Sunday, February 06, 2005
Was Bush 41 "Deep Throat"?
Adrian Havill, the biographer of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, now believes that George H.W. Bush was Watergate's "Deep Throat." The theory makes sense to me, since Bush 41 does bear some resemblance to Hal Holbrook.
I have no idea whether Havill is right, but the reasons he offers are just about as probitive as a Hollywood casting decision.
So Bush 41 was Deep Throat because he bore a grudge against Richard Nixon? By 1972 that category included half the known universe -- including no end of Republicans -- so I'm not sure it narrows the field much. Under this theory, why isn't Eliot Richardson Deep Throat?
If the last election proved anything, its that "being a Yalie and a Navy man" does not ipso facto qualify somebody to be George H.W. Bush's co-conspirator. And if post-Watergate leaking to Bob Woodward is evidence, then there remain hundreds if not thousands of potential suspects. People undoubtedly leak to Woodward because he has, against my expectations, successfully protected the identity of Deep Throat in a world that has few remaining secrets.
I'm not sure what Havill's implication is -- that the sitting President of the United States granted Woodward interviews for Bush at War and Plan of Attack so that Woodward wouldn't reveal Bush 41 as "Deep Throat"? Or is it that the Bush family just regards Woodward with affection? Neither explanation is more plausible than the one given -- that Bush was far better off cooperating with Woodward's projects than obstructing them.
Havill may have guessed correctly -- Bush 41 might well have been Deep Throat -- but the evidence he offers proves absolutely nothing.
I have no idea whether Havill is right, but the reasons he offers are just about as probitive as a Hollywood casting decision.
“Did Bush have motivation? You bet,” Havill wrote. “It was Richard Nixon who urged Bush to leave a safe seat in Congress, hinting there would be a position as assistant Secretary of the Treasury waiting for him if he failed to win a Senate seat held by Ralph Yarborough. When Bush lost, Nixon reneged and asked him to take the U.N. slot instead but teased him by hinting he would be the replacement for Spiro Agnew in 1972. Instead, he was given the thankless task of heading the Republican National Committee in 1973. The elder Bush got his revenge in the end, by standing up at a cabinet meeting in August of 1974 and becoming the first person in Nixon's inner circle to ask the President to resign.
So Bush 41 was Deep Throat because he bore a grudge against Richard Nixon? By 1972 that category included half the known universe -- including no end of Republicans -- so I'm not sure it narrows the field much. Under this theory, why isn't Eliot Richardson Deep Throat?
Havill also pointed out that, like Woodward, Bush was a Yalie and a Navy man. And he recalled that Woodward in his 1998 book, “Shadow,” boasted that Bush had aides drop off “classified documents to his home which became the basis of a Washington Post front page story.”
If the last election proved anything, its that "being a Yalie and a Navy man" does not ipso facto qualify somebody to be George H.W. Bush's co-conspirator. And if post-Watergate leaking to Bob Woodward is evidence, then there remain hundreds if not thousands of potential suspects. People undoubtedly leak to Woodward because he has, against my expectations, successfully protected the identity of Deep Throat in a world that has few remaining secrets.
Furthermore, George W. Bush, to the surprise of many, gave Woodward seven hours of interviews and urged his cabinet to cooperate with Woodward on book projects.
I'm not sure what Havill's implication is -- that the sitting President of the United States granted Woodward interviews for Bush at War and Plan of Attack so that Woodward wouldn't reveal Bush 41 as "Deep Throat"? Or is it that the Bush family just regards Woodward with affection? Neither explanation is more plausible than the one given -- that Bush was far better off cooperating with Woodward's projects than obstructing them.
Havill may have guessed correctly -- Bush 41 might well have been Deep Throat -- but the evidence he offers proves absolutely nothing.
2 Comments:
By 
Sluggo, at
Sun Feb 06, 04:57:00 PM:
Just don't think 41 rolls that way.
By 
, at
Mon Feb 07, 05:07:00 AM:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
