# WHO WAS DEEP THROAT **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2001, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977 "2001-05-01T19:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gorewonfla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@gorewonfla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorewonfla)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/41 "2001-05-10T03:00:31Z")
Books: If you want to know about Deep Throat, you must first and foremost read All The Presidents Men. Then read books like “Blind Ambition” by John Dean (he repudiated his other book, “Lost Honor,” so don’t read that), the similar one by Haldeman whose name I should remember but I forget and “Abuse of Power” which is the Nixon tapes with commentary by Stanley Kutler. Those three will give you three good first hand and reliable accounts of what went on at the White House. However, the one of the best books on Watergate in general was “The Right and the Power” by Leon Jaworski, which explains the legal aspects fairly well, provides secondary but incredibly accurate reports of what went on, and drives home why Watergate was so bad. Buzhardt: I didn’t read about him much, but I doubt he knew enough CREEP or FBI info to be Deep Throat, and he is six feet under. Any other comers? Dick: Betsy and Arlene had no access to the FBI or Justice, but they did have access to CREEP and the White House. Still, it was the inspiration for the topic of my thesis, so I would recommend all to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/42 "2001-05-10T03:30:41Z")
You might also want to read \*To set the record straight : the break-in, the tapes, the conspirators, the pardon,\*by Judge John J. Sirica. (New York : Norton, © 1979.) ---
**Author:** ![gorewonfla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@gorewonfla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorewonfla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/43 "2001-05-12T02:22:44Z")
Plus Theodore h. White’s book “Breach of Faith” was pretty good ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/44 "2002-05-01T01:14:19Z")
John Dean is now claiming to know (or at least suspect) the identity of Deep Throat, and will publish his conclusions in June. [http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/deep.throat.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/deep.throat.reut/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/45 "2002-05-01T01:37:19Z")
I saw a documentary that presented convincing evidence that Asia Carrera was deep throat. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/46 "2002-05-01T01:58:55Z")
Silent Coup is a really interesting read. I’d love to see a point-by-point response to its charges against Woodward and Dean. ---
**Author:** ![barton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@barton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barton)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/47 "2002-05-01T04:18:37Z")
My personal favorite pick would have be Liddy. Since he’s the most unlikely choice imaginable, it tickles my imagination. He doesn’t even BEGIN to fit the criteria, given he offered to have himself killed in order to slow the investigation and had lots of fun in prison. But what if that was just all a clever ploy… ---
**Author:** ![BalmainBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@BalmainBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BalmainBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/48 "2002-05-01T07:40:00Z")
Like Joe Cool and others, I am curious about the timing of this thread. Perhaps gorewonfla wanted an impressive view tally? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/49 "2002-05-01T17:47:07Z")
**BalmainBoy** , the thread was begun last year. It was just resurrected yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/50 "2002-05-01T19:37:21Z")
Hmmm. More book-hype. I still am very much wedded to the theory that DT is a composite character designed for both practical and entertainment purposes. But if I had to name just one guy, [L. Patrick Gray](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/fbi.htm) seems to fit the bill pretty well. I particularly like the idea that Gray might have even been “confirming” things he didn’t know himself at the time, in an effort to make it appear as if someone inside was breaking the silence. Woodward would trust his assertions, and Gray would be able to throw rocks in the dark to see if someone yelped. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/51 "2002-05-01T19:47:32Z")
What I want to know is, _what is_ deep throat? You can tell me, but I’d rather you show me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/52 "2002-05-01T22:11:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > > - _Kissinger did not contribute any firsthand information_. Outside of identifiable tape transcripts, no events are described to which only Kissinger was privy. Does this include “Henry, you are not a very orthodox Jew, and I am not an orthodox Quaker, but we need to pray.” ? (Not that I suspect Kissinger of being Deep Throat.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/53 "2002-05-06T19:57:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*John Dean is now claiming to know (or at least suspect) the identity of Deep Throat, and will publish his conclusions in June. > [http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/deep.throat.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/deep.throat.reut/index.html) \*\* Dean, who everyone knows has been wrong before (and has also had a finger or two pointed at him with regards to the “he’s protecting the adultrous wife” charge) will be beaten to the punch if the [NY Post is correct](http://www.nypost.com/seven/05032002/gossip/pagesix.htm). According to the page 6 gossip staff (who get alot more right than they do wrong), Ron Kessler will expose W.M Felt of the FBI as deep throat in an upcoming e-book. I can’t vouch for the story, but it seems to support **yabob’s** guess and run contrary to **gorewon’s** ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/54 "2002-05-14T20:58:54Z")
Jerry Hardin is Deep Throat. _Wonders if the running theme of pop-culture media gags (no pun intended) is getting old._ ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/55 "2002-05-16T17:24:43Z")
Well, I have it from one good source that Deep Throat was really Ryma, the recently deceased National Zoo giraffe. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0205160068may16.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed](http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0205160068may16.story?coll=chi%2Dleisuretempo%2Dhed) > [@](#): > > “Ryma was murdered,” Geoffrey [the Toys R Us giraffe] said flatly. “Think about it. He lived in Washington, just a few blocks from the White House. And he had a long neck. Get it? Ryma was `Deep Throat,’ the anonymous source who helped Woodward and Bernstein unravel the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon’s presidency.” ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/56 "2002-05-17T21:41:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gorewonfla \* > \*\*Many otherwise intelligent people have asserted that there is no Deep Throat, and among those people was Ben Bradlee, who was editor for the WP. He essentially coerced the identity of Deep Throat from his two reporters, and now insists that there is a Deep Throat. Bradlee is a well-respected Washington insider, and considering that he already had a substantial reputaion himself when Watergate broke, it’d be unlikely he’d play along with a lie of that magnitude. > \*\* Bradlee did not coerce the identity of Deep Throat from either Woodwar or Bernstein. He wrote in his memoirs that he learned Deep Throats identity while sitting on a bench in Lafayette Park during a lunch break. Deep Throat is John Dean’s wife Maureen Dean. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/57 "2002-05-18T00:01:48Z")
No way it was Maureen Dean. That bitch couldn’t have maintained discretion for all the tea in China. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/58 "2002-05-18T00:04:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Northern Piper \* > \*\* > How tall is Woodward? Provided this little anecdote isn’t planted misinformation (a possibility I acknowledge), it suggests that Deep Throat is a couple of inches taller than Woody. How tall was John Dean? > > \*\* I had a brush with greatness a few weeks ago and helped John Dean at the library where I work. I would estimate John Dean to be 5’8"-5’10". Seemed like a nice enough guy. Wasn’t demanding or anything like that. I only realized it was him when I placed a hold on a book for him. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/59 "2002-06-17T22:02:55Z")
The new hot theory is that it _was_ Pat Buchanan: [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0206150195jun15.story?coll=chi-news-hed](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0206150195jun15.story?coll=chi-news-hed) And since the link above will expire in a couple days: [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134475810\_throat16.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134475810_throat16.html) ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977/60 "2002-06-17T23:36:03Z")
Zuma: The link you provided is dead. Who was it that Dean claims was DT? I was going to buy the book when I heard it about it but I just shelled out a bunch for school books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-deep-throat/63977.md?page=4)