H.R. Haldeman

Nixon Top Aides Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell Sentenced to Prison for Watergate Cover-up

| Importance: 9/10

On February 21, 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2.5 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up. All three men had been convicted of every count against them—a total of 14 felonies …

H.R. Haldeman John Ehrlichman John N. Mitchell John Sirica watergate obstruction-of-justice accountability institutional-corruption abuse-of-power
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Nixon Releases Smoking Gun Tape Under Supreme Court Order, Political Support Collapses Completely

| Importance: 10/10

Under order from the Supreme Court’s unanimous July 24 decision in United States v. Nixon, President Nixon released the tape recording of his June 23, 1972 conversation with Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman on August 5, 1974. The tape provided irrefutable proof that Nixon had ordered the CIA to …

Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman House Judiciary Committee Republican Party watergate obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power institutional-corruption accountability-failure
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Alexander Butterfield Reveals Nixon White House Secret Taping System in Bombshell Testimony

| Importance: 10/10

On July 13, 1973, Alexander Butterfield—who had served as deputy assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973—was questioned in a background interview by Senate Watergate Committee staff members prior to his public testimony. Butterfield was brought before the committee because he was H.R. …

Alexander Butterfield Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman Donald Sanders Fred Thompson +1 more watergate surveillance congressional-oversight abuse-of-power institutional-corruption
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John Dean Testifies to Senate Watergate Committee: "Cancer Growing on the Presidency"

| Importance: 10/10

On June 25, 1973, recently fired White House Counsel John Dean began week-long testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, starting with a 245-page opening statement that took six hours to read. Dean testified that he had told President Nixon: “I began by …

John Dean Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman John Ehrlichman Howard Baker +1 more watergate congressional-oversight obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power institutional-corruption
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Smoking Gun Tape: Nixon Orders CIA to Block FBI Watergate Investigation

| Importance: 10/10

Just six days after the Watergate break-in, President Richard Nixon met with his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office from 10:04am to 11:39am to discuss damage control. During this conversation—secretly recorded by Nixon’s own voice-activated taping system—the President ordered …

Richard Nixon H.R. Haldeman Vernon Walters L. Patrick Gray CIA +1 more watergate obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power intelligence-agencies institutional-corruption
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Nixon Wins Presidency Using Southern Strategy Based on Racial Resentment

| Importance: 9/10

Richard Nixon won the presidency with a strategy devised by political consultant Kevin Phillips that explicitly targeted white racial resentment to break up the New Deal coalition. Phillips, who worked on Nixon’s campaign, told journalists during the election that ’the whole secret of …

Richard Nixon Kevin Phillips H.R. Haldeman George Wallace Republican Party racial-politics dog-whistle-politics political-strategy republican-party southern-strategy +1 more
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Nixon Campaign Sabotages Vietnam Peace Talks Through Anna Chennault to Win Election - Johnson Calls It Treason

| Importance: 9/10

Richard Nixon’s campaign secretly communicates with the South Vietnamese government to sabotage President Johnson’s Paris peace talks, with H.R. Haldeman’s notes documenting Nixon’s direct instruction to “keep Anna Chennault working on SVN [South Vietnam].” Nixon …

Richard Nixon Anna Chennault H.R. Haldeman John Mitchell South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu +2 more election-interference government-deception corruption war-profiteering institutional-corruption
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