G. Gordon Liddy remembered beyond Watergate scandal

The man behind the Watergate burglaries that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon died Tuesday.

G. Gordon Liddy was 90 years old, and his place in history will forever be the mastermind of the break-in of the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.

“In a very real sense was the principal cause of the downfall of Richard Nixon,” said Phillip Allen Lacovara, who was special counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor.

Lacovara remembers Liddy as unforgettable.

“He delighted in being a, being blindly loyal to the president or whoever his boss was,” Lacovara said. “He very much was a command and in-control person and was willing as he said, to put his life on the line for the president.”

Convicted in 1973 and sentenced to 20 years, Liddy served four years and four months in prison, including 100 days in solitary confinement.

When he got out of prison, Liddy reinvented himself. He worked as a security consultant, writer and even an actor.

Liddy then found his footing as a conservative radio talk show host.

“He was just a cool guy at a radio station,” recalled Cameron Gray, who was an assistant producer for Liddy.

He’s got the letterman’s jacket to prove it.

“I never thought of him as the Watergate guy,” Gray said. “He was almost like a surrogate father figure for me. He was very close; he was very kind; he was very giving; he was very generous.”

Unapologetic until the end, Liddy took pride in his role in Watergate. He once said, “I am proud of the fact that I am the guy who did not talk.”

Liddy died at his daughter’s home in Virginia. His family did not disclose his cause of death, except to say it was not related to the coronavirus.