“I am an American. Not of the sort we see on the news today, but an old guard American. Citizens no longer believe in such things. They no longer believe even in history. Yes, believe is what I said. We barely comprehend the present, while absolutely condemning the past. I believe. I believe, because I was there. I have seen it. I have lived it. Every good achievement and deplorable accomplishment of our noble American history has been conducted by men like me. They were neither good nor evil, but men. And as such, they were swayed and moved by the same forces as men of today.

This is not a story about all of history, but of a singular moment in history. An historical event enacted by three men who desired what all men desire: power.

John Mitchell was President Richard Nixon’s Attorney General, and Director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP). Jeb Magruder — Steve Stunning we called him — was John’s assistant. Neither men liked G. Gordon Liddy. They thought he was flaky and unstable. Once, Liddy was giving a speech, and Mitchell interrupted him just to belittle Liddy. Liddy knew the word that rested on the man’s lips: “quack.” But of course he never said it. Not to Liddy’s face.

Liddy was in charge of intelligence-gathering operations for the CRP. His investigative work was excellent. Though many Americans today are not properly taught the context of the Watergate Scandal, it all began with plumbers. That’s what the team that Liddy headed was dubbed: “The Plumbers.” They did more than gather intelligence on political enemies. They flushed away any unsavory items, too.

Every good achievement and deplorable accomplishment of our noble American history has been conducted by men like me.

Every American has heard about The Watergate Scandal. But they are indolent in their inquiries. Their answers are as simplistic as that of a child. “Where is our doggy daddy?” They ask. “He went to a farm.” But men are men, remember. They make decisions and influence one another in a complex chain of words, ideas, bodily movements and acceptable grunts so complex the physics of the universe pales in comparison. Only a true master can conduct the affairs of men.

Some background is needed. In the lead up to the 1972 re-election of Nixon, his committee leaders knew they had this election in the bag. In late March, their only competition, Edmund Muskie, had flopped. They would be competing against the most defeat-able candidate imaginable: George McGovern.

In January Liddy began to do his job with all the force he could muster. Arriving at Nixon’s re-election headquarters, Liddy walked to the front, his big thick mustache bristling with excitement at what he was to explain. Before him was a mostly bare conference room where sat John Mitchell and Jeb Magruder.

Without salutations Liddy began, “we must learn what information O’Brien has on Nixon. What’s more I have reason to suspect that O’Brien and the DNC party are being funded by the Russians. My plan calls for a full on appraisal of their situation.” Liddy walked around the conference room which seated only four men. He handed the men a stack of papers neatly fit into a manilla envelope.

“While my plan may seem costly it is the only way to ensure victory. And we must win, right?”

Bewildered, Magruder and Mitchell nodded their heads.

Looking through the details for the job, Mitchell looked up and said “But G. You want 1 million dollars to gather intelligence? What are we paying you now?”

“This plan is much more elaborate than anything we’ve done so far. As you see on page 15, we will require a specially equipped communications chase plane. There will be a need to enter O’Brien’s office at Watergate, where I will tap the phones, and gather all relevant and damaging documents. On page 48 you can see The Yacht Plan.”

“Yes,” Magruder said. “But are this many call-girls required to entrap the Democratic leaders?”

“Need to make sure those dems take a bite. If they don’t like what they see, alls for naught.”

“And the kidnapping plan? The mugging squads? How far do you intend to go Liddy?” Asked Mitchell.

“Never that far, sir. We just need to confirm our intelligence and ensure their use of our material.”

Mitchell and Magruder sat in silence, contemplating. Liddy became nervous, but not at the thought of them rejecting the plan. He was nervous they would accept it. If they did, all would be lost.

“But G. You want 1 million dollars to gather intelligence? What are we paying you now?”

“No.” This is just too far Liddy.” Mitchell finally said, venting the tension built in the room.

Inwardly relieved, but outwardly placid, Liddy stated “I understand sir, I will return with a more amenable plan to the administration. How’s that?”

“Fine. Do your job. But none of this outrageous extravagance.”

Liddy knew human nature as some men know the house they grew up in. By rejecting his first offer, Liddy knew his second proposal would be harder to reject. Moreover, they had agreed to see a “less extravagant,” version. So Liddy obliged.

He extracted the Yacht scheme with call girls as well as the chase planes. The proposal was cut in half to $500,000.

Several days later they all met again.

“Still,” Mitchell said. “It’s too much. Too outrageous. It’s too damn risky!”

Again, Liddy smiled inwardly.

“I can appreciate that, sir. I’ll hit the boards with the boys and give you the bare bones. Obviously we need some information on these guys, right?”

“Right,” Mitchell and Magruder agreed.

The tumbler fell into place. These rejections were critical for two very human reasons. First, by conceding, Liddy was coming across as doing them a favor. And he knew how powerful the need to return a favor was. Second, after the extravagant $1,000,000 proposal, his last proposal would seem — in contrast — to be insignificant.

This time, it would be a tightrope walk. Now a fifth man was joining to hear Liddy’s last proposal. The man was another assistant on the CRP, Frederick Larue. Liddy feared that since this man was absent on the previous two proposals the two forces — reciprocation and contrast — would not be active within him.

Liddy would simply have to rely on the influence of the other two men.

The last proposal was slimmed to $250,000. It included only The Watergate break in and the wiretapping.

As expected, Larue shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Liddy stood at military attention by his whiteboard. He did not move a muscle. This was the proposal he wanted accepted. Mitchell and Magruder eyed one another, and then Larue said “it’s too risky isn’t it?”

Mitchell paused for a few moments longer. He whispered, “let’s see what he can do.”

And the machinations of history were engaged.

The Watergate incident and the corresponding cover-up need little explanation. The burglars were seen by a security guard at the Watergate complex. The President’s men attempted to cover up the entire fiasco. The revelation of the break-in and cover up forced Nixon’s resignation.

Liddy knew human nature as some men know the house they grew up in. By rejecting his first offer, Liddy knew his second proposal would be harder to reject.

After they were caught, Magruder was cited as muttering “How could we be so stupid?” Indeed, how? In his testimony, he would say of the Liddy Plan that “no one was particularly overwhelmed with the project, but after starting at the grandiose sum of $1,000,000, we thought $250,000 would be an acceptable figure. We were reluctant to send him away with nothing. If he had come to us at the outset and said ‘I have a plan to burglarize and wiretap Larry O’Brien’s office,’ we might have rejected the idea out of hand. Instead, he came to us with his elaborate call-girl/kidnapping/mugging/sabotage/wiretap scheme. He had asked for the whole loaf when he was quite content to settle for half or even a quarter.”

The men involved went to jail, and a King was toppled from his throne.

When in the course of human events, a nation comes to a deadly maelstrom, it takes a master seaman to steer them from it.

This has been my role. Every step of the way I have understood that men are men, no matter to what heights they climb. Something as simple as a favor and a contrast brought down a President, and set America away from the whirlpool of the time. But now… But now, no one believes in history.”

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