James W. McCord Jr.

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For other people named James or Jim McCord, see James McCord (disambiguation).
James McCord
Born
James Walter McCord Jr.

(1924-01-26)January 26, 1924
Waurika, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedJune 15, 2017(2017-06-15) (aged 93)
Douglassville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesEd Martin[1]
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BBA)
George Washington University (MS)
Occupationformer CIA officer and electronics expert
Known forParticipation in the Watergate Scandal
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Air Force
RankLieutenant Colonel
UnitUnited States Air Force Reserve
Watergate scandal
Watergate complex
Events
List
People
hide
Watergate burglars
Groups
CRP
White House
Judiciary
Journalists
Intelligence community
Congress
Related
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James Walter McCord Jr. (January 26, 1924 – June 15, 2017)[2] was an American CIA officer, later involved as an electronics expert in the burglaries which precipitated the Watergate scandal.[3]

Career[]

McCord was born in Waurika, Oklahoma.[4][5] He served as a bombardier with the rank of second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces during World War II.[6] He briefly attended Baylor University before receiving a B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1949.[7] In 1965, he received an M.S. in international affairs from George Washington University.[7][8] After beginning his career at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), McCord worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ultimately ascending to a GS-15 position in the Agency's Office of Security.[9]

For a period of time, he was in charge of physical security at the Agency's Langley headquarters.[10] According to Russ Baker, then-Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles once introduced McCord to an Air Force colonel as "the best man we have".[11]

In 1961, under his direction, a counter-intelligence program was launched against the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[12] He also held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve.[13]

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)".[14] 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.[15][16] He 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 resignation of President Nixon.

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.[14]

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 very lengthy jail sentence, submitted a letter to the judge in the case, Judge 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.[17] On March 23, the day of the sentencing, Judge 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.[18] McCord's sentencing was postponed until June and then postponed again. Finally, in November 1973, McCord was sentenced to from one to five years [19] and began serving his sentence in March 1975, but was released after only four months because of his cooperation in the Watergate investigation.[20][21]

Post-Watergate[]

After serving four months in prison, McCord set up McCord Associates, which was his own security firm located in Rockville, retiring later to Pennsylvania.[14][22][23]

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.[24][6]

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

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Dean, John (1976). Blind Ambition: The White House Years. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 90. ISBN 0671224387.
  2. ^ "US Department of Veterans Affairs, Nation Cemetery Administration". Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  3. ^ Gerald Gold, ed. (1973). The Watergate hearings: break-in and cover-up; proceedings. New York: Viking Press. p. 147. ISBN 0-670-75152-9. OCLC 865966.
  4. ^ Dickinson, William B.; Mercer Cross; Barry Polsky (1973). Watergate: chronology of a crisis. 1. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. p. 40. ISBN 0-87187-059-2. 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
  5. ^ Dash, Samuel, Mads (1976). Chief counsel: inside the Ervin Committee--the untold story of Watergate. New York: Random House. p. 59. ISBN 0-394-40853-5. OCLC 2388043.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Langer, Emily; Smith, Harrison; Morgan, Kate (April 18, 2019). "Watergate conspirator James McCord Jr. died two years ago. His death was never announced". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Hearings Before and Special Reports Made by Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on Subjects Affecting the Naval and Military Establishments. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1975.
  8. ^ The Michigan Journal. University of Michigan-Dearborn. 1974.
  9. ^ Edmund Callis Berkeley (1972). Computers and Automation. Edmund C. Berkeley and Associates.
  10. ^ Stafford T. Thomas (January 1, 1983). The U.S. Intelligence Community. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-8191-3098-3.
  11. ^ Baker, Russ (June 29, 2017). "Watergate and the Downing of Nixon, Part 3". WhoWhatWhy.
  12. ^ Newman, John. Oswald and the CIA. p. 138.
  13. ^ United States. Congress. House. Government Operations (1972). U.S. Government Information Policies and Practices--problems of Congress in Obtaining Information from the Executive Branch: Hearings Before a Subcommittee. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c Fox, Steve, ed. (2002). "Revisiting Watergate: James McCord". Washington Post (updated May 2005). Archived from the original on September 12, 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Parry, Robert; Parry, Sam (August 5, 1996). "Bob Dole: Grumpiest Old Man or Fixer". Consortium News. Archived from the original on February 2, 1999. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  16. ^ Fox, Steve, ed. (2002). "Revisiting Watergate: Bob Dole". Washington Post (updated May 2005). Archived from the original on September 12, 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  17. ^ Sirica, John (1979). To Set the Record Straight. Norton. pp. 93–97. ISBN 0-393-01234-4.
  18. ^ Sirica, John (1979). To Set the Record Straight. Norton. p. 90. ISBN 0-393-01234-4.
  19. ^ Sirica, John (1979). To Set the Record Straight. Norton. p. 120. ISBN 0-393-01234-4.
  20. ^ Popovici, Alice. "Watergate: Where are they now?". History.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  21. ^ "McCord surrenders at prison to begin Watergate sentence". The New York Times. Associated Press. March 22, 1975. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  22. ^ Marble, Steve (April 19, 2019). "The mysterious life of James McCord, Watergate burglar whose death went unnoticed for 2 years". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  23. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Professor Murray Gell-Mann, Nan Winton, James McCord, Gregory Gray". Last Word. BBC Radio 4. 31 May 2019.
  24. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (April 18, 2019). "James W. McCord Jr., Who Led the Watergate Break-In, Is Dead at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

Bibliography[]

  • Perlstein, Rick (2008). Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. Simon and Schuster. pp. 655, 666–67, 676–80, 683–84, 722. ISBN 978-0-7432-4302-5.

Further reading[]

McCord wrote a book about his connection with the Watergate burglary:

  • McCord, James W. (1974). A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story -- Fact and Fiction. Rockville, Maryland: Washington Media Services. ISBN 0-914286-00-5. OCLC 1031449.

External links[]

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