John Dean was an American attorney best known for his role as White House Counsel to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
His role in the cover-up and subsequent testimony before Congress made him a key figure in one of the biggest political scandals in US history.
Following the scandal, Dean became a commentator, author and speaker, offering insight into contemporary politics and legal issues.
File
- Full Name: John Wesley Dean III
- Date of birth: October 14, 1938
- Age: 85 years old
- Gender: Male
- Place of birth: Akron, Ohio, United States
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Lawyer, Author, Commentator
- Height: 182cm
- Parents: None
- Siblings: None
- Spouse: Karla Ann Hennings (divorced 1970), Maureen “Mo” Kane (married 1972)
- Children: John Wesley Dean IV
- Relationship status: Married to Maureen “Mo” Kane
- Net worth: $6 million
Early life and education
John Wesley Dean III, now 85, was born on October 14, 1938, and grew up in Akron, Ohio.
He grew up in Marion, Ohio, and attended elementary school in Flossmoor, Illinois. Dean had a close connection to politics from an early age, as his hometown was also the hometown of President Warren Harding, whose biography Dean later wrote.
He attended Colgate University and then transferred to the College of Wooster in Ohio, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1961.
Dean went on to earn his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1965.
Personal life
Dean was married twice in his life. He first married Karla Ann Hennings on February 4, 1962 and they had a son named John Wesley Dean IV before divorcing in 1970.
Dean then married Maureen “Mo” Kane on October 13, 1972 and they have been together ever since.
Career
After completing his studies, Dean joined the law firm Welch & Morgan in Washington, DC.
However, he was fired due to conflict of interest allegations. In 1966, he served as the Republican minority counsel on the House Judiciary Committee.
He later became deputy director of the National Commission on the Reform of Federal Criminal Law. Dean’s career took a significant turn when he volunteered to write a crime op-ed for Richard Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign.
This led to his appointment as deputy assistant attorney general in the United States Attorney General’s office in 1969. In 1970, Dean accepted the position of White House Counsel, replacing Chuck Colson. During his tenure in this position, the Watergate scandal broke.
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal began with a January 1972 meeting between Dean, Jeb Magruder, and John Mitchell, discussing plans to gather intelligence on Nixon’s re-election campaign.
Dean’s involvement in covering up the subsequent break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters placed him at the center of the scandal.
He seized evidence and money from the burglary and destroyed some of it before investigators could find it.
Dean’s guilty plea to obstruction of justice and his subsequent cooperation with prosecutors played a key role in exposing the extent of the cover-up.
He testified before the Senate Watergate Committee, implicating administration officials, including Nixon. Dean’s testimony, combined with the discovery of secret recordings of Nixon in the White House, eventually led to Nixon’s resignation and the conviction of several key figures in the scandal.
Net worth
John Dean’s estimated net worth is $6 million.
Social media
- Twitter Username: None
- Instagram Name: None
Book
- Blind Ambition: The White House Years
- Honor Lost: The Rest of the Story
- The Rehnquist Pick: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court
- Worse Than Watergate: George W. Bush’s Secret Presidency
- Conservatives have no conscience
