John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as
White House Counsel
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
for U.S. President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness. His guilty plea to a single
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution ultimately resulted in a reduced sentence, which he served at
Fort Holabird
Fort Holabird was a United States Army post in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, active from 1918 to 1973.
History
Fort Holabird was located in the southeast corner of Baltimore and northwest of the suburban developments of Dundalk, Maryland, in s ...
outside
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland. After his plea, he was
disbarred.
Shortly after the
Watergate hearings
The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inve ...
, Dean wrote about his experiences in a series of books and toured the United States to lecture. He later became a commentator on contemporary politics, a book author, and a columnist for FindLaw's
''Writ''.
Dean had originally been a proponent of
Goldwater conservatism, but he later became a critic of the
Republican Party. Dean has been particularly critical of the party's support of Presidents
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, and of
neoconservatism
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...
,
strong executive power,
mass surveillance, and the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
.
Personal life
Dean was born in
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...
, and lived in
Marion Marion may refer to:
People
*Marion (given name)
*Marion (surname)
*Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion"
*Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992)
Places Antarctica
* Mario ...
, the hometown of the 29th President of the United States,
Warren Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
, whose biographer he later became. His family moved to
Flossmoor, Illinois
Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately 25 miles south of the Chicago Loop.
Geography
Flossmoor is located at (41.541684, -87.684970).
According ...
, where he attended grade school. For high school, he attended
Staunton Military Academy
Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable American politica ...
with
Barry Goldwater Jr., the son of Sen.
Barry Goldwater, and became a close friend of the family.
He attended
Colgate University and then transferred to the
College of Wooster
The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...
in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, where he obtained his B.A. in 1961. He received a
Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the
Georgetown University Law Center
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
in 1965.
Dean married Karla Ann Hennings on February 4, 1962; they had one child, John Wesley Dean IV, before divorcing in 1970. Dean married Maureen (Mo) Kane on October 13, 1972.
Washington lawyer
After graduation, Dean joined Welch & Morgan, a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he was soon accused of conflict of interest violations and fired:
he was alleged to have started negotiating his own private deal for a TV station broadcast license, after his firm had assigned him to complete the same task for a client.
Dean was employed from 1966 to 1967 as chief minority counsel to the Republicans on the
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administra ...
. Dean then served as associate director of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws for approximately two years.
Nixon campaign and administration
Dean volunteered to write position papers on crime for
Richard Nixon's presidential campaign in 1968. The following year, he became an associate deputy in the office of the
Attorney General of the United States, serving under Attorney General
John N. Mitchell, with whom he was on friendly terms. In July 1970, he accepted an appointment to serve as counsel to the president, after the previous holder of this post,
John Ehrlichman
John Daniel Ehrlichman (; March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American political aide who served as the White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. Ehrlichman was an important i ...
, became the president's chief domestic adviser.
[''Blind Ambition'', by John Dean, Simon & Schuster 1976.]
Watergate scandal
Start of Watergate
On January 27, 1972, Dean, the
White House Counsel
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
, met with
Jeb Magruder
Jeb Stuart Magruder (November 5, 1934May 11, 2014) was an American businessman and high-level political operative in the Republican Party who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.
He served President Richard Nixon in vari ...
(Deputy Director of the
Committee to Re-Elect the President
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, or CRP and CREEP) and Mitchell (
Attorney General of the United States, and soon-to-be Director of CRP), in Mitchell's office, for a presentation by
G. Gordon Liddy (counsel for CRP and a former
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agent). Liddy presented a preliminary plan for intelligence-gathering operations during the campaign. Reaction to Liddy's plan was highly unfavorable. Liddy was ordered to scale down his ideas, and he presented a revised plan to the same group on February 4, which was also left unapproved.
In late March in Florida, Mitchell approved a scaled-down plan. This revised plan eventually led to attempts to eavesdrop on the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the
Watergate complex
The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings incl ...
in Washington, D.C., and to the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
. The burglars' first break-in attempt in late May was successful, but several problems had arisen with poor-quality information from their bugs, and they wanted to photograph more documents. Specifically, the burglars were interested in information they thought was held by DNC head
Lawrence F. O'Brien. On their second break-in, on the night of June 16, hotel security discovered the burglars. After the burglars' arrest, Dean took custody of evidence and money from the White House safe of
E. Howard Hunt, who had been in charge of the burglaries, and destroyed some of the evidence before investigators could find it.
Link to cover-up
On February 28, 1973, Acting
FBI Director
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...
L. Patrick Gray testified before the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
during his nomination to replace
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
as director of the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
. Armed with newspaper articles indicating the White House had possession of FBI Watergate files, committee chair
Sam Ervin
Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often ...
asked Gray what he knew about the White House obtaining the files. Gray said he had given FBI reports to Dean, and had discussed the FBI investigation with Dean on many occasions. It also came out that Gray had destroyed important evidence Dean entrusted to him. Gray's nomination failed and Dean was directly linked to the Watergate cover-up.
White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman
Harry Robbins Haldeman (October 27, 1926 – November 12, 1993) was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Watergate s ...
later claimed that Nixon appointed Dean to take the lead role in coordinating the Watergate cover-up from an early stage and that this cover-up was working very well for many months. Certain aspects of the scandal came to light before
Election Day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...
, but Nixon was reelected by a landslide.
Cooperation with prosecutors
On March 22, 1973, Nixon requested that Dean put together a report with everything he knew about the Watergate matter, inviting him to take a retreat to
Camp David to do so. Dean went to Camp David and did some work on a report, but since he was one of the cover-up's chief participants, the task put him in the difficult position of relating his own involvement as well as that of others; he correctly concluded that higher-ups were fitting him for the role of scapegoat. Dean did not complete the report.
[''Blind Ambition: The White House Years'', by John Dean, New York 1976, Simon & Schuster, pp. 196–274.]
On March 23, the five Watergate burglars, along with G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, were sentenced with stiff fines and prison time of up to 40 years.
On April 6, Dean hired an attorney and began cooperating with
Senate Watergate investigators, while continuing to work as Nixon's Chief White House Counsel and participating in cover-up efforts, not disclosing this obvious conflict to Nixon until some time later. Dean was also receiving advice from the attorney he hired, Charles Shaffer, on matters involving the vulnerabilities of other White House staff.
Dean continued to provide information to the prosecutors, who were able to make enormous progress on the cover-up, which until then they had virtually ignored, concentrating on the actual burglary and events preceding it. Dean also appeared before the Watergate
grand jury, where he took the
Fifth Amendment numerous times to avoid incriminating himself, and in order to save his testimony for the
Senate Watergate hearings
The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...
.
Firing by Nixon
![Dean, John -MBFI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Dean%2C_John_-MBFI.jpg)
Coupled with his sense of distance from Nixon's inner circle, the "Berlin Wall" of advisors Haldeman and Ehrlichman, Dean sensed he was going to become the Watergate scapegoat and returned to Washington without completing his report. Nixon fired Dean on April 30, the same day he announced the resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman.
When Nixon learned that Dean had begun cooperating with federal prosecutors, he pressed Attorney General
Richard Kleindienst
Richard Gordon Kleindienst (August 5, 1923 – February 3, 2000) was an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Attorney General during the early stages of Watergate political scandal.
Early life and career
Kleindienst was born August 5, 1923, in ...
not to give Dean immunity from prosecution by telling Kleindienst that Dean was lying to the Justice Department about his conversations with the president. On April 17, 1973, Nixon told Assistant Attorney General
Henry Petersen (who was overseeing the Watergate investigation) that he did not want any member of the White House granted immunity from prosecution. Petersen informed Nixon that this could cause problems for the prosecution of the case, but Nixon publicly announced his position that evening. It was alleged that Nixon's motivation for preventing Dean from getting immunity was to prevent him from testifying against key Nixon aides and Nixon himself.
Testimony to Senate Watergate Committee
On June 25, 1973, Dean began his testimony before the
Senate Watergate Committee
The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...
. The committee had voted to grant him
use immunity (doing so in a divided vote in a private session that was then changed to a unanimous vote and announced that way to the public). In his testimony, he implicated administration officials, including Mitchell, Nixon, and himself. His testimony attracted very high television ratings since he was breaking new ground in the investigation, and media attention grew apace, with more detailed newspaper coverage. Dean was the first administration official to accuse Nixon of direct involvement with Watergate and the resulting cover-up in press interviews. Such testimony against Nixon, while damaging to the president's credibility, had little legal impact, as it was merely his word against Nixon's. Nixon vigorously denied all accusations that he had authorized a cover-up, and Dean had no corroboration beyond various notes he had taken in his meetings with the president. It was not until it was revealed that Nixon had made
secret White House tape recordings (disclosed in testimony by
Alexander Butterfield
Alexander Porter Butterfield (born April 6, 1926) is a retired United States Air Force officer, public servant, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He revealed the White House tapin ...
on July 16) and the tapes were subpoenaed and analyzed that many of Dean's accusations were largely substantiated. Dean had had suspicions that Nixon was taping conversations, and he tipped prosecutors to question witnesses along this line, leading to Butterfield's revelations. Dean’s words on tape can be heard in the British documentary TV series ''
Watergate''.
Research on accuracy of Dean's memory
When it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded all meetings in the
Oval Office, famous psychologist and memory researcher
Ulric Neisser
Ulric Richard Gustav Neisser (December 8, 1928 – February 17, 2012) was a German-American psychologist, Cornell University professor, and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has been referred to as the "father of cognitive p ...
analyzed Dean's recollections of the meetings, as expressed through his testimony, in comparison to the meetings' actual recordings.
[Neisser, U. (1981). John Dean's memory: A case study. Cognition, 9(1), 1–22.] A sharp critic of studying memory in a laboratory setting, Neisser saw "a valuable data trove" in Dean's recall.
Neisser found that, despite Dean's confidence, the tapes proved that his memory was anything but a tape recorder.
[Schacter, D. L. (1996). ''Searching for Memory: The Brain, The Mind, and the Past''; Basic Books.] Dean failed to recall any conversations verbatim, and often failed to recall the gist of conversations correctly.
Neisser did not explain the difference as one of deception; rather, he thought that the evidence supported the theory that memory is not akin to a tape recorder and instead should be thought of as reconstructions of information that are greatly affected by rehearsal, or attempts at replay.
Criminal trial
Dean pleaded guilty to
obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...
before Watergate trial judge
John Sirica
John Joseph Sirica (March 19, 1904 – August 14, 1992) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he became famous for his role in the trials stemming from the Watergate scandal.
...
on October 19, 1973. He admitted supervising payments of "
hush money
Hush money is a term for an arrangement in which one person or party offers another an attractive sum of money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatized, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact abo ...
" to the Watergate burglars, notably E. Howard Hunt, and revealed the existence of
Nixon's enemies list
"Nixon's Enemies List" is the informal name of what started as a list of President of the United States Richard Nixon's major political opponents compiled by Charles Colson, written by George T. Bell (assistant to Colson, special counsel to t ...
. Watergate
Special Prosecutor
In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...
Archibald Cox
Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was ...
was interested in meeting with Dean and planned to do so a few days later, but Cox was
fired by Nixon the next day; it was not until a month later that Cox was replaced by
Leon Jaworski
Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon a ...
. On August 2, 1974, Sirica handed down a sentence to Dean of one to four years in a minimum-security prison. But when Dean surrendered as scheduled on September 3, he was diverted to the custody of
U.S. Marshals
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
and kept instead at
Fort Holabird
Fort Holabird was a United States Army post in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, active from 1918 to 1973.
History
Fort Holabird was located in the southeast corner of Baltimore and northwest of the suburban developments of Dundalk, Maryland, in s ...
(near
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland) in a special "
safe house
A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor.
Histori ...
" primarily used for witnesses against the
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
. He spent his days at the offices of Jaworski, the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and testifying in the trial of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman,
Robert Mardian
Robert Charles Mardian (October 23, 1923 – July 17, 2006) was a United States Republican party official who served in the administration of Richard Nixon, and was embroiled in the Watergate scandal as one of the Watergate Seven who were indicte ...
, and
Kenneth Parkinson
Kenneth Wells Parkinson (September 13, 1927 – October 5, 2016) was counsel to the Committee to Re-elect the President that supported Richard Nixon in 1972. He was a member of the Watergate Seven, who were indicted by a federal
Federal or f ...
, which concluded in December. All except Parkinson were convicted, largely based upon Dean's evidence. Dean's lawyer moved to have his sentence reduced and on January 8, Sirica granted the motion, adjusting Dean's sentence to time served, which was four months. With his plea to
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
offenses, Dean was
disbarred as a lawyer in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and the District of Columbia.
Life after Watergate
![JohnDean2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/JohnDean2.jpg)
Shortly after Watergate, Dean became an
investment banker
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...
, author and lecturer based in
Beverly Hills, California. He chronicled his White House experiences, with a focus on Watergate, in the memoirs ''Blind Ambition'' (1976) and ''Lost Honor'' (1982). ''Blind Ambition'' was
ghostwritten
''Ghostwritten'' is the first novel published by English author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, B ...
by future
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
and later made into
a 1979 TV miniseries.
In 1992, Dean hired attorney
Neil Papiano and brought the first in a series of defamation suits against Liddy for claims in Liddy's book ''Will'', and
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
for its publication of the book ''
Silent Coup'' by
Len Colodny and
Robert Gettlin. ''Silent Coup'' alleged that Dean masterminded the
Watergate burglaries
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
and the Watergate coverup and that the true aim of the burglaries was to seize information implicating Dean and the former Maureen "Mo" Biner (his then-fiancée) in a prostitution ring. After hearing of Colodny's work, Liddy issued a revised paperback version of ''Will'' supporting Colodny's theory. This theory was subsequently the subject of the 1992
A&E Network ''
Investigative Reports
The following is a list of television programs formerly or currently broadcast by A&E.
Current programming Original Reality
*''American Justice'' (1992–2005; 2020–present)
*''City Confidential'' (1998–2005; 2021–present)
*''Cold Case F ...
'' series program ''The Key to Watergate''.
In the preface to his 2006 book ''
Conservatives Without Conscience
''Conservatives without Conscience'' is a book written by John Dean, who served as White House Counsel under U.S. President Richard Nixon and then helped to break the Watergate scandal with his testimony before the United States Senate. The book ...
'', Dean strongly denied Colodny's theory, pointing out that Colodny's chief source (
Phillip Mackin Bailley) had been in and out of mental institutions. Dean settled the defamation suit against Colodny and his publisher, St. Martin's Press, on terms that Dean wrote in the book's preface he could not divulge under the conditions of the settlement, other than that "the Deans were satisfied." The case of Dean vs. Liddy was dismissed without prejudice. Also in 2006, Dean appeared as an interviewee in the documentary ''
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
''The U.S. vs. John Lennon'' is a documentary film about Lennon's transformation from member of the Beatles to anti-war activist opposing the reelection of Richard Nixon as president in 1972. The film also details the attempts by the Nixon admini ...
'', about the Nixon administration's efforts to keep
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
out of the United States.
Dean retired from investment banking in 2000 while continuing to work as an author and lecturer, becoming a columnist for
FindLaw's ''
Writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...
'' online magazine. He resides in
Beverly Hills, California.
In 2001, Dean published ''
The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court'', an exposé of the White House's selection process for a new
Supreme Court justice in 1971, which led to the appointment of
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...
. Three years later, Dean wrote a book heavily critical of the administration of
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, ''
Worse than Watergate'', in which he called for the
impeachment of Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney for allegedly lying to Congress.
His next book, released in 2006, was ''Conservatives without Conscience'', a play on Barry Goldwater's book ''
The Conscience of a Conservative
''The Conscience of a Conservative'' is a 1960 book published under the name of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater who was the 1964 Republican presidential candidate. It helped revive the American conservative movement and make Goldwater a political ...
''. In it, he asserts that post-Goldwater conservatism has been co-opted by people with authoritarian personalities and policies, citing data from
Bob Altemeyer
Robert Anthony Altemeyer (born 6 June 1940) is a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba. Altemeyer also produced the right-wing authoritarianism scale, or RWA Scale, as well as the related left-wing authoritarianism scale, ...
. According to Dean, modern conservatism, specifically on the
Christian Right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...
, embraces obedience, inequality, intolerance, and strong intrusive government, in stark contrast to Goldwater's philosophies and policies. Using Altemeyer's scholarly work, he contends that there is a tendency toward ethically questionable political practices when authoritarians are in power and that the current political situation is dangerously unsound because of it. Dean cites the behavior of key members of the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
leadership, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney,
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
,
Newt Gingrich and
Bill Frist
William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Lea ...
, as clear evidence of a relationship between modern right-wing conservatism and this authoritarian approach to governance. He places particular emphasis on the abdication of checks and balances by the Republican Congress and on the dishonesty of the conservative intellectual class in support of the Republican Party, as a result of the obedience and arrogance innate to the authoritarian mentality.
After it became known that Bush authorized
NSA wiretaps without warrants, Dean asserted that Bush is "the first President to admit to an impeachable offense". On March 31, 2006, Dean testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during hearings on censuring Bush over the issue. Senator
Russell Feingold
Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U. ...
, who sponsored the censure resolution, introduced Dean as a "patriot" who put "rule of law above the interests of the president." In his testimony, Dean asserted that Nixon covered up Watergate because he believed it was in the interest of national security. This sparked a sharp debate with Republican
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
senator
Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...
, who repeatedly asserted that Nixon authorized the break-in at Democratic headquarters. Dean finally replied, "You're showing you don't know that subject very well." Spectators laughed, and soon the senator was "sputtering mad".
Dean's 2007 book ''Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches'' is, as he wrote in its introduction, the third volume of an unplanned trilogy. In this latest book, Dean, who has repeatedly called himself a "Goldwater conservative", built on ''Worse Than Watergate'' and ''Conservatives Without Conscience'' to argue that the Republican Party has gravely damaged all three branches of the federal government in the service of ideological rigidity and with no attention to the public interest or the general good. Dean concludes that conservatism must regenerate itself to remain true to its core ideals of limited government and the rule of law.
In 2008, Dean co-edited ''Pure Goldwater,'' a collection of writings by the 1964 Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, in part as an act of fealty to the man who defined his political ideals. His co-editor was Goldwater's son Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Historian
Stanley Kutler Stanley Ira Kutler (August 10, 1934 – April 7, 2015) was an American historian, best known for his lawsuit against the National Archives and Richard Nixon that won the release of tape recordings Nixon made during his White House years, particul ...
was accused of editing the Nixon tapes to make Dean appear in a more favorable light.
On September 17, 2009, Dean appeared on ''Countdown'' with new allegations about Watergate. He said he had found information via the Nixon tapes that showed what the burglars were after: information on a kickback scheme involving the
Democratic National Convention in
Miami Beach, Florida. Dean also asserts that Nixon did not directly order the break-in, but that Ehrlichman ordered it on Nixon's behalf.
In speaking engagements in 2014, Dean called Watergate a "lawyers' scandal" that, for all the bad, ushered in needed legal ethics reforms.
Dean later emerged as a strong critic of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, saying in 2017 that he was even worse than Nixon. He said, "It's a nightmare. They don't know what their jeopardy is. They don't know what they're looking at. They don't know if they're a part of a conspiracy that might unfold. They don't know whether to hire lawyers or not, how they're going to pay for them if they do. It's an unpleasant place."
In February 2018, Dean warned that
Rick Gates's testimony may be "the end" of Trump's presidency.
In September 2018, Dean warned against
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
's confirmation to the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, a main concern being that the appointment would result in "the most
presidential-powers-friendly court" in modern times.
On November 7, 2018, the day after the midterm elections, Trump forced Attorney General
Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
to resign. Dean commented on the removal in colorful terms, saying it "seems to be planned like a murder" and that Special Counsel Robert Mueller likely had contingency plans, possibly including sealed indictments.
In early June 2019, Dean testified, along with various U.S. attorneys and legal experts, before the House Judiciary Committee on the implications of, and potential actions as a result of, the
Mueller report.
In 2022, Dean said the
January 6 Committee
The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (the January 6th Committee) is a bipartisan select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives established to investigate the U.S. ...
had an overwhelming case against Trump.
Media appearances and portrayals
Dean frequently served as a guest on the former
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
and
Current TV
Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...
news program, ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'', and ''
The Randi Rhodes Show
''The Randi Rhodes Show'' is a talk radio show hosted by Randi Rhodes. The show combines her progressive political commentary with listener participation and live interviews. It was originally broadcast on Air America Radio, Nova M Radio, and ...
'' on
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...
.
In the 1979 TV mini-series ''
Blind Ambition'', Dean was played by
Martin Sheen
Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
. In the 1995 film ''
Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
'', directed by
Oliver Stone, Dean was played by
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce (born April 3, 1959) is an American actor and director of stage, film and television. He starred as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 to 2004, and won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Scree ...
. In the 1999 film ''
Dick
Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to:
Media
* ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia
* Dicks (band), a musical group
* ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film
* "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat
Names
...
'', Dean was played by
Jim Breuer
James E. Breuer (born June 21, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and radio host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 1998 and starred in the film '' Half Baked'' (1998).
Early life
Breuer was born ...
. In the 2022 TV mini-series ''
Gaslit'', Dean was played by
Dan Stevens.
Bibliography
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References
Further reading
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External links
John Dean testifying at the Watergate HearingsWETA-TV Public Television, 1973 Watergate Hearings.
Worse Than Watergate: Former Nixon Counsel John Dean Says Bush Should Be Impeached''Democracy Now!'', April 6, 2004, interview with John Dean.
John Dean, ''
Findlaw'', September 9, 2005.
* Video of John Dean interview by
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...
on ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'' about Dean's book ''
Conservatives Without Conscience
''Conservatives without Conscience'' is a book written by John Dean, who served as White House Counsel under U.S. President Richard Nixon and then helped to break the Watergate scandal with his testimony before the United States Senate. The book ...
'' on July 11, 2006, a
Crooks and Liars .
* Interview comparing Nixon and Donald Trump.
*
*
''Booknotes'' interview with Dean on ''Warren G. Harding'', March 14, 2004.*
''In Depth'' interview with Dean, April 4, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, John
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