20-12-2008, 01:14 AM
Was it him or was he used? What was his real role in Watergate?
Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died aged 95.
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The "most famous anonymous source in American history" died in his sleep on Thursday at a California hospice, reported Bob Woodward, one of the two Post journalists who exposed the Watergate affair.
Felt was associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when he began helping the reporters in the early 1970s.
The scandal led to the downfall of then US President Richard Nixon.
After finally revealing his identity, Felt said he never considered himself a hero, but was just "trying to help".
"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," Felt told family friend John O'Connor, who wrote the 2005 Vanity Fair article confirming his role in the affair.
Secret kept for 30 years
The informant daughter Joan Felt said he had had a big breakfast on Thursday morning, before saying he was tired, and going back to sleep.
"He slipped away," she said.
Felt was in poor health when he announced he had been the shadowy informant of late-night meetings in dark garages made famous in the book and movie "All the President's Men".
He kept his role secret for 33 years, not even telling his family.
It was Felt's crucial input that enabled Woodward and Carl Bernstein to write a series of scoops about the Nixon administration's involvement in the June 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in the US capital.
The scandal - and the White House's attempts at a cover-up - ultimately led to Nixon becoming the first US president to resign in disgrace in August 1974.
Whistleblower or traitor?
Critics, including those who went to prison for the Watergate scandal, called him a traitor for betraying the commander in chief.
Supporters hailed him as a hero for blowing the whistle on a corrupt administration trying to cover up attempts to sabotage opponents.
Felt grappled with his place in history, arguing with his children over whether to reveal his identity or to take his secret to the grave, O'Connor said.
He agonised about what revealing his identity would do to his reputation. Would he be seen as a turncoat or a man of honour?
Ultimately, his daughter Joan persuaded him to go public; after all, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward was sure to profit by revealing the secret after Felt died.
"We could make at least enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the kids' education," she told her father, according to the Vanity Fair article. "Let's do it for the family."
The revelation capped a Washington whodunit that spanned more than three decades and seven presidents.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/10029...dead-at-95
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Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died aged 95.
- 'Deep Throat' dies
- Dean ordered break-in - Watergate book
- Deep Throat began as mentor
- Deep Throat exposed
[/URL]
The "most famous anonymous source in American history" died in his sleep on Thursday at a California hospice, reported Bob Woodward, one of the two Post journalists who exposed the Watergate affair.
Felt was associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when he began helping the reporters in the early 1970s.
The scandal led to the downfall of then US President Richard Nixon.
After finally revealing his identity, Felt said he never considered himself a hero, but was just "trying to help".
"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," Felt told family friend John O'Connor, who wrote the 2005 Vanity Fair article confirming his role in the affair.
Secret kept for 30 years
The informant daughter Joan Felt said he had had a big breakfast on Thursday morning, before saying he was tired, and going back to sleep.
"He slipped away," she said.
Felt was in poor health when he announced he had been the shadowy informant of late-night meetings in dark garages made famous in the book and movie "All the President's Men".
He kept his role secret for 33 years, not even telling his family.
It was Felt's crucial input that enabled Woodward and Carl Bernstein to write a series of scoops about the Nixon administration's involvement in the June 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in the US capital.
The scandal - and the White House's attempts at a cover-up - ultimately led to Nixon becoming the first US president to resign in disgrace in August 1974.
Whistleblower or traitor?
Critics, including those who went to prison for the Watergate scandal, called him a traitor for betraying the commander in chief.
Supporters hailed him as a hero for blowing the whistle on a corrupt administration trying to cover up attempts to sabotage opponents.
Felt grappled with his place in history, arguing with his children over whether to reveal his identity or to take his secret to the grave, O'Connor said.
He agonised about what revealing his identity would do to his reputation. Would he be seen as a turncoat or a man of honour?
Ultimately, his daughter Joan persuaded him to go public; after all, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward was sure to profit by revealing the secret after Felt died.
"We could make at least enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the kids' education," she told her father, according to the Vanity Fair article. "Let's do it for the family."
The revelation capped a Washington whodunit that spanned more than three decades and seven presidents.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/10029...dead-at-95
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