James W. McCord Jr.#Watergate scandal

{{other people|James or Jim McCord|James McCord (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = James McCord

| image = James McCord Jr.jpg

| birth_name = James Walter McCord Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1924|1|26}}

| birth_place = Waurika, Oklahoma, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|06|15|1924|1|26}}

| death_place = Douglassville, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| caption = McCord's mugshot after his arrest, 1972

| alias = Ed Martin{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/blindambitionwhi00dean |title=Blind Ambition: The White House Years |date=1976 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0671224387 |location=New York, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/blindambitionwhi00dean/page/90 90] |url-access=registration}}

| education = University of Texas, Austin (BBA)
George Washington University (MS)

| occupation = former CIA officer and electronics expert

| known_for = Participation in the Watergate Scandal

| module = {{Infobox military person

|embed = yes

|allegiance = {{flag|United States}}

|branch = {{flag|United States Air Force}} (1949–1972)

|rank = Lieutenant Colonel

|unit = United States Air Force Reserve}}

}}

James Walter McCord Jr. (January 26, 1924 – June 15, 2017){{Cite web |title=US Department of Veterans Affairs, Nation Cemetery Administration |url=https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/index.html?cemetery=N813 |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403022852/https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/index.html?cemetery=N813 |url-status=dead }} was an American CIA officer, later head of security for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign. He was involved as an electronics expert in the burglaries which precipitated the Watergate scandal.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/watergatehearing00newy/page/147 |title=The Watergate hearings: break-in and cover-up; proceedings |publisher=Viking Press |year=1973 |isbn=0-670-75152-9 |editor-last=Gerald Gold |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/watergatehearing00newy/page/147 147] |oclc=865966}}

Career

McCord was born in Waurika, Oklahoma.{{Cite book |last1=Dickinson |first1=William B. |url=https://archive.org/details/watergatechronol0000unse/page/40 |title=Watergate: chronology of a crisis |last2=Mercer Cross |last3=Barry Polsky |publisher=Congressional Quarterly Inc. |year=1973 |isbn=0871870592 |volume=1 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=[https://archive.org/details/watergatechronol0000unse/page/40 40] |oclc=20974031}}

This book is volume 1 of a two volume set. Both volumes share the same ISBN and Library of Congress call number, E859 .C62 1973{{Cite book |last=Dash, Samuel, Mads |url=https://archive.org/details/chiefcounselinsi00dash/page/59 |title=Chief counsel: inside the Ervin Committee – the untold story of Watergate |publisher=Random House |year=1976 |isbn=0394408535 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/chiefcounselinsi00dash/page/59 59] |oclc=2388043}} He served as a bombardier with the rank of second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He briefly attended Baylor University before receiving a B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1949.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRm922VZLzgC |title=Hearings Before and Special Reports Made by Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on Subjects Affecting the Naval and Military Establishments |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1975}} In 1965, he received an M.S. in international affairs from George Washington University.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lACdVt_-cOkC |title=The Michigan Journal |publisher=University of Michigan-Dearborn |year=1974}} After beginning his career at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), McCord worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ultimately ascending to the GS-15 directorship of the Agency's Office of Security.{{Cite book |last=Edmund Callis Berkeley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XPpUAAAAMAAJ |title=Computers and Automation |publisher=Edmund C. Berkeley and Associates |year=1972}}

For a period of time, he was in charge of physical security at the Agency's Langley headquarters.{{Cite book |last=Stafford T. Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0QvAAAAYAAJ |title=The U.S. Intelligence Community |year=1983 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0819130983}} L. Fletcher Prouty, a former colonel in the United States Air Force, claimed then-Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles introduced McCord to him as "my top man.".{{cite news |author= |date=March 29, 1973 |title=Key Watergate Figure |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/29/archives/key-watergate-figure-james-walter-mccord-jr-reputed-security-chief.html |work=The New York Times |page=28 |access-date=March 8, 2023 |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309021041/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/29/archives/key-watergate-figure-james-walter-mccord-jr-reputed-security-chief.html |url-status=live }}

In 1961, under his direction, a counter-intelligence program was launched against the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=John |title=Oswald and the CIA |page=138}} He also held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve.{{Cite book |last=United States. Congress. House. Government Operations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMtEAQAAMAAJ |title=U.S. Government Information Policies and Practices – problems of Congress in Obtaining Information from the Executive Branch: Hearings Before a Subcommittee |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1972}}

John M. Newman says in his 2022 book, Uncovering Popov's Mole, that Bruce Solie and McCord were probably KGB "moles" in the CIA's Office of Security, and that McCord very likely protected Solie and another "mole," Pyotr Semyonovich Popov's honey-trapped and recruited-by-KGB dead drop arranger, Edward Ellis Smith, from being uncovered by U.S. Intelligence.{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=John M. |title=Uncovering Popov's Mole |publisher=Self-published |year=2022 |isbn=9798355050771 |location=United States |pages=280–281}}

Watergate scandal

Shortly after resigning from the CIA, McCord was interviewed and then hired by Jack Caulfield in January 1972 "for strict, solely defensive security work at the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP)."{{cite news |editor-last=Fox |editor-first=Steve |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/james.html |title=Revisiting Watergate: James McCord |newspaper=Washington Post (updated May 2005) |date=2002 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912163133/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/james.html}} Some of the money from this contract came from the RNC, which was led by Bob Dole who was called "Nixon's Doberman pinscher" and a Republican Party fixer, and was used during the Watergate scandal.{{cite news |editor-last=Fox |editor-first=Steve |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/Bob.html |title=Revisiting Watergate: Bob Dole |newspaper=Washington Post (updated May 2005) |date=2002 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912162939/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/Bob.html}} McCord and four other accomplices were arrested during the second break-in to the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate complex on June 17, 1972. The arrests led to the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation.

McCord asserted that the White House knew of and approved the break ins, and proceeded to cover up the incident. Because of McCord's statements, the Watergate investigators pursued many more leads.

McCord was one of the first men convicted in the Watergate criminal trial; on eight counts of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. On March 21, 1973, three days before sentencing, McCord, after speaking to a probation officer and thus surmising that he might be facing a lengthy prison sentence, submitted a letter to the judge in the case, John Sirica, in which he claimed that he and the other defendants had committed perjury in their trial and that there was pressure from higher up for them to have done so.{{Cite book |last=Sirica |first=John |author-link=John Sirica|url=https://archive.org/details/tosetrecordstrai00siri/mode/2up |title=To Set the Record Straight |date=1979 |publisher=Norton Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0393012344 |pages=93–97}} On March 23, the day of the sentencing, Sirica sentenced the other defendants provisionally, citing a statute that allowed for maximum sentences of several decades as a means to "research" more information needed for the final sentencing. This was a means to pressure the defendants into revealing more information about the burglary.{{Cite book |last=Sirica |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/tosetrecordstrai00siri/mode/2up |title=To Set the Record Straight |date=1979 |publisher=Norton |isbn=0393012344 |page=90}} McCord's sentencing was postponed until June and then postponed again. Finally, in November 1973, McCord was sentenced to one to five years Sirica, p. 120 and began serving his sentence in March 1975, but was released after only four months because of his cooperation in the Watergate investigation.{{Cite web |last=Popovici |first=Alice |title=Watergate: Where are they now? |url=https://www.history.com/news/watergate-where-are-they-now |access-date=January 20, 2021 |website=History.com |date=September 27, 2018 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114175051/https://www.history.com/news/watergate-where-are-they-now |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1975 |title=McCord surrenders at prison to begin Watergate sentence |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/22/archives/mccord-surrenders-at-prison-to-begin-watergate-sentence-ruling-in.html |access-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-date=January 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129202114/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/22/archives/mccord-surrenders-at-prison-to-begin-watergate-sentence-ruling-in.html |url-status=live }}

Post-Watergate

After serving four months in prison, McCord continued with McCord Associates, which was his own security firm located in Rockville, retiring later to Pennsylvania.{{Cite news |last=Marble |first=Steve |date=April 19, 2019 |title=The mysterious life of James McCord, Watergate burglar whose death went unnoticed for 2 years |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-james-mccord-watergate-breakin-dead-20190419-story.html |access-date=June 11, 2019}}{{Cite news |date=31 May 2019 |title=BBC Radio 4 – Last Word, Professor Murray Gell-Mann, Nan Winton, James McCord, Gregory Gray |work=Last Word |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005f9f |access-date=11 June 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106183353/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005f9f |url-status=live }}

McCord died at the age of 93 from pancreatic cancer on June 15, 2017, at his home in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. His death was not reported in local and national news outlets until 2019.{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=April 18, 2019 |title=James W. McCord Jr., Who Led the Watergate Break-In, Is Dead at 93 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/obituaries/james-mccord-watergate-dead.html |access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419014227/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/obituaries/james-mccord-watergate-dead.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Langer |first1=Emily |last2=Smith |first2=Harrison |last3=Morgan |first3=Kate |date=April 18, 2019 |title=Watergate conspirator James McCord Jr. died two years ago. His death was never announced. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/james-mccord-jr-watergate-conspirator-who-linked-break-in-to-the-white-house-dies-at-93/2019/04/18/11c2082e-6195-11e9-9ff2-abc984dc9eec_story.html |access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-date=April 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418230551/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/james-mccord-jr-watergate-conspirator-who-linked-break-in-to-the-white-house-dies-at-93/2019/04/18/11c2082e-6195-11e9-9ff2-abc984dc9eec_story.html |url-status=live }}

In popular culture

McCord was portrayed in All the President's Men, the 1976 film retelling the events of the Watergate scandal, by Richard Herd.

McCord was portrayed in Gaslit, the 2022 television adaptation of the podcast Slow Burn by Chris Bauer,{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/allison-tolman-chris-bauer-starz-watergate-series-gaslit-1235009891/|last=Otterson|first=Joe|date=1 July 2021|website=Variety|title=Allison Tolman, Chris Bauer Among Five Cast in Starz Watergate Series 'Gaslit'|access-date=2 May 2022|archive-date=2 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502235851/https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/allison-tolman-chris-bauer-starz-watergate-series-gaslit-1235009891/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/07/gaslit-allison-tolman-j-c-mackenzie-chris-bauer-hamish-linklater-chris-messina-join-starzs-watergate-drama-1234784775/|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=1 July 2021|website=Deadline Hollywood|title='Gaslit': Allison Tolman, J.C. MacKenzie, Chris Bauer, Hamish Linklater, Chris Messina Join Starz's Watergate Drama|access-date=2 May 2022|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422220345/https://deadline.com/2021/07/gaslit-allison-tolman-j-c-mackenzie-chris-bauer-hamish-linklater-chris-messina-join-starzs-watergate-drama-1234784775/|url-status=live}} and in the TV-series White House Plumbers he was portrayed by Toby Huss.{{Cite web |last=Kain |first=Erik |date=May 2, 2023 |title='White House Plumbers' Review: Justin Theroux And Woody Harrelson Light Up HBO's New Watergate Comedy |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/05/02/white-house-plumbers-review-justin-theroux-and-woody-harrelson-light-up-hbos-new-watergate-comedy/ |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529191747/https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/05/02/white-house-plumbers-review-justin-theroux-and-woody-harrelson-light-up-hbos-new-watergate-comedy/ |url-status=live }}

References

=Bibliography=

{{Cite book |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7432-4302-5 |pages=655, 666–67, 676–80, 683–84, 722 |author-link=Rick Perlstein}}

External links

[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_512-s756d5q992 James McCord testifying at the Watergate Hearings] WETA-TV Public Television, 1973 Watergate Hearings
{{Find a Grave|181059465}}
{{C-SPAN|36890}}

Category:1924 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:American perjurers

Category:American spies

Category:Baylor University alumni

Category:CIA agents convicted of crimes

Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Pennsylvania

Category:Elliott School of International Affairs alumni

Category:Members of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President

Category:Military personnel from Oklahoma

Category:Pennsylvania Republicans

Category:People convicted in the Watergate scandal