Mapping Watergate onto a modern political administration?

Great Debates
1

I have a mildly functional understanding of the events leading up to and surrounding Watergate and recognize that it’s a long, sordid story (stealing files, meddling with the DoJ, hearings, tapes, etc.). I’m interested because not having been cognizant in the era, I don’t have a strong, visceral connection to the players.

Can someone tell the story from the perspective of people from today’s administration, press, courts, congress, etc. as the primary actors? I’m not sure what to say about people who were relatively unknown then (were Woodward and Bernstein known outside the Post at the time) or people who were completely unknown (Liddy), but use your imagination.

I’d say ignore (as much as possible) laws that were passed since then to change things, and don’t let the Internet or modern technology muck things up too much—but incorporate it as needed. If party alignment makes it easier to map this to the Bush administration, so be it.
(I put this here because though it has fictional and factual elements, I’m guessing that its political overtones and potential for contention move it to GD territory. Sorry if I guessed wrongly.)

2

I’ve been a major Watergate buff since Watergate happened, and I find this a fascinating but difficult question to answer. I think the bottom line is that almost all of the key actors were either political insiders that weren’t known to the general public, or people in low level positions that only received scrutiny because of the scandal.

For instance, looking for the corollary to Maurice Stans, Nixon’s Campaign Finance Chairman, I find Matthew Barzun, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, who is serving as Barack Obama’s Campaign Finance Chairman, and who I had never heard of until this moment. Jeb MacGruder, the Campaign Manager, is Jim Messina, who previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in the Obama White House. Obama’s friend Martin Nesbitt is Hugh Sloan, the Campaign Treasurer.

Jack Lew, White House Chief of Staff, is H.R. Haldeman (although Rahm Emmanuel probably fits the role better). Ehrlichman might be the somewhat better known Valerie Jarrett or David Plouffe.

This is kind of a fun exercise, but I’m not sure how effective it would be in understanding Watergate. I’m an Obama supporter with a strong interest in politics, but even so, I had to look up most of the names to figure out who is who.

And to answer your question, absolutely no one outside of the Post had heard of Woodward and Bernstein. They were very young and reporting only on local stories in D.C., until one of those local stories, about a hotel break-in, became the most important story in the country.

If you really want to understand Watergate, you should read their books All the President’s Men and The Final Days. They are quick, exciting reads and will draw you into the events even if you aren’t familiar with the players.

3

Watergate would be swept under the rug as partisan bickering today.

“Yeah, they stole campaign info. So what? It is called opposition research now”.

4

It wasn’t the theft that caused the scandal. It was the coverup. If the Committee to Re-Elect the President had admitted to involvement in the break-in, it would have been a blow to the campaign, but considering the size of the victory, I doubt it would have cost the President the election. It was the two years of obstructing justice that lead to his downfall.

5

That was then though.

Today a Scooter Libby would just be sacrificed for the team.

6

That would be the rational response, assuming the Scooters of back then could be trusted to keep their mouths shut. The problem with the comparison is that too many people in the White House knew about the coverup because the President and his staff sat around and talked about it, and recorded the conversations. It is very possible that if Nixon not used the secret recording system he would have served out his full term as President.

And to me that’s the main point which doesn’t translate to the current White House. AFAIK, there is no recording system in place which could later be evidence of a conspiracy. Of course, almost no one knew about it back then, so it is possible there is a secret system today too, just a lot less likely.

7

Yes, I consider the Cheney administration 1000x more evil than Nixons. When you know you are lying you cover your tracks better.

8

Okay, here’s a list of major Watergate figures, their titles at the time, and who currently holds that title.

Richard Nixon - President (starting with an easy one) - Barack Obama
John Mitchell - Attorney General and Director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP) - Eric Holder (AG) / Jim Messina (manager of Obama for America)
Fred LaRue - Deputy Director of CRP - Jennifer Dillon (deputy manager Obama for America)
Jeb Magruder - Manager of CRP -
James McCord - Security Coordinator of CRP
Egil “Bud” Krogh - Head of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) aka the “Plumbers”
G. Gordon Liddy - Finance Counsel of CRP, SIU member - Rufus Gifford (Finance Director Obama for America)
Kenneth Parkinson - Counsel to CRP
Charles Colson - Special Counsel to the President, CRP member, SIU leader - Pete Rouse (Counselor to the President)
John Dean - White House Counsel - Kathryn Ruemmler
Robert Mardian - Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division - There are several AAC’s, each in charge of a division of the Justice Dept. The National Security Division no longer exists. But some current equivalents in AAC rank would be Peter Keisler (Civil Division), Thomas Perez (Civil Rights Division), and Richard Hertling (Legislative Affairs)
E. Howard Hunt - CIA officer assigned to the White House, SIU member
John Ehrlichman - Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs - Cecilia Munoz (Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Director of the Domestic Policy Council)
H.R. Haldeman - Chief of Staff - Jacob Lew
Gordon Strachan - Aide to Haldeman, liaison to CRP
Alexander Butterfield - Deputy Assistant to the President - A Deputy Assistant is a second level position and not very well known. I could only find the name of one current Deputy Assitant, Mark Zuckerman, who works in the Office of Policy Development not the Chirf of Staff’s Office like Butterfield did.
Rose Mary Woods - President Nixon’s personal secretary - Mrs Landingham

You’ll notice that the Committee to Re-Elect the President was run by a director (Mitchell) while Obama for America is run by a manager (Messina). But Mitchell and Messina were both the top men despite their different titles.

You’ll also notice that I was unable to identify many of the lower ranked positions in Obama for America that are the equivalents of the CRP people. Quite frankly, these people are unknowns. The only reason any of the CRP people are known is because they were involved in Watergate.

I was also unable to identify any current equivalent of the SIU. Quite frankly, that organization was not supposed to draw public attention. If there’s an Obama administration equivalent, they’ve stayed low-key.

9

Agreed. Great list, but I think that this sums up the post. It’s like asking who would be the Monica Lewinsky equivalent in 1973 if Nixon had gotten a blow job. Who knows?

10

Kissinger!