes to give to his son as a birthday gift. Wills eventually moved in with his mother and they lived off her social security checks. When she died in 1992, Wills was so poor he couldn’t afford to pay for her funeral and had to donate her body to science.
About a year ago, Wills developed a brain tumor, and after several months of illness died on September 27, 2000. He was 52.