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Deep Throat Story Hard to Swallow

For nearly thirty years, many have speculated as to the identity of "Deep Throat" — the mythical source that Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward says he met in a darkened garage. It is our contention that "Deep Throat" was a dramatic device used by Woodward to throw everyone off the trail of the relationship that he had with Alexander Haig. The Woodward-Haig relationship was formed in 1969-70 when Woodward briefed Haig at the National Security Council in the White House's basement. The evidence suggests that Haig was Woodward's secret source at the White House.

In the research leading to the publication of Silent Coup, authors Colodny and Gettlin undercovered evidence that Naval Lieutenant Bob Woodward had briefed Alexander Haig as early as 1969. When confronted with the question of if he had ever briefed anyone, he responded in the negative and added " I defy you to produce somebody who says I did the briefing, it's just — it's not true" Hear and read Woodward's denial.

In response to Mr. Woodward's defiance in this regard, the Nixon Era Center releases interviews by Bob Gettlin of three substantial sources that confirm that relationship existed between Woodward and Haig. Hear the excerpts and read the transcripts.

The Post-Kurtz Cover-up Continues

According to Media Watch of May 1991: "The Washington Times skewered The Washington Post for its May 21 treatment of the new Watergate expose, Silent Coup. The book presents evidence that Watergate wunderkind Bob Woodward briefed Alexander Haig when he served in the Navy, and later used him as a source for his Watergate stories. Times reporters Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper noted that "the Post story doesn't mention Mr. Woodward until paragraph 12, although his role was a prominent part of stories done by the Associated Press, Reuters, and TV's Good Morning America." Hedges and Seper reported that Post media reporter Howard Kurtz "did not quote from transcripts of tape-recorded interviews the authors released Monday in which...witnesses [former Joint Chiefs head Thomas Moorer and former Pentagon spokesman Jerry Friedheim] back the authors' allegations about Mr. Woodward. Mr. Kurtz now says he wasn't aware of the transcripts when he wrote his story, even though a Post reporter attended the news conference at which they were released." The Times duo also noted that "Mr. Kurtz's story in the Post quoted no one in support of the book." Kurtz told the Times: "I personally interviewed [Nixon historian] Roger Morris, and had several quotes from him in the story. As it went through the editing process, for space reasons...they were cut." How ironic. Now who's covering up?" To date, the Washington Post has neither retracted or corrected these claims.

Our Conclusion

It is the philosophy of the Nixon Era Center in this virtual primer on the subject of Woodward's "secret" source is not to chase "Deep Throat" through the dramatizations in "All The President's Men." These include the flower pot and marked up newspapers that Woodward and "Deep Throat" supposedly used to signal one another the so called dates as to when they would meet in the darkened parking garage. Rather, we will trace the activities of Bob Woodward and Alexander Haig, and see if there is any relevance to the removal of Richard Nixon from the presidency of the United States.

Included also on this page, our exclusive ninety-minute, in-person interview on this subject with Bob Woodward on March 6th, 1989. During the next ninety days which lead up to the 30th Anniversary of the first big leak from Woodward's "secret" White House source, we will highlight key portions of that interview and other key pieces of evidence contained in the collection at "The Nixon Era Center."

To clarify this point, we are making available to you the following relevant chapters from "Silent Coup: The Removal of a President." These chapters support the contention in great detail that Alexander Haig was Bob Woodward's source.

First and most important the relationship "The Woodward-Haig Connection."
Second the information availability,"The Return of Alexander Haig."
Finally the deadly "leak" — "The Eighteen-and-a-Half-Minute Gap."

Finally, it is most important for you to know it is not the name of the source that Woodward is hiding; the big secret is his source's MOTIVE for leaking to Woodward. A two-hour video on this very important subject is also being made available to you on this site.

All the above makes "The Nixon Era Times" the most comprehensive location for information concerning the subject of "Deep Throat."

Len Colodny

John Dean a Reliable Source????

With all of the hoopla regarding John Dean's on-line book Unmasking Deep Throat at Salon.com, it is imperative that we examine Dean's credibility. When Salon went live with Dean's book, the world became aware of his current theory that Deep Throat is one of six possible individuals: Pat Buchanan, Steve Bull, Dwight Chapin, Ray Price, Jerry Warren and Ron Ziegler.

Dean's latest announcement contradicts his April 30, 2002 statement that he narrowed down the identity of the one person who is Deep Throat. According to newspaper articles carried around the globe in April and May of this year, Dean stated: that he'd spent about 20 years going through archives and tapes. "I thought that 30 years of hiding was long enough. It's a great brainteaser, and an avocational pursuit that I finally got serious about buttoning up for the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. " June 19, two days after publication, is also the anniversary of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's first conversation with Throat about Watergate, says Dean, who's familiar enough with the protagonist to call him by one name.

Dean said "Publication of the 35,000-word text will fulfill a longtime dream of his."

"There's one person who's headed into Richard Nixon's eternal history who outranks me as his worst enemy, and that's Deep Throat. Nixon said Dean was a traitor and Deep Throat was even worse. I wanted to visit with this person."

John Dean's statement in context from the San Francisco Chronicle

In explaining his conclusion of the identity of Deep Throat in the 1982 book Lost Honor, Dean stated that it was a process of elimination from which he whittled down from his list of a hundred or so names eventually to one person: Alexander Haig. It is interesting to note that Haig does not even make his list in 2002.

Murkying the credibility waters for Dean is his 1995 claim that highly respected author, Taylor Branch, and Blind Ambition ghostwriter fabricated entire passages of this work. Blind Ambition, Dean's historical record, is used by historians and journalists world-wide. See Dean's statement taken under oath. However, Dean's editor Alice Mayhew defends herself and Taylor Branch and suggests that Dean was lying. Hear and read Mayhew's comments..

With his changing opinions on Deep Throat and statements regarding his previous works, one needs to ask the question: " Is John Dean a Reliable Source?"

See What if Deep Throat was a Lawyer
by John Dean from Findlaw.com
Deep Throat from the Miami Herald
Multiple Tongues from the Washington Post
Deep Throat remains a deep secret from CNN

In the spirit of the free exchange of ideas, The Nixon Era Center invites readers to post their views on the subject of "Deep Throat" in our Letters to the Editor section. In addition, an open invitation is given to Bob Woodward and John Dean to express any views they wish on the subject — these will be given equal space on the main page of the Nixon Era Times.