posted on February 10, 2003 10:40:08 PM new
Ron Ziegler, Nixon Press Secretary, Dies at 63
Monday, February 10, 2003; 11:28 PM
SAN DIEGO -- Ron Ziegler, the combative former press secretary to President Nixon who famously called the Watergate break-in a "third-rate burglary," died Monday of a heart attack, his wife said. He was 63.
Ziegler died at his home in Coronado, a suburb of San Diego, his wife, Nancy, told The Associated Press.
"Certain elements may try to stretch this beyond what it is," Ziegler said of the June 17, 1972, burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters that would eventually lead to Nixon's resignation.
As Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein tied the scandal to top officials in the Nixon administration, Ziegler routinely dismissed their reports as inaccurate.
He functioned as the point man for an administration under fire, the president’s strident defender until the public release of the Watergate tapes made it clear that Nixon and his top aides had engaged in a vast cover-up.
In a Nov. 12, 1973, news conference, it was Ziegler who announced that Nixon would give up unsubpoenaed White House recordings and portions of his diary.
The press secretary publicly apologized to Woodward, Bernstein and their newspaper the day after the April 30, 1973, resignations of White House counsel John Dean and Nixon aides John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman.
"I would apologize to the Post, and I would apologize to Mr. Woodward and Mr. Bernstein. ... We would all have to say that mistakes were made in terms of comments. I was overenthusiastic in my comments about the Post, particularly if you look at them in the context of developments that have taken place," he said at the time. "When we are wrong, we are wrong, as we were in that case."
He started to add, "But... ," and was cut off by a reporter who said, "Don't take it back, Ron."
In a 1981 interview with The Washington Post, Ziegler defended his use of the phrase "third-rate burglary," and said he hadn't known of the cover-up.
"I was right," he said. "It was a third-rate burglary. Who knew it was going to be anything more than that?"
Dean, who helped expose the scandal, said in an e-book published last year on Salon.com that Ziegler, despite his complaints about Woodward and Bernstein's reporting, was one of four people who may have been Deep Throat, the mysterious, chain-smoking source who gave Woodward crucial information in secret late-night meetings.
Woodward has said he will not reveal Deep Throat's identity until that person's death. As recently as last year, he said Deep Throat was still alive.
posted on February 11, 2003 02:05:16 PM newAlive Marilyn Chambers Date of Birth:04/22/1952
Marilyn Chambers wasn't in "Deep Throat," the actress that gained fame for her talents was Linda Lovelace. Linda Lovelace died last year in an automobile accident. There's rumors of Angela Jolie playing her in a bio-pic.
posted on February 11, 2003 02:40:07 PM new
When your right your right. Somehow they looked the same to me. Oh Well.
Deep Throat is dead.
Linda Lovelace
Date of Birth: 01/10/1949
Date of Death: 04/22/2002
Age at Death: 53
Cause of Death: Car accident
posted on February 11, 2003 03:45:41 PM new
uaru - I'm glad to see you're here again too. Hope you'll stay around. Bet that little one of yours has grown like a weed.
