:G. Gordon Liddy

Liddy was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1930. His father, Sylvester James Liddy, was a lawyer; his mother was Maria (Abbaticchio) Liddy. His family was of Irish and Italian descent, and Liddy had a strict Catholic upbringing.Amy Tikkanen,

[https://www.britannica.com/biography/G-Gordon-Liddy 'G. Gordon Liddy']. Brittanica, 5 July 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024 He was named for George Gordon Battle, a noted attorney and Tammany Hall leader.{{cite news|title=G. Gordon Liddy, undercover operative convicted in Watergate scandal, dies at 90|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gordon-liddy-dead/2021/03/30/4d50c40c-91ae-11eb-a74e-1f4cf89fd948_story.html|first=Michael|last=Dobbs|date=March 30, 2021|access-date=March 31, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=March 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331000031/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gordon-liddy-dead/2021/03/30/4d50c40c-91ae-11eb-a74e-1f4cf89fd948_story.html|url-status=live}} He was raised in HobokenGrove, Lloyd. [https://archive.today/20130411175606/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/77780698.html?dids=77780698:77780698&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+16,+2001&author=Lloyd+Grove+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=The+Reliable+Source&pqatl=google "The Reliable Source"], The Washington Post, August 16, 2001. Accessed February 6, 2013. "When G. Gordon Liddy was a puny lad in Hoboken, N.J., he roasted and ate a rat – 'to demonstrate to myself my lack of fear', the convicted Watergate burglar explained in his 1980 autobiography, Will." and West Caldwell, New Jersey.{{cite news |last1=Wechsler |first1=Philip |date=August 27, 1973 |title=Liddy Is Recalled As Youth in Jersey |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/27/archives/liddy-is-recalled-as-youth-in-jersey-tenacity-recalled-average.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |access-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422093259/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/27/archives/liddy-is-recalled-as-youth-in-jersey-tenacity-recalled-average.html |url-status=live }} He attended St. Benedict's Preparatory School, his father's alma mater, in Newark.

Liddy was educated at Fordham University, graduating in 1952. While at Fordham he was a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles. Following graduation, Liddy joined the United States Army, serving for two years as an artillery officer during the Korean War era. Although he attained the rank of first lieutenant, he was not deployed overseas, having been assigned to an antiaircraft radar unit in Brooklyn for medical reasons. In 1954, he was admitted to the Fordham University School of Law, earning a position on the Fordham Law Review.{{cite news |last=Bloomquist |first=Randall |date=May 24, 1992 |title=Radio Free Liddy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1992/05/24/radio-free-liddy/f9b60c15-02c7-4f58-9f59-3896482fafb8/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203305/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1992/05/24/radio-free-liddy/f9b60c15-02c7-4f58-9f59-3896482fafb8/ |url-status=live }} After graduating in 1957, he worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under J. Edgar Hoover.

Liddy began his career with the FBI in 1957, initially serving as a field agent in Indiana and Denver. While stationed in Denver, he made a significant arrest on September 10, 1960: Ernest Tait, a notable criminal who had twice appeared on the Ten Most Wanted.{{cite news |last=Kernan |first=Michael |date=November 1, 1972 |title=Liddy: Cowboy on the Potomac |url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20%20Files/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2000670%20to%2000809/Watergate%2000672.pdf |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091324/http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20%20Files/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2000670%20to%2000809/Watergate%2000672.pdf |url-status=live }}

At age 29, Liddy became the youngest bureau supervisor at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Under the mentorship of deputy director Cartha DeLoach, Liddy secured a position on director J. Edgar Hoover's personal staff, even acting as Hoover's ghostwriter. Despite his achievements, Liddy was also known for his reckless behavior among his fellow agents,{{cite book|author1=J. Anthony Lukas|author-link1=J. Anthony Lukas|last2=Hoff|first2=Joan|title=Nightmare: the underside of the Nixon years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6C9aAAAAYAAJ|date=September 30, 1999|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-1287-9|page=viii|access-date=October 1, 2016|archive-date=June 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203325/https://books.google.com/books?id=6C9aAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}} highlighted by two particular incidents.{{cite book|last=Gentry|first=Curt|title=J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tu86exHKPvMC&pg=PA692|year=2001|publisher=Norton|isbn=978-0-393-32128-9|page=692|access-date=October 1, 2016|archive-date=June 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203325/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tu86exHKPvMC&pg=PA692#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

The first incident took place in Kansas City, Missouri, during a covert operation. He was arrested but was subsequently released after contacting Clarence M. Kelley, former FBI agent and the then-chief of the Kansas City Police. The second incident involved an FBI background check that Liddy conducted on his future wife before they got married in 1957. Liddy later claimed this action was a routine precautionary measure.{{cite encyclopedia |author=Norden, Eric |date=June 9, 1983 |title=The Playboy Interview |encyclopedia=Norden, Eric |publisher=Putnam |editor=Golson, G. Barry |volume=2 |location=New York |pages=347–74 |isbn=039950768X}}

Prior to his departure from the FBI in 1962, Liddy sought admission to various bars, leveraging his professional contacts. His application for admission to the United States Supreme Court was supported by Solicitor General Archibald Cox.{{cite journal |title=Admissions to the Bar |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?men_tab=srchresults&handle=hein.journals/joscus76&size=2&collection=journals&id=300 |journal=Journal of the Supreme Court of the United States |date=May 21, 1962 |page=290 |volume=196 |access-date=January 13, 2017 |via=HeinOnline |url-access=subscription |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091517/https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?men_tab=srchresults&handle=hein.journals%2Fjoscus76&size=2&collection=journals&id=300 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal|jstor=1290112|last=Liddy|first=G. Gordon|title=Review: Character, Conscience, and Destiny|journal=Michigan Law Review|volume=96|number=6|pages=1975–79, 1979|doi=10.2307/1290112|date=May 1998|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2009&context=mlr|access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426022122/https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2009&context=mlr|url-status=live}}

File:G. Gordon Liddy c 1964.jpg

Liddy resigned from the FBI in 1962 and worked under his father as a patent attorney in New York City until 1966. He was then hired by District Attorney Raymond Baratta as a prosecutor in exurban Dutchess County, New York, after providing references from the FBI.{{cite book |last=Epstein |first=Edward Jay |title=Agency of Fear: Opiates and Political Power in America |url=https://archive.org/details/agencyoffearopia0000epst |url-access=registration |date=November 17, 1990 |publisher=Verso |isbn=9780860915294}} In 1966, he led a drug raid on the Hitchcock Estate (then occupied by Timothy Leary) in Millbrook, New York, leading to an unsuccessful trial. Although the case generated much publicity, other lawyers complained that Liddy received credit for something in which he played a relatively small role. He was also reprimanded for firing a revolver at the ceiling in a courtroom.{{Cite book |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Perlstein |year=2008 |title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |title-link=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-4302-5 |page=583}} In 1969, a drug raid directed by Liddy at Bard College scooped up, among others, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, who later formed the band Steely Dan and wrote the song "My Old School" about the raid. Liddy is referred to in the lyrics as "Daddy Gee".{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Stewart |title=My Old School - Steely Dan - Song Info |url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/my-old-school-mt0003450675 |website=AllMusic |language=en-US |access-date=September 5, 2017 |quote="My Old School" is the pair's most overt song about their alma mater, a sarcastically chipper-sounding remembrance of the time Becker and Fagen, along with several dozen other students, found themselves caught up in a trumped-up drug raid during an election cycle. |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091327/https://www.allmusic.com/song/my-old-school-mt0003450675 |url-status=live }}

During that period, Liddy ran unsuccessfully for the post of District Attorney. In 1968, he continued to seek office by running in the Republican Party's primary election for New York's 28th congressional district. Employing the slogan "Gordon Liddy doesn't bail them out; he puts them in", he lost to Hamilton Fish IV in a close race. Liddy then accepted the nomination of the Conservative Party of New York State and ran in the general election against Fish and the Democratic candidate, Millbrook businessman John S. Dyson. Fearing that Liddy might tip the election to Dyson, Fish turned to the district's Republican leader, State Assemblyman Kenneth L. Wilson, to get Liddy out of the race. Wilson's office dispatched the matter to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, resulting in Liddy being offered a potential Richard Nixon administration political appointment at the United States Department of the Treasury; this prompted him to officially suspend his campaign. While Liddy's name remained on the ballot (garnering almost five percent of the vote),{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} it was not enough to forestall Fish's election.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

After serving as county director of Nixon's successful presidential campaign, he began the aforementioned political role as a special assistant for narcotics and gun control at the Treasury Department's Washington, D.C. headquarters in early 1969. Shortly thereafter, he helped to establish the country's contemporary sky marshal program under the aegis of the United States Marshals Service.

Beginning in 1970, he served with Gordon Strachan and David Young as an aide to Domestic Affairs Advisor John D. Ehrlichman in the Executive Office of the President at the behest of Egil "Bud" Krogh, who had worked on initiatives with Liddy at the Treasury Department. He served as the nominal general counsel to the finance committee of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) from 1971 to 1972.{{cite book|last=Hoff|first=Joan|editor=L. Edward Purcell|title=Richard Milhous Nixon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zq3-BuDVQfMC&pg=PA342|volume=Vice presidents: A Biographical Dictionary|year=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-3071-2|page=357}} Subsequently, Krogh, Liddy, Young, and Erlichman were indicted for conspiracy to commit burglary in September 1973.{{cite book |last=Dean |first=John W. |year=2014 |title=The Nixon Defense |page=[https://archive.org/details/nixondefensewhat0000dean/page/ xxix,638] |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-02536-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/nixondefensewhat0000dean/page/}}

[[File:Daniel Ellsberg psychiatrist filing cabinet.jpg|thumb| Dr. Lewis Fielding's filing cabinet. He was the psychiatrist to the Nixon administration's

"enemy" Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers, broken into by Liddy and others in 1971, on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History]]

After serving in several mid-level law enforcement and domestic policy roles in the Nixon administration, Liddy was moved to Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign in 1971 order to extend the scope and reach of the White House Plumbers "special investigations unit", which had been created in response to damaging leaks of information to the press.{{cite book |last=Dean |first=John W. |date=2014 |title=The Nixon Defence |location=London |publisher=Viking |page=xviii |isbn=978-0-670-02536-7}} Liddy's own name for the group was ODESSA, a reference to escape plans made by the Nazis.Graff, Garrett M. (2022). Watergate: A New History (1 ed.). New York: Avid Reader Press. pp. 82. {{ISBN|978-1-9821-3916-2}}. {{OCLC|1260107112}}.

At CRP, Liddy concocted several plots in early 1972, collectively known under the title "Operation Gemstone". Some of these were far-fetched, intended to embarrass the Democratic opposition.Knight, P. (2003), Conspiracy Theories in American History [https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA434 p. 344] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203305/https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA434#PPA434,M1 |date=June 14, 2024 }}. ABC-CLIO; {{ISBN|1-57607-812-4}}, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-812-9}}. These included kidnapping anti-war protest organizers and transporting them to Mexico during the Republican National Convention (which at the time was planned for San Diego), as well as luring mid-level Democratic campaign officials to a house boat in Miami, where they would be secretly photographed in compromising positions with prostitutes. Most of Liddy's ideas were rejected by Attorney General John N. Mitchell (who became campaign manager in March 1972), but a few were given the go-ahead by Nixon administration officials, including the 1971 break-in at Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in Los Angeles. Ellsberg had leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times. At some point, Liddy was instructed to break into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Complex.{{cite news|title=Liddy Testifies in Watergate Trial|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=121955&page=1|date=January 6, 2001|accessdate=March 30, 2021|work=ABC News|archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519211646/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=121955&page=1|url-status=live}}

{{Watergate|White House}}

{{Main|Watergate scandal}}

Liddy was the Nixon administration liaison and leader of the group of five men who broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Complex. At least two separate entries were made in May and June 1972; the burglars were apprehended on June 17.{{cite book|author=White, Theodore Harold|title=Breach of faith: the fall of Richard Nixon|publisher=Atheneum Publishers|location=New York City|year=1975|page=155|isbn=0-689-10658-0|url=https://archive.org/details/breachoffaithfal00whit}} The purposes of the break-in were never conclusively established. The burglars sought to place wiretaps and planned to photograph documents. Their first attempt had led to improperly-functioning recording devices being installed. Liddy and Hunt masterminded the break-in from the Watergate Hotel Room 214, where they could look right into the DNC office,{{cite news|author=Mark Gollom|title=Watergate 50 years later: Last guy to turn out the lights before burglars arrived recalls infamous break-in|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/watergate-break-in-50-years-1.6489977|access-date=October 3, 2023|archive-date=November 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118221939/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/watergate-break-in-50-years-1.6489977|url-status=live}} but Liddy claimed he did not actually enter the Watergate Complex at the time of the burglaries; rather, he admitted to supervising the second break-in which he coordinated with E. Howard Hunt, from room 723 in the adjacent Howard Johnson Hotel. Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping.{{cite book|title=Watergate and the White House: July–December 1973|volume=2|publisher=University of Michigan|author=Facts on File, Inc.|editor=Edward W. Knappman|year=1974|page=[https://archive.org/details/watergatewhiteho0002unse/page/71 71]|isbn=978-0-87196-353-6|url=https://archive.org/details/watergatewhiteho0002unse/page/71}}

Liddy was sentenced to a 20-year prison term and was ordered to pay $40,000 in fines. He began serving the sentence on January 30, 1973. He claimed that on arrival he sang the Horst Wessel Song, the Nazi Party anthem. On April 12, 1977, President Jimmy Carter commuted Liddy's sentence to eight years, "in the interest of equity and fairness based on a comparison of Mr. Liddy's sentence with those of all others convicted in Watergate related prosecutions", leaving the fine in effect.{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7345|title=Jimmy Carter: Commutation of G. Gordon Liddy's Prison Sentence Announcement of the Commutation, With the Text of the Order|publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=August 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816024728/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7345|url-status=live}} Carter's commutation made Liddy eligible for parole as of July 9, 1977. Liddy was released on September 7, 1977, after serving a total of four and a half years of incarceration.{{cite news |last1=Richards |first1=Bill |title=Liddy Almost Lost Parole Set for Today |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/09/07/liddy-almost-lost-parole-set-for-today/7ed55bd6-e54f-4814-b2ed-cc1dba3bebd5/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 7, 1977 |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203310/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/09/07/liddy-almost-lost-parole-set-for-today/7ed55bd6-e54f-4814-b2ed-cc1dba3bebd5/ |url-status=live }}

Liddy was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress in March 1974, on the same day that he and the three Cuban burglars were charged with the Watergate-related crimes.Erick Trickey, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/12/gordon-liddy-contempt-congress-bannon/ Bannon contempt of Congress trial echoes Nixon burglar Liddy’s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203325/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/12/gordon-liddy-contempt-congress-bannon/ |date=June 14, 2024 }}, Washington Post (July 12, 2022). Following a bench trial on May 10, 1974, Liddy was convicted of contempt for his refusal to answer questions of the Special Subcommittee of Intelligence of the House Armed Services Committee, which was investigating the CIA's links to the break-in of the offices of Dr. Lewis Fielding, the psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg. Liddy was found guilty and was handed a suspended jail sentence and probation; the judge stated that the sentence was lenient because Liddy was already sentenced to prison on the Watergate charges. Liddy became one of very few people in American history to be convicted of criminal contempt of Congress.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

In 1980, Liddy published an autobiography, titled Will, which sold more than a million copies and was made into a television film. In it, he states that he was willing to kill during the Ellsberg break-in, and that he once made plans with Hunt to kill journalist Jack Anderson, based on a literal interpretation of a Nixon White House statement, "we need to get rid of this Anderson guy".{{cite book|title=Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy Gordon|date=July 15, 1991|publisher=St. Martins|isbn=978-0312924126|pages=[https://archive.org/details/willautobiograph00lidd/page/208 169,208-211]|url=https://archive.org/details/willautobiograph00lidd/page/208}}{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5D8163CF931A25752C1A96E948260|title=The G. Gordon Liddy Story Continues With Chapter 11|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 12, 1988|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=June 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617235656/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5D8163CF931A25752C1A96E948260|url-status=live}}

In the early 1980s, Liddy joined forces with former Niles, Illinois, policeman and co-owner of the Protection Group, Ltd., Thomas E. Ferraro Jr., to launch a private security and countersurveillance firm called G. Gordon Liddy & Associates.{{cite news |title=New 'Bugs' Make Spying Easier |url=http://www.bugsweeps.com/info/bus_week.html |work=Business Week |date=July 12, 1982 |access-date=March 16, 2007 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519211647/http://www.bugsweeps.com/info/bus_week.html |url-status=live }}

Liddy emerged to host his own talk radio show in 1992. Less than a year later, its popularity led to national syndication through Viacom's Westwood One Network, and through Radio America in 2003. His radio show was syndicated in 160 markets, and was on both Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio stations in the United States.Sirius Satellite Radio, Weekends at 6:00am Eastern on Channel 144. Liddy's show ended on July 27, 2012. He was also an occasional guest panelist for the Fox News Channel.

In 1994 and 1995, Liddy repeatedly told listeners of his radio program to shoot federal law enforcement officers, giving instructions to aim for their heads.{{cite web|url=https://fair.org/home/liddys-lethal-advice/|website=FAIR|title=Liddy's Lethal Advice|date=July 1995|access-date=August 20, 2022|quote=Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they’re going to be wearing bulletproof vests.|archive-date=August 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820163547/https://fair.org/home/liddys-lethal-advice/|url-status=live}} In many of these statements he referenced shooting in self-defense. After the Oklahoma City bombing, when President Clinton denounced the "many loud and angry voices" in conservative talk radio, Liddy responded that the head is a difficult target to hit and that he used pictures of the President and Hillary Clinton for target practice.{{cite news|last=McKerrow|first=Steve|title='Shoot for the head' remark earns Liddy an award|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-05-18-1995138152-story.html|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=August 20, 2022|date=May 17, 1995|archive-date=August 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820163547/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-05-18-1995138152-story.html|url-status=live}}

Liddy was sued for defamation in 1999 by Ida "Maxie" Wells, a secretary whose desk at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate was said to have been a target of the last Watergate break-in in order to find evidence related to an alleged prostitution ring kept in Wells' desk. Wells' suit accused Liddy of defamation.United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit Jul 28, 1999186 F.3d 505 (4th Cir. 1999), Liddy denied the allegation, and the judge dismissed the suit, commenting that "no 'reasonable jury' could have found in favor of the plaintiff."Civil Case No. JFM-97-946, "Memorandum" by District Judge J. Frederick Motz, March 19, 2001, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

In addition to Will, he wrote the nonfiction books, When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country (2002), and Fight Back! Tackling Terrorism, Liddy Style (2006, with his son,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800807.html|title=Start-Up|work=washingtonpost.com|date=August 29, 2005|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=February 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222204700/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800807.html|url-status=live}} Cdr. James G. Liddy, along with J. Michael Barrett and Joel Selanikio). He also published two novels: Out of Control (1979) and The Monkey Handlers (1990). Liddy was one of many people interviewed for the biography of Abbie Hoffman, Steal this Dream, by Larry "Ratso" Sloman.{{cite news|title=Steal this Dream|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/larry-sloman/steal-this-dream/|first=Larry|last=Sloman|date=May 20, 2010|access-date=March 31, 2021|magazine=Kirkus Reviews|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/larry-sloman/steal-this-dream/|url-status=live}}

In the mid-1980s Liddy went on the lecture circuit, being listed as the top speaker on the college circuit in 1982 by The Wall Street Journal. He later joined onetime foil Timothy Leary in a series of debates billed as "Nice Scary Guy vs. Scary Nice Guy" on the college circuit as well;{{cite news|title=G. Gordon Liddy, Mastermind Behind Watergate Burglary, Dies at 90|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/g-gordon-liddy-dead.html|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|date=March 30, 2021|access-date=March 30, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091325/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/g-gordon-liddy-dead.html|url-status=live}} Leary had once been labeled by Liddy's ex-employer Richard Nixon as "the most dangerous man in America".{{cite news|title=Nixon's Manhunt For The High Priest Of LSD In 'The Most Dangerous Man In America'|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/05/575392333/nixons-manhunt-for-the-high-priest-of-lsd-in-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america|first=Ari|last=Shapiro|date=January 5, 2018|access-date=March 31, 2021|publisher=NPR|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.npr.org/2018/01/05/575392333/nixons-manhunt-for-the-high-priest-of-lsd-in-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america|url-status=live}} The lectures were the subject of a 1983 documentary film, Return Engagement.{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086188/?ref_=tt_mv_close |title=IMDB page |website=IMDb |access-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115195823/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086188/?ref_=tt_mv_close |url-status=live }}

File:G. Gordon Liddy Recalls How the Watergate Burglars Were Caught.webm

In 1994, the British documentary company Brian Lapping Associates sent producers Norma Percy and Paul Mitchell to interview many of the conspirators for its series titled Watergate, in which an unrepentant Liddy talked frankly about his role. He was filmed at home while sitting in front of his sizable collection of firearms and describing "how he had been ready, if ordered, to go straight out and kill Jack Anderson, the Washington D.C. columnist."{{cite news |author=William E. Schmidt |title=Resurrecting an American Tragedy, BBC Series Lays Watergate Bare |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 16, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/16/movies/resurrecting-an-american-tragedy-bbc-series-lays-watergate-bare.html |accessdate=February 6, 2021 |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091326/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/16/movies/resurrecting-an-american-tragedy-bbc-series-lays-watergate-bare.html |url-status=live }} At one point he was filmed wielding one of his pistols before the TV camera. It was made clear that, at the time of filming, the gun collection was registered in his wife's name, as he was ineligible for a license.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5LaAAAAMAAJ&q=g+%22gordon+liddy%22+%22His+wife+has+a+federal+firearms+license+but+he+does+not,+because+of+a+disputed+burglary+conviction+from+1964%22|title=No More Wacos: What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and how to Fix it|publisher=Prometheus Books|year=1997|last1=Kopel|first1=David B.|last2=Blackman|first2=Paul H.|isbn=9781573921251|quote=His wife has a federal firearms license but he does not, because of a disputed burglary conviction from 1964.|access-date=May 3, 2021|archive-date=June 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203324/https://books.google.com/books?id=l5LaAAAAMAAJ&q=g+%22gordon+liddy%22+%22His+wife+has+a+federal+firearms+license+but+he+does+not,+because+of+a+disputed+burglary+conviction+from+1964%22|url-status=live}}

Liddy acted in several films, including Street Asylum,{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1804b41|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519211646/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1804b41|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 19, 2021|title=G. Gordon Liddy|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=March 30, 2021}} Feds,{{cite news|title=G. Gordon Liddy, Convicted Watergate Operative, Dies at 90|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/g-gordon-liddy-dead-watergate-talk-show-host-1234941241/|first=Ellise|last=Shafer|date=March 30, 2021|accessdate=March 30, 2021|magazine=Variety|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091324/https://variety.com/2021/film/news/g-gordon-liddy-dead-watergate-talk-show-host-1234941241/|url-status=live}} Adventures in Spying,{{cite news|title=G. Gordon Liddy Dies: Watergate Felon Who Went On To Showbiz Career Was 90|url=https://deadline.com/2021/03/g-gordon-liddy-dead-watergate-miami-vice-radio-talk-shot-host-1234724994/|first=Erik|last=Pedersen|date=March 30, 2021|access-date=March 30, 2021|magazine=Deadline Hollywood|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://deadline.com/2021/03/g-gordon-liddy-dead-watergate-miami-vice-radio-talk-shot-host-1234724994/|url-status=live}} Camp Cucamonga,{{cite web|title=G. Gordon Liddy List of Movies and TV Shows|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/g-gordon-liddy/credits/3000446201/|website=TV Guide|access-date=March 30, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091327/https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/g-gordon-liddy/credits/3000446201/|url-status=live}} and Rules of Engagement. He appeared on such television shows as The Highwayman, Airwolf, Fear Factor, Perry Mason, and MacGyver. He had recurring roles in Miami Vice and Super Force,{{cite news|title=Liddy Describes Plot to Murder Newsman in '70s|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-13-mn-909-story.html|date=June 13, 1991|access-date=March 30, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-13-mn-909-story.html|url-status=live}} and guest starred in Al Franken's LateLine. On April 7, 1986, he appeared at WrestleMania II as a guest judge for a boxing match between Mr. T (with Joe Frazier and The Haiti Kid) versus Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton and Lou Duva).{{cite news|title=WrestleMania 2 celebrities|url=https://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/2/celebrities|accessdate=March 30, 2021|publisher=WWE Network|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091326/https://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/2/celebrities|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=WrestleMania Returns, Coast-to-Coast|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-04-8601250110-story.html|first=Robert|last=Wolf|date=April 4, 1986|access-date=March 30, 2021|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-04-8601250110-story.html|url-status=live}} In April 1987 he appeared as a celebrity partner for a week on the game show Super Password, playing against Betty White.{{cite news|title=Now Notoriety Alone Buys Celebrity Status|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-03-15-8701160597-story.html|first=Gary|last=Stein|date=March 15, 1987|accessdate=March 30, 2021|newspaper=Sun-Sentinel|location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091327/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-03-15-8701160597-story.html|url-status=live}}

Liddy appeared in the 1993 Golden Book Video release of Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of the Burgled Baseball Cards as Corky Lodato. In Miami Vice, he acted with John Diehl, who would later go on to portray Liddy himself in Oliver Stone's movie Nixon (1995).{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_diehl|title=John Diehl|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=March 30, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_diehl|url-status=live}} During his two guest appearances in Miami Vice, Liddy played William "Captain Real Estate" Maynard, a shadowy former covert operations officer whom Sonny Crockett knew from his military service in South Vietnam.{{cite news|title=Liddy in 'Miami Vice'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/31/arts/liddy-in-miami-vice.html|date=October 31, 1985|access-date=March 30, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=September 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913144725/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E4D71738F932A05753C1A963948260|url-status=live}}

Liddy co-starred on 18 Wheels of Justice as the crime boss Jacob Calder from January 12, 2000, to June 6, 2001.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/18_wheels_of_justice|title=18 Wheels of Justice|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=March 30, 2021|archive-date=June 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614203510/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/18_wheels_of_justice|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Old bad guys never die|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/feb/08/tvandradio.television3|date=February 8, 2000|access-date=March 30, 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/feb/08/tvandradio.television3|url-status=live}} He appeared on a celebrity edition Fear Factor, the show's series finale, on September 12, 2006 (filmed in November 2005). At 75, Liddy was the oldest contestant ever to appear on the show. He beat the competition in the first two stunts, winning two motorcycles custom built by Metropolitan Chopper.{{cite news|title=G. Gordon Liddy to attend Spring Carlisle|url=https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/contests/g-gordon-liddy-to-attend-spring-carlisle/521-f7e6ca72-1cb7-4561-98a7-a0277235c9e6|first=Anthony|last=Natale|date=April 26, 2013|accessdate=March 30, 2021|publisher=WPMT|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091327/https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/contests/g-gordon-liddy-to-attend-spring-carlisle/521-f7e6ca72-1cb7-4561-98a7-a0277235c9e6|url-status=live}}

Liddy was also an interviewee in the 2006 documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon, as well as a commercial spokesman for Rosland Capital, selling gold on television commercials.{{cite magazine |last=Sanburn |first=Josh |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2098641_2098642_2098629,00.html |title=G. Gordon Liddy |magazine=Time |date=April 11, 2011 |access-date=July 29, 2014 |archive-date=July 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721013015/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2098641_2098642_2098629,00.html |url-status=live }}

Liddy was married to Frances Purcell-Liddy, a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, for 53 years until her death on February 5, 2010. She was a teacher.{{cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=frances-p-liddy&pid=139436654|title=Frances Liddy obituary|newspaper=Legacy.com|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807081616/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=frances-p-liddy&pid=139436654|url-status=live}} The couple had five children: Thomas, Alexandra, Grace, James, and Raymond. Raymond became a deputy attorney general but was convicted of possession of child pornography and disbarred.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/raymond-liddy-son-of-watergate-operative-disbarred-after-child-porn-conviction-in-san-diego/3329186/ |access-date=October 19, 2023 |title=Raymond Liddy, son of Watergate operative, disbarred after child porn conviction in San Diego |author=City News Service |website=NBC 7 San Diego |date=October 16, 2023 |publisher=NBCUniversal Media |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020184328/https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/raymond-liddy-son-of-watergate-operative-disbarred-after-child-porn-conviction-in-san-diego/3329186/ |url-status=live }}

In his later life, Liddy was an opponent of animal experimentation.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/16/the-reliable-source/9233b917-6619-42a6-86f1-e2b5b535a841/|title=The Reliable Source|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=January 14, 2023|archive-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827080022/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/16/the-reliable-source/9233b917-6619-42a6-86f1-e2b5b535a841/|url-status=live}}

Liddy died on March 30, 2021, at age 90, at his daughter's house in Fairfax County, Virginia, while suffering from Parkinson's disease.

• In the 1979 miniseries Blind Ambition, adapted from John Dean's book of the same title, Liddy was played by actor William Daniels.{{cite web |title=Blind Ambition – Full Cast & Crew |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/blind-ambition/cast/2000005068/ |access-date=March 30, 2021 |website=TV Guide |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.tvguide.com/movies/blind-ambition/cast/2000005068/ |url-status=live }}
• Liddy was portrayed by Robert Conrad and child actor Danny Lloyd in the 1982 television film, Will: G. Gordon Liddy, based on his autobiography.Erickson, Hal (For AMG) [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=54662 Will: G. Gordon Liddy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030814225732/http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=54662 |date=August 14, 2003 }}, "Movies," New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
• Comic book author Alan Moore has stated that the character of The Comedian (a.k.a. Edward Blake) from his graphic novel Watchmen was based in a large part on Liddy.[http://www.essentialwebcomics.com/showcase/reviews-and-commentaries/143-the-story-behind-the-watchmen The Story Behind The Watchmen, by Joshua McConnaughey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204015448/http://www.essentialwebcomics.com/showcase/reviews-and-commentaries/143-the-story-behind-the-watchmen |date=February 4, 2021 }} June 6, 2011, Essential Webcomics
• He was played by John Diehl in Oliver Stone's film Nixon (1995).{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_diehl|title=John Diehl|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=March 30, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206091323/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_diehl|url-status=live}}
• Harry Shearer portrayed Liddy in Andrew Fleming's comedy film Dick (1999).{{Citation |last=Fleming |first=Andrew |title=Dick |date=August 4, 1999 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144168/ |type=Comedy |access-date=December 20, 2023 |others=Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Dan Hedaya |publisher=Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels, Pacific Western, Phoenix Pictures |archive-date=January 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101204210/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144168/ |url-status=live }}
• In Gaslit, Liddy was played by Shea Whigham.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/shea-whigham-gaslit-interview-perry-mason-season-2/|last=Radish|first=Christina|date=May 2, 2022|website=Collider|publisher=Valnet, Inc.|title=Shea Whigham on 'Gaslit,' Finding Humanity in G. Gordon Liddy, and the Challenges of Playing a Historical Figure|access-date=May 2, 2022|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502234521/https://collider.com/shea-whigham-gaslit-interview-perry-mason-season-2/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://tvline.com/2022/04/22/gaslit-shea-whigham-interview-starz-watergate-series/|last=Caruso|first=Nick|date=April 22, 2022|website=TVLine|publisher=TVLine Media, LLC|title=Gaslit's Shea Whigham on 'Finding the Human' in Gordon Liddy, and the Sheer 'Insanity' of Starz's Watergate Retelling|access-date=May 2, 2022|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502234521/https://tvline.com/2022/04/22/gaslit-shea-whigham-interview-starz-watergate-series/|url-status=live}}
• White House Plumbers, a five-part limited series on HBO, features the behind-the-scenes actions of Liddy in a portrayal by Justin Theroux.{{Cite web |title=White House Plumbers {{!}} Official Website for the HBO Series {{!}} HBO.com |url=https://www.hbo.com/white-house-plumbers |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=HBO |language=en |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331015251/https://www.hbo.com/white-house-plumbers |url-status=live }}

• "American Nightmare" (November 1977). Chic. vol. 2, no. 1.
• "Ten Things That Make Me Laugh". (January 1983). Playboy.

• {{cite book |last=Liddy |first=G. Gordon |date=1979 |title=Out of Control |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-59065-9}}
• {{cite book |last=Liddy |first=G. Gordon |date=1980 |title=Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-88014-9}}
• {{cite book |last=Liddy |first=G. Gordon |date=1990 |title=The Monkey Handlers |title-link=The Monkey Handlers |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-05127-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Liddy |first=G. Gordon |date=2002 |title=When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country |publisher=Regnery |isbn=978-0-312-05127-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Liddy |first=G. Gordon with Cdr. James G. Liddy, J. Michael Barrett and Joel Selanikio, M.D. |date=2006 |title=Fight Back: Tackling Terrorism, Liddy Style |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-05127-3}}

• List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States

{{reflist}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [http://tunein.com/radio/The-G-Gordon-Liddy-Show-p20256 Liddy on TuneIn]
• {{IMDb name|0005147|G. Gordon Liddy}}
• {{C-SPAN|22913}}

{{Authority control}}

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