George Putnam
Friday, June 3, 2005

Is he a hero or a villain?

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What was his motivation? Was it the fact that Nixon failed to name him J. Edgar Hoover's successor as top man at the FBI? It is a known fact that Felt held a grudge against Nixon because Nixon nominated then Assistant Attorney General Patrick Gray, and not Felt, to head the FBI.

Felt's "Deep Throat" revelation is not the only incident indicative of his character. In November 1980, Felt and Edward S. Miller, then head of the FBI Intelligence Division, were convicted of authorizing break-ins (without warrants) into the homes of family members of the Weather Underground, a radical antiwar group in the 1970s.

It was later revealed that Nixon actually testified on Felt's behalf. Yet Felt and his wife said they were betrayed by the country he had served and Felt blamed the trial for contributing to the death of his wife in 1984.

According to NewsMax.com Wires, White House insider Charles Colson, special counsel to President Nixon, tells of talking with Felt frequently and trusting him with very sensitive material, as did the president. He feels that Felt could have done the honorable thing (if he thought things were going wrong in the White House) by walking into FBI Director Pat Gray's office and putting a stop to Watergate.

Colson, who served seven months in prison for his part in the Watergate scandal, knew Richard Nixon intimately. Says Colson: "Nixon was no paragon of moral virtue. He would not necessarily have said: 'Oh my goodness, let me get to the bottom of this. It's terrible.' But he would have known that the director of the FBI and his deputy knew these things and he would call an end to this kind of stuff."

Colson reiterated: "Mark Felt could have stopped Watergate. He was in the position of that kind of influence. Instead, he goes out and basically undermines the administration. I don't think that's honorable at all."

It is this reporter's opinion that Felt is not a hero. But what will Felt's fate be? Will Felt be used as he has used others? Many believe Felt's real motivation in revealing himself as "Deep Throat" is MONEY - that Felt's daughter urged him to tell all so that the inevitable resulting profits would send her kids to college.

Felt is a pathetic individual who, having suffered a stroke, is now in failing health and is, at 91 years of age, to be pitied. But the fact remains: Felt chose to be a scoundrel rather than a genuine American hero. His fate is of his own making.

Henry Kissinger views Felt as "a troubled man." But he adds, "I have always believed and continue to believe that there was not one 'Deep Throat.'" (See Kissinger Views Felt As 'Troubled Man'.)

Former Nixon Chief of Staff Gen. Alexander Haig believes "misguided loyalty was Nixon's downfall" and was not surprised by Felt's coming-out and also doubts that Felt was the "key source that helped hasten Nixon's resignation."

"There were countless sources, some of which were totally inaccurate, some of which weren't, some of which were totally politically motivated and some of which were an expression of moral outrage," Haig said. (See Gen. Haig: Deep Throat Not Lone Source.)

On the other hand, Felt's attorney, John O'Connor, who gave Felt's story to Vanity Fair, says, "Felt was a hero who did what he had to do to prevent the Nixon administration from obstructing justice." Incidentally, O'Connor is now offering to help Felt arrange a book deal and they could pocket millions. Everyone seems to be awaiting a huge payday.

The only person not heard from and the one who suffered all is my good friend, the late Richard Nixon. It is my opinion that Nixon was railroaded. It is well known that Nixon's own paranoia and mistrust of others is what ultimately did him in. But perhaps he had an indication of what was to come. The fact remains that over a year before his resignation, Nixon described Felt as a traitor who should be required to take a polygraph.

The fellow who called Watergate a "cheap burglary" was right. They have yet to discover what they were after and what they found. And Nixon's enemies on the Left never forgave him for his exposure of Helen Gahagan Douglas, the lady with pink underwear, or Alger Hiss, who was found guilty of perjury but should have died for treason.

What a sad ending to the life of a man who was perhaps best prepared to be president in all the history of America. I miss him terribly! How I wish others had known him, as was my privilege.

I didn't see him as a paranoid, uptight conservative who was difficult to know - quite the contrary. The president regularly shared his confidences with me and called me on the phone many times to talk about everything from earthquakes to the Cambodian incursion.

Once he even summoned me to the summer White House at San Clemente to explain why he was going to China. He said: "If you have two enemies, drive a wedge between them. Don't drive them together." Richard Nixon was sheer genius when it came to understanding the international scene and oh, so much more!

And he loved to share trivia with me. One day at the White House, he suggested we take a walk in the Rose Garden. That's when I realized every word in the Oval Office was being recorded.

However, Nixon was to be admired and should be remembered for his wondrous achievements. It was he who said:

"One man may have opportunities that others do not but what counts is whether the individual used what chances he had. Did he risk all when the stakes were such that he might win or lose all? Did he affirmatively seek the opportunities to use his talents to the utmost in causes that went beyond personal and family consideration? A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which otherwise would have remained dormant."

The legendary George Putnam is 90 years young and a veteran of 70 years as a reporter, broadcaster and commentator ... and is still going strong. George can be heard on simulcast coast-to-coast via Cable Radio Network (CRN) and KCCA, 1050 AM in San Bernardino, CA.

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