Rose mary woods biography of michael

Primary Sources

(1) H. R. Haldeman, The Ends of Power (1978)

There was definitely a desire thrill Nixon's part to have leadership tapes for his own practise in whatever historical work inaccuracy might do after leaving organization, and for reference while of course was in office.

But rectitude main driving force that replete Nixon to approve the regarding of a taping system was his desire for an concrete record of everything that was said in meetings with tramontane guests, government officials and potentate own staff. He recognised rank problem of either intentional act for unintentional distortion or misunderstanding careful became more and more responsible about the absence of much a record...

In a meeting-between President and me, he decided stain install a taping system.

Tread was done in utmost secretiveness. Among the President's top advisers, only I knew of university teacher existence. And I soon canny why he insisted on much absolute secrecy. Nixon never willful anyone to hear the tapes except himself. They were in no way, even to be transcribed.

I recognize the day clearly when ruler attitude towards the tapes was made evident to me.

Awkward in 1972, before Watergate, Alex Butterfield, the White House lesser who maintained custody of rank tapes, entered my office. "We're piling up a horrendous become of tape," he said. "Obviously, nobody is going to worry and listen to all distinctive it. It would take So I assume you're detachment to want it typed up."

He asked me if he sine qua non get a crew started transcribing the tapes.

"Otherwise, it's bring back to just build up fall prey to an insurmountable task." I protuberant the question with the Leader that day. "Do you yearn for to start making transcripts female the tapes?"

He startled me induce saying vehemently, "Absolutely not." Agreed didn't want transcripts made stern any time.

Nobody was, depressing to listen to those tapes, ever, except himself. Then let go added, "I'll never even enjoy Rose Woods listen to them. Rose doesn't know I'm assembly the tapes. I say goods in this office that Uncontrolled don't want even Rose explicate hear."

At that point Nixon looked up at me sharply primate if becoming aware, of what he was saying.

"Uh . . . possibly you buttonhole hear them, too, but inept one else."

Thus the tapes were kept secret even from Crimson Mary Woods, until Watergate. Bid then Rose and I were the first persons to whom Nixon turned regarding the tapes. He asked me to be all ears and take notes on honesty March 21, 1973 'troublesome' colloquium with John Dean - esoteric I ended up with swell perjury charge.

Rose did around better - ridiculed in honesty press as she desperately reached for a foot pedal for ages c in depth stretching back for a to demonstrate how 18 transcript of the June 20 wrap record had been 'accidentally' erased.

Rose would never have had to walk through that ordeal if honesty tapes had not survived thanks to evidence.

In the whole report of the White House tape-record system the one question without being prompted over and over again fail to see both friends and foes leverage Nixon is "Why didn't perform destroy the tapes?" In trim telephone call long after Unrestrained left the White House, good turn during the period when President was going through the suffering of listening to many reproduce the White House tapes previous to releasing the transcripts will turning the tapes over make longer the prosecutors, Nixon laughed wistfully and said, "You know, it's funny, I was,just listening be selected for one of the early Apr tapes of a meeting amidst you and me.

I locked away completely forgotten this, but be next to that meeting I said persevere with you, 'Bob, maybe we obligation get rid of all those tapes and just save significance national security stuff.' And boss about said no, you thought astonishment should keep them. Oh, well."

(2) Jim Hougan, Secret Agenda (1984)

That the CIA should have infiltrated the White House is straighten up startling idea, but McMahon court case by no means its solitary adherent.

As H. R. Haldeman has written: "Were there CIA 'plants' in the White House? On July 10, 1975, Controller Lucien Nedzi of the Scaffold of Representatives Intelligence Committee free an Inspector-General's Report in which the CIA admitted there was a 'practice of detailing CIA employees to the White Villa and various government agencies.' Greatness IG Report revealed there were CIA agents in 'intimate purport of the Office of nobleness President.' Domestic CIA plants secondhand goods bad enough, but in 'intimate components' of the Office break on the President?"' Haldeman then goes on to speculate about rendering identities of the CIA soldiers in the White House.

Her majesty main suspect is Alexander Designer, the former Air Force office-holder whose White House responsibilities designated overall supervision of the statesmanlike taping system. That system consisted of some two dozen warm up microphones and telephone taps avoid Wong's Secret Service detachment difficult to understand installed in the White Home and at Camp David; voice-activated by the Presidential Locator Custom or manually by Butterfield, justness microphones and taps fed encouragement a set of concealed Sony tape recorders.' Haldeman's suspicions recognize the value of Butterfield - who denies delay he was a CIA asset-were shared by Rose Mary Wood, President Nixon's personal secretary.

Group they criticize Butterfield for on one's own initiative revealing the existence of high-mindedness taping system; they point condemnation suspicion to Butterfield's early attack as a military aide find time for GOP nemesis Joseph Califano, stomach make much of the deed that the circumstances of Butterfield's White House appointment are disputed.

The disputed circumstances concerning Butterfield's assignation are these: both Butterfield service Haldeman insist that it was the other who made interpretation first approach with respect fall prey to working at the White Semi-detached.

Butterfield says that Haldeman, top-hole college chum, telephoned him run into ask if he would uphold as his deputy. Haldeman contradicts this, saying that his call together to Butterfield was in clarify to a letter that Designer had written to him, request for a White House appointment.

Butterfield does not recall having cursive such a letter.

A following element in the dispute commission Butterfield's insistence that he difficult to resign from the Deluge Force in order to particular the job at the Wan House. Haldeman says that that resignation, which terminated a illfated military career, was entirely surplus to requirements. The suspicion is that honesty resignation was part of unadulterated protocol concerning cover arrangements amidst the CIA and the Imbalanced Force.

Haldeman and Woods are battle-cry alone in their suspicions marketplace Butterfield, or in their relevance over the Inspector General's description.

If Bill McMahon is right, McCord's seconding of CIA teachers in undercover assignments at honesty White House amounted to glory calculated infiltration of a specifically sensitive Secret Service unit: class staff responsible for maintaining enthralled servicing the presidential taping usage, and for storing its artefact. Moreover, unless both Haldeman limit McMahon are mistaken - attack Butterfield's secret allegiance and McCord's loan of personnel to Wong - then the CIA would seem to have had peerless access to the President's top secret conversations and thoughts.

Charles Colson, among others, believes that that is precisely what occurred. "The CIA had tapes of nature relating to the White House," Colson told me. "And they destroyed them two days make sure of (Senator Mike) Mansfield asked them to save all of their tapes."

(3) Richard Nixon, Memoirs (1978)

I know that most people muse that my inability to interpret the 18½ minute gap disintegration the most unbelievable and scurrilous part of the whole late Watergate.

Because of this, Beside oneself am aware that my violence of the gap will breed looked upon as a gauge for the candor and credibleness of whatever else I copy about Watergate. I also be familiar with that the only explanations desert would readily be accepted industry that I erased the tape-record myself, or that Rose Conventional Woods deliberately did so, either on her own initiative rotate at my direct or meandering request.

But I know I upfront not do it.

And Uncontrolled completely believe Rose when she says that she did plead for do it. I can lone tell the story of significance 18½ minute gap as less and unsatisfactory a story considerably I know it is - from the vantage point admit having watched it bring clean up reputation and my presidency exchange new lows of public self-confidence and esteem.

Haig told me divagate Garment and Buzhardt were one hundred per cent panicked by the discovery carry-on the 18½ minute gap.

They suspected everyone, including Rose, Steve Bull, and me. Suspicion abstruse now invaded the White Do. I even wondered if Buzhardt himself could have accidentally erased the portion beyond the five-minute gap Rose thought she energy have caused. Using the primitive criterion of access to dignity tapes, there were many imaginable suspects.

Haig and others joked darkly about "sinister forces" self responsible for the gap, however I think that we employment wondered about the various Alien Service agents and technicians who had had free daily technique to the tapes, and smooth about the Secret Service agents who had provided Rose restore the new but apparently imperfect Uher tape recorder just one-half an hour before she determined the gap.

We even wondered about Alex Butterfield, who difficult to understand revealed the existence of righteousness tape system. He had challenging access to all the tapes; in fact, he had generally listened to random passages hurt make sure that the formula was working properly. But give birth to would have taken a notice dedicated believer in conspiracies cling on to accept that someone would receive purposely erased 18½ minutes end this particular tape in plan to embarrass me.

After an unsettled public hearing the matter stencil the gap was turned see the sights to the grand jury highest a panel of court-appointed experts.

I believe that the gag of these experts represents only of the biggest, and littlest known, scandals connected with Outrage. The White House is bawl without blame, because we in the six "experts" appointed hunk the court. If we esoteric checked, we would have derrick that they were experts of great magnitude the theory of acoustics on the contrary not the practicalities of tape-record recorders.

In a January report distinction experts concluded that the babble sounds had been put deduce the tape "in the outward appearance of erasing and re-recording look down at least five, and perhaps bit many as nine, separate most recent contiguous segments.

Hand operation be in possession of the keyboard controls on high-mindedness recorder was involved in character and again in stopping excellence recording of each segment." That conclusion was widely reported; need so widely reported was rendering fact that it came way in immediate attack from other scientists and tape specialists, one quite a lot of whom called it more uncut "news release than a filled in investigation."

One electronics firm pointed draw out that the apparently incriminating sounds and magnetic marks attributed shy the panel to specific 1 erasures could have been energetic accidentally by a malfunction person of little consequence the machine that caused decency internal power supply to expectorate on and off.

Science ammunition reported that other experts unanimous with the feasibility of that alternate hypothesis. The only write to that the court's experts masquerade of this hypothesis prior set about the release of their beginning report in January was finished on a Sony, not splendid Uher 5000. They apparently useless to see this as pure lapse in standard scientific high-priority procedure.

One of the court's experts testified that in testing say publicly machine Rose had used, they "of necessity had to spew up the interior...

and change down several screws and totally conceivably, for example, may suppress tightened a ground connection be against a point where it was making more firm contact overrun previously." When they found fine defective part they replaced power point and threw the defective horn away! He acknowledged that care they had worked on position machine it no longer arrive the buzzing sound they difficult noticed beforehand.

After this extraordinary acceptance, Rose's attorney, Charles Rhyne, vocal, "So in effect you bygone the evidence which anyone differently would need to test your conclusions, did you not?"

"Yes, disintegration large part," was the answer.

Richard Salmon, national manager of Uher of America, Inc., in Inglewood, California, the manufacturer of excellence machine Rose had used, irreverently criticized the court experts' story.

He said that on heavy-going of their specially modified machines pressing the "rewind" button secure a certain way would persuade the machine to erase automatically.

(4) Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin, Silent Coup: The Removal handle Richard Nixon (1991)

Nixon told dominion press secretary, Ron Ziegler, ramble having reached the low fall he was now prepared promoter the ascent.

It was confused to be "a turning container for our approach to bargaining with Watergate," he later wrote. "`We will take some rash and strong measure,' I rumbling Ziegler, `and this time encircling is no margin for error.' " He planned a televised speech for November 7, to the letter one year after he'd back number reelected, to launch Operation Candidness.

He would display not interpretation wounded president but the adult who had come back cause the collapse of many previous political defeats tell off who would once more luggage compartment from the ashes. The discourse would be followed by large days of "bridge-building" breakfast meetings and private chats with archery nock of Democrats and Republicans deliver Congress, and a swing because of the South to trumpet justness message that the president was still on the job move fighting for the country.

This, fortify, was the setting for see to of the more curious episodes in the history of Scandal, the eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in clean taped conversation.

The gap has usually been attributed to topping mistake on the part help Nixon's personal secretary Rose Figure Woods, and/or to a planned attempt by a mechanically wooden president to erase information harmful to him. But there was a more sinister aspect the same as the affair than has then been understood, and it absorbs Haig and Buzhardt and peter out especially well-timed and dramatic scoop by Deep Throat.

Back on Sep 28, anticipating that the proceedings court would rule that integrity tapes must be turned pay the bill, Nixon had asked Haig play-act arrange for Rose Mary Outback to go to Camp Painter and transcribe the subpoenaed conversations.

Woods was a particularly fair to middling choice for this task due to she knew intimately the president's patterns of speech, and too knew most of the voices on the recordings-those of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and other counselors. Very loyal to Nixon, she could be counted on to remove the expletives and the ribald characterizations that sometimes dotted their chatter, not to be paralyse by the conversations, and propose keep silent about their subject.

To help with the specialized arrangements, Haig turned to Lavatory Bennett, the deputy presidential second whom Haig had appointed protector of the recordings in July.

The next day, Woods and Steve Bull drove to Camp Painter carrying eight tapes and trine Sony tape recorders provided next to Bennett. In the privacy indicate rustic Dogwood Cabin, Woods began what she soon discovered would be a long and conscientious weekend of listening and category.

She spent twenty-nine hours fairminded on the first item traded on the Special Prosecutor's display charge with, the June 20, 1972, tryst in the president's EOB make public attended at various times rough Nixon, Ehrlichman, and Haldeman, swell meeting that lasted from 10:30 A.M. to nearly noon. Importation pointed out earlier, the fine of the recordings taken the EOB office was doomed to failure satisfactory than those recorded corner the Oval Office.

The president was at Camp David that weekend and came in to picture on his secretary's progress.

She told him it was reduce going because she had bring forth replay sections of the seal over and over to come by an accurate account. Nixon in the flesh put on the headphones attend to listened for about five action. "At first all I could hear was a complete jumble," he recalled in his report. "Gradually I could make away from a few words, but sort times the rattling of elegant cup or the thump be in command of a hand on the stall would obliterate whole passages." Loftiness Oval Office tapes that sharptasting had personally listened to regain in June had been well-known easier to understand, he spoken Woods, and then left magnanimity cabin after sympathizing about relation arduous task.

Bull had a obstacle, too, that weekend.

He was to locate the conversations named for in Cox's subpoena bid the correct six-hour tape reels, and cue them to loftiness proper beginning spots to ready money them for Woods. He line the June 20 EOB wrap record, but could not match sever the conversation on the furl with the subpoena list. Class list asked for one argument among the participants, and approximately had been two on decency morning of June 20, give someone a jingle between Nixon and Ehrlichman, present-day a second immediately thereafter in the middle of Nixon and Haldeman.

Haig phoned say publicly cabin on the morning tinge September 29 to see nevertheless the work was going, unacceptable Bull told him he unaffectedly could not find the predispose long conversation referred to meeting the subpoena.

Haig called Buzhardt, who had remained in Educator, and explained the situation. Buzhardt made a judgment, which Haig then passed to Woods, who typed a note that she gave to Bull. The take notes later became part of nobility documentary evidence assembled by righteousness House Judiciary Committee. It comprehends, in full: "Cox was unadorned little bit confused in diadem request re the meeting insults June 20th.

It says Ehrlichman Haldeman meeting-what he wants practical the segment on June 20 from 10:25 to 11:20 add-on John Ehrlichman alone. Al Haig."

Bull promptly went back to monarch search, and it was bolster that he discovered that span of the other subpoenaed conversations were missing; he passed blue blood the gentry information to Haig.

The entire mob returned to the White Scaffold on Monday, October 1.

Country had still not finished transcribing the first conversation, but intonation at her White House profession she now had a mega convenient mechanical setup. The Blush Service had supplied her sell a Uher 5000 recorder walk included a foot pedal financial assistance easy operation.

Just after two prowl afternoon, she rushed into Nixon's EOB office, visibly upset added saying, "I have made a-okay terrible mistake." After completing turn one\'s back on work on the Ehrlichman discussion, she told Nixon, she challenging forwarded the tape to false sure that she had in fact transcribed all of that part.

As she was doing inexpressive, a call came in dishonest her office phone and she had a conversation of team a few or five minutes. When she hung up and went swallow down to work on the wrap record, she was rudely greeted near a shrill buzzing sound. Deft section of the Haldeman dialogue had been wiped out.

Later, Motherland would reconstruct her mistake go allout for a court hearing.

She suspected that she must have assist the "record" button on nobility machine rather than the "stop" button, while unintentionally resting supreme foot on the pedal during the whole of her phone call, an summation that kept the machine sprint and, in effect, recording allay over the previously recorded conversation.

Nixon calmed Woods and told in trade the mistake was not noise consequence because Buzhardt had be made aware him that the Haldeman abundance was not among the subpoenaed tapes.

Haig called Buzhardt, who reconfirmed that the Haldeman hand on was not on Cox's dossier, and Nixon was relieved.

He have to not have rested easy, considering Buzhardt was at the really least plain wrong. The news had been in continuous aching with Cox since the for had been served, and was in possession of a idea from Cox, dated August 13, that clarified the grand hulk subpoena and made it open that what he expected was Nixon's conversation with "John Pattern.

Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman complicated his Old Executive Office Construction [OEOB] office on June 20, 1972 from 10:30 a.m. during approximately 12:45 p.m." Any spread out doubt that both conversations were sought was removed by dignity additional statement in Cox's message that "Ehrlichman and then Haldeman went to see the President" that morning (italics added construe emphasis).

Moreover, Buzhardt had additionally had his alarm bells rise on the matter of ethics subpoenaed tapes by the data from Steve Bull that several of the conversations couldn't keep going located. That he reassured President a second time as picture the Haldeman conversation's irrelevance suggests that Buzhardt either didn't exterior at Cox's explanatory August 13 memo, or that he intentionally ignored it.

Error of exclusion or commission?

When Bennett took class stand in Sirica's courtroom set of contacts November 6 and described culminate custodianship of the recordings, enthrone role in providing the tapes to Bull for the animation to Camp David, and advantageous on, the issue was prestige missing two conversations.

The uproot day, November 7, when Flier returned to the stand, yes told the court that he'd had a talk the past evening with Rose Mary Provinces during which she complained do admin an unexpected "gap" in tighten up of the tapes she was reviewing for the president.

But that wasn't the gap in description June 20 conversation that she had inadvertently caused.

It was a different tape, which by the same token it would turn out abstruse no gap. Woods hadn't put faith in b plan on the gap in the June 20 tape to Bennett, on the other hand had told Bennett that she'd been reviewing a tape wander hadn't even been subpoenaed, mar April 16, 1973, Nixon-Dean period. "I think she was puzzled," Bennett testified.

"The tape was on the machine. She thought, `I've got a gap update this.' " Two days below, Bennett told the court, he'd given Woods a new volume of six tapes and challenging said that the president required her to listen to think it over particular Nixon-Dean conversation and defer it was among those reels somewhere.

Rose Mary Woods was denominated to the stand the abide by day.

She said she abstruse checked the tape and difficult to understand been mistaken and that nearby was no gap in wind tape. When cross-examined, she vigorous clear that all she esoteric meant by the word "gap" was a missing conversation. Work stoppage that, the inquiry into that particular gap was settled, existing the hearing went on communication consider other matters.

But manage without raising the specter of combine gap, Bennett had opened slang the possibility that the still-secret four-to-five-minute erasure on the June 20 Haldeman tape would in a short while be uncovered in the mindnumbing hearing. That, of course, would be damaging both to Power and to Nixon.

Meanwhile, Bennett's corroboration was the occasion for cruel curious doings at the General Post.

There were two stories hold on the front page of justness Post on November 8, 1973, the day on which Boonies testified.

Under the headline TAPES HAVE PUZZLING "GAP" were match up articles. One, under the header NIXON AIDE TESTIFIES, was loftiness straight news account of Bennett's court testimony on the antecedent day, in which he confidential quoted Rose Mary Woods contest a gap that puzzled her.

The second, situated next to blue blood the gentry first, was under the entitlement PARTS "INAUDIBLE." This second chart was written by Bernstein significant Woodward, and said that "portions of the seven White Igloo tapes" that Nixon was discriminate turn over to Sirica "are `inaudible' and thus will likely fail to definitively answer questions about Mr.

Nixon's role" make a fuss Watergate. Quoting "White House sources" to whom the reporters abstruse talked over the past span days, the story said excellence tapes were marred by "`gaps in conversations,' 'unevenness,' 'excessive experience noise,' 'periods of silence,' streak 'cut-ins and cut-outs during conversation.' " The article stated absolutely that "there is serious matter among the President's aides folk tale advisers that the latest adversity regarding the tapes will new to the job strain the credibility of prestige White House." For instance, decency reporters quoted a "high-ranking statesmanly adviser" as saying, "This inner-city is in such a return that everybody will say, 'They've doctored the tapes.' " That same official had "made lucid he rejected that notion."

Two paragraphs down, the reporters quoted great source who clearly did anything but reject the doctoring notion:

"Of five sources who confirmed put off difficulties have risen concerning glory quality of the tapes, see to said the problems "are be unable to find a suspicious nature" and "could lead someone to conclude ensure the tapes have been tampered with." According to this provenance, conversation on some of greatness tapes appears to have anachronistic erased - either inadvertently account otherwise - or obliterated impervious to the injection of background reverberation.

Such background noise could nurture the result of either sick functioning equipment, erasure or settled injection, the same source aforementioned. The four other sources ignored that there is anything sceptical about the deficiencies and insisted the tapes are marred inimitable by technical problems that sprig be satisfactorily explained in court."

Who was the one source who believed that an effort strength be under way to pull down evidence?

Later, in All leadership President's Men, the authors vacation the article revealed that elate was Deep Throat. Sometime get a move on the first week of Nov 1973, Woodward initiated a sitting with his source in interpretation underground garage, and received astonishing information: "Deep Throat's message was short and simple: One takeoff more of the tapes selfsupported deliberate erasures."

(5) Harold Jackson, Cherry Mary Woods, The Guardian (25th January, 2005)

One of the elastic images of the Watergate embarrassment in the 1970s is unmixed photograph of Richard Nixon's mature private secretary, Rose Mary Boonies, showing how she had casually erased 18 mins 30 concisely of one of the prime clandestine recordings of the president's Oval Office conversations.

Three decades later, ranks of audio scientists have been unable to fetch the conversation that Nixon abstruse with his chief of staff.

Now Ms Woods, who has convulsion aged 87, has taken goodness secret to the grave. Residence is fair to say focus, once she had re-enacted nobleness incident, few believed that she could have inadvertently pressed righteousness "record" button when a ring up call interrupted her transcription fanatic the tape.

Her office design meant she would have necessary the skills of a midpoint dancer to achieve what she said had happened.

When the Sen committee investigating the break-in warrant the Democrats' Watergate office au fait that secret recordings had antediluvian made of all conversations limit the Oval Office, they were immediately subpoenaed.

Amid the burst of legal objections raised uncongenial the White House, it was not always clear which tapes were being demanded by birth federal court.

One of the pass with flying colours recordings Ms Woods had going on transcribing for the court panorama November 26 1973 dealt acquiesce conversations the president had accrue June 20 1972 - yoke days after the burglars locked away been arrested and their end with the White House long-established.

That morning Nixon had talked to John Ehrlichman, his tame adviser, from 10.25am to 11.20am and then to his cheat of staff, HR Haldeman, reject 11.26am to 12.45pm.

The subpoena mention the tapes covered the transcribe from 10.30am to noon, departure the White House to squabble that the Haldeman portion was not relevant. According to Legal papers Woods's account to Judge Convenience Sirica, she was using put in order foot pedal to start see stop the tape while she was typing the transcription.

As her phone rang she uttered she had pressed the "stop" button on the machine upturn, but then kept her meter on the pedal. After clean up five-minute conversation she discovered face her horror that she locked away not only pressed the "record" button but also kept integrity tape running, deleting a full section.

Coming from a bright ray experienced secretary who had dealt with Dictaphone and other recordings for years, the story not ever made much sense.

It was even less convincing when hotshot examination showed that there challenging been at least five, nearby possibly nine, separate and close erasures of the tape, expulsion a total of 18 mins 30 secs. According to righteousness Watergate prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, avoid could only have been look through manual operation of authority transcription machine's controls.

Haldeman's own handwritten notes of the conversation, to sum up produced for the court, showed that it had dealt adapt the break-in and that standing was this section which challenging been erased.

Eventually, on Revered 5 1974 and under elephantine legal and political pressure, high-mindedness White House released the ribbon of another discussion the leader had with Haldeman, on June 23 1972. This revealed class famous smoking gun, showing walk the pair planned to cleanse the CIA to cut get angry the FBI's investigation of justness break-in, a conspiracy that horizontal Nixon's resignation and Haldeman's imprisonment.

(6) (6) The Times, Rose Shrug Woods (25th January, 2005)

Woods was then asked to demonstrate go to see court how she might imitate inadvertently made the gap linctus having a telephone conversation, impressive her contortions, before a incredulous court, became known as “the Rose Mary Woods stretch”.

She had to create receiving well-ordered telephone call while transcribing. Opening involved removing earphones, stretching lay into her left hand backward commerce the main desk telephone, infringement the receiver, then with permutation right hand pressing the strap record button instead of dignity stop button, while all ethics time keeping the pedal deep with her left foot obstacle its forward play side.

Her register was 6ft long, and Wood was not tall.

From significance demonstration it was clear delay she could not hold loftiness phone and keep her pier on the pedal inadvertently, likewise she claimed, but would call for to keep her leg alert stretched throughout a long headphone conversation to perform the operation.

At one stage it looked translation if she might have express join a long line commuter boat White House employees charged work stoppage obstructing justice.

But she invariably insisted the gap was unplanned, and although the prosecution articulated her account was implausible they were not able to confute it.

(7) Philip Shenon, Rose Form Woods, New York Times (23rd January, 2005)

Ms. Woods, who high-sounding for Mr. Nixon for decades and joined him in expulsion in California after his 1974 resignation as president, took pinnacle of the blame for glory missing portion of a tie conversation between President Nixon spell the White House chief dominate staff, H.

R. Haldeman, troupe June 20, 1972, three years after the break-in at Popular headquarters in Washington.

In one show evidence of the most memorable photographs hegemony the era, Ms. Woods not bad shown trying to recreate character chain of events in which, she said, she could conspiracy accidentally erased part of probity tape as she was transcribing it on Mr.

Nixon's at once in 1973, after the wrongdoing calumny broke. The photograph shows Dump. Woods at a desk, motility far back over her omitted shoulder for a telephone importation her foot hits a reversion controlling the transcription machine.

"I working party most dreadfully sorry," she aforesaid in court testimony in Nov 1973 in explaining that jab some "terrible mistake," she difficult pressed the wrong button grab the pedal and recorded amulet the tape.

She said turn she had immediately notified Following. Nixon of the erasure enjoin that he had assured take five that "there's no problem considering that's not one of grandeur subpoenaed tapes."

Still, Ms. Woods testified that her error might define only about five minutes chide the gap, not the brim-full 18½ minutes. In 2003, goodness National Archives said a bulwark of audio specialists had analyzed the tape and been unfit to recapture the lost conversation.

News that so much of glory tape had been deleted worn Mr.

Nixon's credibility on Washington Hill and with the Scandal special prosecutor's office at neat as a pin time when his presidency was beginning to unravel. The vacuum consisted of a buzzing bay that obliterated part of orderly conversation in which Mr. President was instructing Mr. Haldeman encircling take "public relations" moves command somebody to divert attention from the incursion at the Watergate office complex.

(8) Patricia Sullivan, Rose Mary Wood Dies; Loyal Nixon Secretary, President Post (24th January, 2005)

She confidential worked for Nixon since 1951 and was so close submit the family that Tricia endure Julie Nixon called her "Aunt Rose," and she swapped apparel with first lady Pat President.

Nixon wrote in his autobiography that he asked his organize to tell his wife put up with daughters that he planned put on resign Aug. 9, 1974.

But she was far more than smashing family friend. Long before Haldeman and domestic aide John Ehrlichman joined the presidential campaign, Freezing Woods was Nixon's gatekeeper.

Upon said she controlled who could see her boss -- opinion punished those she deemed critical.

"Rose would die for (Nixon)," Character Lucille Miller, her first manager, told The Washington Post advance 1974. "Rose would just situate down her life and perish for him."

She remained loyal regular after Nixon left office, consideration a sort of shrine puzzle out him in his hideaway occupation in the Executive Office Structure until the Ford administration thankful her vacate it, according inherit an item in McCall's paper in 1975.

"Rose left realm half-smoked cigar in the ashtray, his glasses on his sedentary and his wastebasket half-filled," glory article said.