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John Daniel Ehrlichman (; March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American political aide who served as 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 ...
and
Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...
for Domestic Affairs under 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 ...
. Ehrlichman was an important influence on Nixon's domestic policy, coaching him on issues and enlisting his support for environmental initiatives. Ehrlichman was a key figure in events leading to the Watergate break-in and the ensuing
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 ...
, for which he was convicted of
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...
, obstruction of justice, and perjury, and served a year and a half in prison.


Early life

Ehrlichman was born in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
, the son of Lillian Catherine (née Danielson) and Rudolph Irwin Ehrlichman.Tate, Cassandra
"Ehrlichman, John D. (1925-1999)"
''HistoryLink.org'', August 25, 2006.
His family practiced
Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...
(his father was a convert from
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
). In 1931, the family moved to
southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
. He was an
Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
, recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1942, and attended the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
, for a year prior to his military service.


Military service and early career

At age 18 in 1943, he enlisted in the
U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War ...
. In
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Ehrlichman received the Distinguished Flying Cross as a lead B-17
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...
in the
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forc ...
. Earlier in the war, his father joined the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
as an instructor pilot in 1940 and was killed in a crash in Torbay,
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
(later
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, from 1949) on May 6, 1942. Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, Ehrlichman returned to UCLA and graduated in 1948 with a B.A. in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
; he graduated from Stanford Law School in 1951. After a short time back in southern California, Ehrlichman joined a
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
law firm, becoming a partner, practicing as a
land-use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long his ...
lawyer, noted for his expertise in urban land use and zoning. His uncle was president of the Municipal League, and Ehrlichman was active, supporting its efforts to clean up
Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...
and to improve the civic infrastructure of Seattle and
King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
. He remained a practicing lawyer until 1969, when he entered politics full-time.


Political life

Ehrlichman worked on Nixon's unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign and his unsuccessful 1962 California gubernatorial election campaign. He was an advance man for Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. Following Nixon's victory, Ehrlichman became the White House Counsel (
John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal ...
would succeed him). Ehrlichman was Counsel for about a year before becoming Chief Domestic Advisor for Nixon. It was then that he became a member of Nixon's inner circle. He and close friend H. R. Haldeman, whom he had met at UCLA, were referred to jointly as "The Berlin Wall" by
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
staffers because of their German-sounding family names, and their penchant for isolating Nixon from other advisors and anyone seeking an audience with him. Ehrlichman created " The Plumbers", the group at the center of the Watergate scandal, and appointed his assistant Egil Krogh to oversee its covert operations, focusing on stopping leaks of confidential information after the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
Henry Paulson Henry Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American banker and financier who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson was the Chairman a ...
was John Ehrlichman's assistant in 1972 and 1973. Ehrlichman spoke with the hijackers of
Southern Airways Flight 49 The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 started on November 10, 1972 in Birmingham, Alabama, stretching over 30 hours, three countries, and , not ending until the next evening in Havana, Cuba. Three men, Melvin Cale, Louis Moore, and Henry D ...
on November 10, 1972, via telephone. After the start of the Watergate investigations in 1973, Ehrlichman lobbied for an intentional delay in the confirmation of
L. Patrick Gray Louis Patrick Gray III (July 18, 1916 – July 6, 2005) was Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 3, 1972 to April 27, 1973. During this time, the FBI was in charge of the initial investigation into the burglarie ...
as Director of the FBI. He argued that the confirmation hearings were deflecting media attention from Watergate and that it would be better for Gray to be left "twisting, slowly, slowly in the wind."
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 ...
John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal ...
cited the "Berlin Wall" of Ehrlichman and Haldeman as one of the reasons for his growing sense of alienation in the White House. This alienation led him to believe he was to become the Watergate
scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
and then to his eventual cooperation with Watergate prosecutors. On April 30, 1973, Nixon fired Dean. Ehrlichman and Haldeman resigned. Ehrlichman was defended by Andrew C. Hall during the Watergate trials, in which he was convicted of
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...
, obstruction of justice, perjury, and other charges on January 1, 1975 (along with
John N. Mitchell John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal ...
and Haldeman). All three men were initially sentenced to between two and a half and eight years in prison. In 1977, the sentences were commuted to one to four years. Unlike his co-defendants, Ehrlichman voluntarily entered prison before his appeals were exhausted. He was released from the
Federal Correctional Institution, Safford The Federal Correctional Institution, Safford (FCI Safford) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Arizona. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. FCI S ...
, after serving a total of 18 months. Having been convicted of a
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 res ...
, he was disbarred from the practice of law. Ehrlichman and Haldeman sought and were denied pardons by Nixon, although Nixon later regretted his decision not to grant them. Ehrlichman applied for a pardon from President
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in 1987.


Post-political life

Following his release from prison, Ehrlichman held a number of jobs, first for a quality control firm, then writer, artist and commentator. Ehrlichman wrote several novels, including ''The Company'', which served as the basis for the 1977 television miniseries '' Washington: Behind Closed Doors''. He served as the executive vice president of an
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
hazardous materials firm. In a 1981 interview, Ehrlichman referred to Nixon as a "very pathetic figure in American history." His experiences in the Nixon administration were published in his 1982 book, ''Witness To Power''. The book portrays Nixon in a very negative light, and is considered to be the culmination of his frustration at not being pardoned by Nixon before his own 1974 resignation. Shortly before his death, Ehrlichman teamed with best-selling novelist
Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have b ...
to write, produce, and co-host a three-hour Watergate documentary, ''John Ehrlichman: In the Eye of the Storm''. The completed but never-broadcast documentary, along with associated papers and videotape elements (including an interview Ehrlichman did with Bob Woodward as part of the project), is housed at the
Richard B. Russell Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (November 2, 1897 – January 21, 1971) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 66th Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 before serving in the United States Senate for almos ...
Library for Political Research and Studies at the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
in
Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...
. In 1987, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream hired Ehrlichman to do a television commercial for a light
ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
sold by the company, as part of a series of commercials featuring what the company called "unbelievable spokespeople for an unbelievable product." After complaints from consumers, the company quickly pulled the ad. Ehrlichman died of complications from
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
in 1999, after discontinuing dialysis treatments.


Drug war quote

In 2016, a quote from Ehrlichman was the lede for an anti- drug war article in ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' by journalist
Dan Baum Dan Baum (February 18, 1956 – October 8, 2020) was an American journalist and author who wrote for ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Wired'', ''Playboy'', and ''The New York Times Magazine,'' among other publ ...
. Baum states that Ehrlichman offered this quote in a 1994 interview for Baum's 1996 book, '' Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure'', but that he did not include it in that book or otherwise publish it for 22 years "because it did not fit the narrative style"LoBianco, Tom
"Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies"
CNN, March 24, 2016.
of the book. Multiple family members of Ehrlichman (who died in 1999) challenge the veracity of the quote: In an expository piece focused on the quote, German Lopez does not address the family's assertion that the quote was fabricated by Baum, but suggests that Ehrlichman was either wrong or lying:


In the media

John Ehrlichman was portrayed by
J. T. Walsh James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor. His many films include ''Tin Men'' (1987), ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987), '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' Hoffa'' (1992), ''Nixon'' (1995), ...
in the film '' Nixon'', and by
Wayne Péré Wayne Péré (born March 23, 1965), sometimes credited as Wayne Pére or Wayne Pere, is an American character actor. Life and career Péré was born in Houma, Louisiana, and is the youngest of three brothers. After graduating high school, Pér� ...
in '' Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House''.


Fiction works

*''The Company'' *''The Whole Truth'' * 'China Card''


See also

* Modified limited hangout, a phrase Ehrlichman used in the
Watergate 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 continu ...
tapes *
Operation Sandwedge Operation Sandwedge was a proposed clandestine intelligence-gathering operation against the political enemies of U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration. The proposals were put together by Nixon's Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, domestic ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


John Ehrlichman testifying at the Watergate Hearings
WETA-TV Public Television, 1973 Watergate Hearings
John Ehrlichman's Secret White House Tapes
at the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings Program
John Ehrlichman Believed Henry Kissinger was Deep Throat
an article from ''
Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry." Originally based in New York City, ...
''
''The Testimony of John Ehrlichman & H. R. Haldeman''
at
Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

Descriptive inventory of ''Eye of the Storm'' collection held at Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and StudiesFBI file on John EhrlichmanFederal Correctional Institute at Safford, Az
Federal Bureau of Prisons * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrlichman, John 1925 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American Christian Scientists American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American memoirists United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American people of Jewish descent American perjurers Deaths from diabetes Drug policy of the United States Washington (state) politicians convicted of crimes Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Lawyers disbarred in the Watergate scandal Military personnel from Tacoma, Washington Nixon administration personnel People convicted in the Watergate scandal People convicted of obstruction of justice Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Stanford Law School alumni United States Army Air Forces officers University of California, Los Angeles alumni Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) Republicans White House Counsels Writers from Tacoma, Washington