Ken W. Clawson

Ken Wade Clawson (August 16, 1936 – December 17, 1999) was an American journalist, best known as a spokesman for U.S. President Richard Nixon at the time of the Watergate scandal. He was promoted from Nixon's deputy director of communications to director in early 1974 as the scandal continued to unfold, and following Nixon's resignation in August 1974, Clawson continued in the same role for three months under President Gerald Ford.

Education and early career

Clawson was born into a working-class family in

Supposedly, when confronted with the information, Clawson tried unsuccessfully to deny it, despite having bragged to Berger about it in the first place. He replied that he did not want Berger revealed as the source, nor did he want made public the circumstances of their conversation, saying it would disrupt his marriage. Clawson had called Berger and was invited to visit her apartment for a drink. He pleaded, unsuccessfully: "I have a wife and a family and a dog and a cat."[3] While the authenticity of this part of the story may be open to some speculation, and was not reported by The Washington Post in its original October 1972 story, it was featured in the 1974 book All the President's Men as well as the 1976 film adaptation of the book.

Later years

In the 1990s, Clawson was the subject of many articles pointing to him as the possible identity of Deep Throat, Bob Woodward's confidential source in the Executive Branch. Woodward's source was conclusively identified in 2005 as being Mark Felt, the second-in-command at the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the investigation into the Watergate scandal.

Clawson died from a heart attack in New Orleans at the age of 63 on December 17, 1999. He was survived by his wife Carol, three living children, his mother and sister, along with six grandchildren. He had suffered from poor health following a stroke in 1975, the year after he left the White House.^[1]

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