Politics
Gordon Liddy dead – Mastermind of the Watergate burglary that ended up toppling President Nixon dies aged 90
A MASTERMIND behind the Watergate burglary, G. Gordon Liddy, has died on Tuesday at the age of 90.
Liddy, who became a radio talk show host after he was released from prison, was a former FBI agent and Army veteran who played a large role in setting up the Watergate burglary on behalf of President Richard Nixon.
Gordon Liddy, a mastermind behind the Watergate break in, is dead at age 90[/caption]
His son Thomas Liddy confirmed his death but didn’t reveal the cause, other to say it was not Covid-related.
Liddy was instrumental in Nixon’s break-in into Democratic headquarters at the hotel, ultimately spending four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement.
He was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the scandal that ultimately saw the resignation of Nixon. But he had no regrets.
“I’d do it again for my president,” Liddy said years later.
He would drive around with a license plate that read: “H20GATE”[/caption]
Liddy was well known for his bullish behavior both in politics and later on when he took on his emceeing abilities as a radio host.
He would recommend assassinating political enemies, bombing left-leaning think tanks, and kidnapping war protestors.
Unfortunately for Liddy, his suggestions were often ignored by his White House colleagues.
One of his suggestions that was taken up was the Watergate scandal – an insane idea to break into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel in June 1972 to steal documents and conduct opposition research.
When the burglary went bust and an investigation came to Nixon’s attempted cover-up of the burglary, Nixon resigned in 1974 as Liddy went to jail.
Liddy’s license plate read “H20GATE” after his failed robbery attempt.
Aside from his Watergate scandals, Liddy was convicted of conspiracy in the September 1971 burglary of defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, which detailed the secret history of the Vietnam War.
Nixon later resigned after the burglary and blotched cover up[/caption]
Liddy would tell people how to kill federal agents on his radio talk show[/caption]
Liddy became a popular and controversial talk show host following his release from prison, doing some stints as a security consultant, writer and actor in between.
He offered tips on air on how to kill federal firearms agents and chastised people for cooperating with prosecutors.
Liddy was born as George Gordon Liddy in Hoboken, New Jersey, a town populated by mostly German-Americans. With friends and a maid who German, Liddy developed a fascination with Adolf Hitler and listened to his radio speeches in the 1930s.
“If an entire nation could be changed, lifted out of weakness to extraordinary strength, so could one person,” Liddy wrote in “Will,” his autobiography.
He also held similar beliefs about personal fears.
He once roasted and ate a rat at age 11 to overcome his fear of rats, writing in his book: “From now on, rats could fear me as they feared cats.”
More to follow…
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