• July 01, 2002
• Vol. 58
• No. 1

Dean's List

Watergate Legend John Dean Unmasks—Well, Maybe—Deep Throat, the Snitch Who Sank Dick Nixon

It may be the best-kept secret of American politics: Who was Deep Throat, the shadowy source who met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in a parking garage and helped him and Carl Bernstein unravel the Watergate scandal that toppled President Richard Nixon in 1974? Now, thanks to John Dean, the Nixon consigliere who testified against his boss before the Senate, DT is outed at last: It was then-Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan. Or maybe press secretary Ron Ziegler. Or aide Steve Bull. Or speechwriter Ray Price.

Dean—now 63 and living in Beverly Hills with wife Maureen, 56—released his list in an e-book on Salon.com June 17, the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. Despite denials by all four suspects, Dean insists there's no dishonor in being DT: "Throat's the one with guts, even if he's ashamed to admit it."

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]