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John Dean Quotes

John Wesley Dean III is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up. He was referred to as the "master manipulator of the cover-up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . He pleaded guilty to a single felony count, in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution. This ultimately resulted in a reduced prison sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, Maryland.

Shortly after the Watergate hearings, Dean wrote about his experiences in a series of books and traveled around the United States to lecture. Dean is currently a commentator on contemporary politics, authoring books, and writing a column for FindLaw's Writ online magazine. He is strongly critical of neoconservatism and the Republican Party, and is a registered Independent. He has been strongly critical of former President George W. Bush and President Donald Trump.

✵ 14. October 1938
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John Dean: 4   quotes 0   likes

Famous John Dean Quotes

“We have a cancer within, close to the presidency, that's growing.”

John Dean

Said to Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal (Tape of March 21, 1973).

“I'm anything but skittish about government, but I must say this administration is truly scary and, given the times we live in, frighteningly dangerous.”

John Dean

[Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, 2004, Dean, John, ISBN 0641735421, Little, Brown & Company]

“This memorandum addresses the matter of how we can maximize the fact of our incumbency in dealing with persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration, Stated a bit more bluntly—how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.”

John Dean

Memorandum from Dean to Lawrence Higby dated August 16, 1971, regarding the purpose of Nixon's Enemies List

“Eternal vigilance. Remember, no one said democracy would be easy.”

John Dean

Source: Authoritarian Nightmare (2020), p. 282

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