Watergate's Enduring Stories

One of the major reasons that the Washington Post became nationally prominent was its coverage of the Watergate scandal, starting in 1972. It's a complex story but the ramifications continue to this day. (The Post's online operation has a pretty good special report, with a useful timeline.)

The key players in that story are dying, including the spokesman for the Committee to Re-Elect the President just last week; some of his more famous spins are included in the article. Other relatively recent Watergate deaths include Robert Mardian, E. Howard Hunt and Sam Garrison. I've written a good share of Watergate obits since 2003 -- Sam Dash, Fredrick LaRue, Rosemary Woods, among others -- but was brought up short by a colleague's comment when I was double-checking the date of Nixon's resignation. "I was born by then," he said.