What is this Blog About?

Although I have been a Watergate junkie since I watched the Senate Watergate Hearings as a ten-year-old in 1973, I got seriously reacquainted with the Deep Throat mystery three years ago, after two different research projects named short lists of Deep Throat suspects.  One was an e-book by John Dean, the second the interim report of the University of Illinois Journalism students.  Both lists included Pat Buchanan, and the students initially leaned to Buchanan as their most likely suspect.

I found the Buchanan theory so intriguing that I soon found myself with a full blown case of Deep Throat Sleuth Syndrome (I'm not sure it's in the DSM-IV manual, but it should be). I was soon spending most of my spare time (something I had more of before becoming a Dad and launching MysteryPollster) doing research. Over the course of the last three years, I read most of the major Watergate-era memoirs and histories and spent many hours with the Nixon papers and tapes housed at the National Archives.  Ultimately I penned a lengthy narrative about Buchanan and the Deep Throat mystery.  Of course, I know know that my theory was quite wrong.  Buchanan's story is interesting, but ultimately not the Deep Throat story.

About a year ago, a well known national opinion magazine "accepted" my story for publication, pending some additional reporting and much needed editing.  As it turned out, the editors of said publication were appropriately cautious and got cold feet several times.  After nearly six months of consideration and a few false starts, they finally agreed to go forward.  I had been struggling to find time to complete the necessary revisions when the Mark Felt Story broke.  Lucky for me, I've had more pressing priorities of late. 

Nonetheless, I learned a great deal about Watergate and Deep Throat from all this research, much of which is relevant to the Mark Felt story.  This blog is simply a way to unpack and self-publish a few tidbits that others may find interesting.  As such, it will have a very limited life-span of active posting.  I'll put up few items over the next few weeks that will remain in the public domain for those that stumble on it via Google, but this will not be a long term project.