James W. McCord Jr.
James McCord | |
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Born | James Walter McCord Jr. January 26, 1924 United States Air Force Reserve |
Watergate scandal |
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Events |
People |
James Walter McCord Jr. (January 26, 1924 – June 15, 2017)[2] was an American CIA officer, later head of security for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign. He was involved as an electronics expert in the burglaries which precipitated the Watergate scandal.[3]
Career
McCord was born in
For a period of time, he was in charge of physical security at the Agency's Langley headquarters.[10] L. Fletcher Prouty, a former colonel in the United States Air Force, claimed then-Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles introduced McCord to him as "my top man.".[11]
In 1961, under his direction, a counter-intelligence program was launched against the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[12] He also held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve.[13]
John M. Newman says in his 2022 book, Uncovering Popov's Mole, that Bruce Solie and McCord were probably KGB "moles" in the CIA's Office of Security, and that McCord very likely protected Solie and another "mole," Pyotr Semyonovich Popov's honey-trapped and recruited-by-KGB dead drop arranger, Edward Ellis Smith, from being uncovered by U.S. Intelligence.[14]
Watergate scandal
Shortly after resigning from the CIA, McCord was interviewed and then hired by
McCord asserted that the White House knew of and approved the break ins, and proceeded to cover up the incident. Because of McCord's statements, the Watergate investigators pursued many more leads.[15]
McCord was one of the first men convicted in the Watergate criminal trial; on eight counts of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. On March 21, 1973, three days before sentencing, McCord, after speaking to a probation officer and thus surmising that he might be facing a lengthy prison sentence, submitted a letter to the judge in the case, John Sirica, in which he claimed that he and the other defendants had committed perjury in their trial and that there was pressure from higher up for them to have done so.[17] On March 23, the day of the sentencing, Sirica sentenced the other defendants provisionally, citing a statute that allowed for maximum sentences of several decades as a means to "research" more information needed for the final sentencing. This was a means to pressure the defendants into revealing more information about the burglary.[18] McCord's sentencing was postponed until June and then postponed again. Finally, in November 1973, McCord was sentenced to one to five years [19] and began serving his sentence in March 1975, but was released after only four months because of his cooperation in the Watergate investigation.[20][21]
Post-Watergate
After serving four months in prison, McCord continued with McCord Associates, which was his own security firm located in Rockville, retiring later to Pennsylvania.[15][22][23]
McCord died at the age of 93 from pancreatic cancer on June 15, 2017, at his home in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. His death was not reported in local and national news outlets until 2019.[24][6]
In popular culture
McCord was portrayed in All the President's Men, the 1976 film retelling the events of the Watergate scandal, by Richard Herd.
McCord was portrayed in Gaslit, the 2022 television adaptation of the podcast Slow Burn by Chris Bauer,[25][26] and in the TV-series White House Plumbers he was portrayed by Toby Huss.[27]
See also
- G. Gordon Liddy
- E. Howard Hunt
- All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
- Tennent H. Bagley
References
- ISBN 0671224387.
- ^ "US Department of Veterans Affairs, Nation Cemetery Administration". Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- OCLC 865966.
- OCLC 20974031. This book is volume 1 of a two volume set. Both volumes share the same ISBN and Library of Congress call number, E859 .C62 1973
- )
- ^ a b Langer, Emily; Smith, Harrison; Morgan, Kate (April 18, 2019). "Watergate conspirator James McCord Jr. died two years ago. His death was never announced". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Hearings Before and Special Reports Made by Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on Subjects Affecting the Naval and Military Establishments. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1975.
- ^ The Michigan Journal. University of Michigan-Dearborn. 1974.
- ^ Edmund Callis Berkeley (1972). Computers and Automation. Edmund C. Berkeley and Associates.
- ISBN 978-0819130983.
- ^ "Key Watergate Figure". The New York Times. March 29, 1973. p. 28. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
- ^ Newman, John. Oswald and the CIA. p. 138.
- ^ United States. Congress. House. Government Operations (1972). U.S. Government Information Policies and Practices – problems of Congress in Obtaining Information from the Executive Branch: Hearings Before a Subcommittee. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ISBN 9798355050771.
- ^ Washington Post (updated May 2005). Archived from the originalon September 12, 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- Washington Post (updated May 2005). Archived from the originalon September 12, 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ISBN 0393012344.
- ISBN 0393012344.
- ^ Sirica, p. 120
- History.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ "McCord surrenders at prison to begin Watergate sentence". The New York Times. Associated Press. March 22, 1975. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ Marble, Steve (April 19, 2019). "The mysterious life of James McCord, Watergate burglar whose death went unnoticed for 2 years". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Last Word, Professor Murray Gell-Mann, Nan Winton, James McCord, Gregory Gray". Last Word. BBC Radio 4. 31 May 2019.
- ^ McFadden, Robert D. (April 18, 2019). "James W. McCord Jr., Who Led the Watergate Break-In, Is Dead at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (1 July 2021). "Allison Tolman, Chris Bauer Among Five Cast in Starz Watergate Series 'Gaslit'". Variety.
- ^ Petski, Denise (1 July 2021). "'Gaslit': Allison Tolman, J.C. MacKenzie, Chris Bauer, Hamish Linklater, Chris Messina Join Starz's Watergate Drama". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ Kain, Erik (May 2, 2023). "'White House Plumbers' Review: Justin Theroux And Woody Harrelson Light Up HBO's New Watergate Comedy". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-7432-4302-5.
Further reading
McCord wrote a book about his connection with the Watergate burglary:
- McCord, James W. (1974). A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story – Fact and Fiction. OCLC 1031449.
External links
- James McCord testifying at the Watergate Hearings WETA-TV Public Television, 1973 Watergate Hearings
- James W. McCord Jr. at Find a Grave
- Appearances on C-SPAN