J. Fred Buzhardt

J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

Buzhardt (right), receives the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal from Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird in 1973
General Counsel of the Department of Defense
In office
1970–1973
President Richard Nixon
Preceded by Leonard Niederlehner
Succeeded by Martin R. Hoffmann
Personal details
Born Joseph Fred Buzhardt, Jr
February 21, 1924
Greenwood, South Carolina
Died December 16, 1978(1978-12-16) (aged 54)
Hilton Head, South Carolina
Spouse(s) Imogene Sanders
Alma mater West Point Military Academy (B.S.)
University of South Carolina (LL.B)
Religion Baptist

Joseph Fred Buzhardt, Jr (February 21, 1924 – December 16, 1978) was an American attorney and public servant. He is best known for serving as special White House Counsel to Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Previously he had served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense and as a legislative aide to Senator Strom Thurmond.

Biography

Buzhardt was born in Greenwood, South Carolina, on February 21, 1924, to Joseph Fred Buzhardt, Sr. and Edna Hardin Buzhardt. The family later moved to McCormick, South Carolina, and Buzhardt graduated from McCormick High School with honors.[1] He first attended Wofford College from 1941 to 1943 before gaining an appointment to West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1946, and subsequently served in the United States Air Force. Following his military service he attended the University of South Carolina and earned a law degree in 1952. He then returned to McCormick and entered private practice alongside his father.[2]

Buzhardt left private practice in 1958 to become a legislative assistant to Senator Strom Thurmond.[2] During the 1964 presidential campaign Buzhardt, along with William J. Baroody, Jr. and Anthony J. Jurich, advised the Republican National Committee on military affairs.[3] Buzhardt succeeded Harry S. Dent, Sr. as Thurmond's administrative assistant in 1965.[4] Buzhardt left Thurmond's staff in 1966, but the two remained close.[2] In 1968 Dent and Buzhardt attempted to talk Thurmond out of his proposed marriage to Nancy Moore, a former beauty queen and 44 years his junior. Their efforts were unsuccessful and apparently did not affect either man's relationship with Thurmond.[5] Buzhardt was one of only 35 people–26 of whom were family–in attendance at Thurmond's wedding to Moore in December 1968.[6] According to Dent, Buzhardt was "like a son" to Thurmond, who had practiced law with Buzhardt's father.[7]

Buzhardt stayed active in Republican party politics in South Carolina, serving as Marshall Parker's campaign manager for the latter's unsuccessful bid for senator in 1968.[8] That year Buzhardt was named as an alternate delegate to the Republic National Convention, which would nominate Richard Nixon for the presidency.[9] After the Republican victory in November incoming Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird tapped Buzhardt for his staff.[3]

Watergate

Alexander Haig sought Buzhardt's help with John Dean's allegations

Buzhardt's involvement in Watergate began in May 1973. Alexander Haig had replaced H. R. Haldeman as White House Chief of Staff and sought Buzhardt's assistance. Haig told Buzhardt that his role at the White House would be temporary, and Buzhardt retained his title at the Defense Department. His first task as Special Counsel for Watergate was to investigate former White House Counsel John Dean. President Nixon had fired Dean the previous week; Dean was cooperating with investigators and was believed to possess classified documents. Buzhardt, through his contacts in the intelligence community, determined that these documents were related to the Huston Plan, an illegal proposed expansion of domestic surveillance.[10]

Buzhardt was also involved in the negotiations which led to Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation over accepting illegal payments. Judah Best, Agnew's attorney, recalled later that Buzhardt threatened to "personally...strap on his old '.45' and 'take care' of the situation" if anyone leaked the negotiations to the press. The negotiations did not leak and Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973.[11]

It was Buzhardt who, indirectly, disclosed the existence of the White House taping system to the public. Nixon and Haig, who were aware of the system, had given to Buzhardt (who was not aware of it) detailed accounts of Nixon's meetings with John Dean, including verbatim quotes. Buzhardt, in turn, communicated these to Fred Dalton Thompson, a future Senator and presidential candidate but then minority counsel to the United States Senate Watergate Committee. As recounted by Scott Armstrong, the majority staff discovered the transcript and questioned former White House aide Alexander Butterfield about its provenance. These questions led directly to Butterfield's disclosure of the taping system to the committee and then the public. Thompson, informed of the disclosure, in turn warned Buzhardt, who thus in this round-about way learned of it for the first time.[12] Buzhardt would spend hundreds of hours listening to the tapes, determining their contents before the tapes were conveyed to investigators.[13]

After Watergate

In a widely reported interview published in 1975, Buzhardt inquired whether the public would prefer "a competent scoundrel or an honest boob" as President, and lamented that invasive media coverage inhibited good governance. Although Buzhardt denied it, Washington Post columnist David S. Broder interpreted the remark as a thinly veiled attack on Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor.[14]

Buzhardt died of a heart attack at Hilton Head, South Carolina on December 16, 1978.[15]

Legacy

Buzhardt cooperated with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the research for the book which became The Final Days, sitting for eight "extensive" interviews.[16] In the 1989 film adaptation of the book Richard Kiley portrayed Buzhardt. Kiley called Buzhardt "one of the mystery men, very much behind the scenes, and yet he played a key role."[17] Leonard Garment, his former colleague in the Nixon White House, recalled Buzhardt as "one of the most profoundly moral men I have known."[18]

Buzhardt's papers are at Clemson University.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Long, Jim (August 27, 1995). "Buzhardt's widow recalls the Nixon years". The Index-Journal. p. 1. Retrieved November 1, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Clemson University. "REGISTER OF THE J. FRED BUZHARDT JR. PAPERS, 1923–1984" (PDF).
  3. 1 2 Mollenhoff, Clark (December 15, 1968). "Expect Major Overhaul of Defense Agency by Laird". Des Moines Register. p. 6. Retrieved November 2, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "New Aide For Sen. Thurmond". The Progress-Index. October 7, 1965. p. 9. Retrieved November 2, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Bass & Thompson 1998, pp. 236–237
  6. ↑ "Thurmonds Honeymoon At Undisclosed Spot". The Index-Journal. December 23, 1968. p. 5. Retrieved November 2, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Bass & Thompson 1998, p. 153
  8. ↑ "Democrats Have 'Forfeited' Right To Govern, Parker Says". The Index-Journal. February 16, 1968. p. 5. Retrieved November 2, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Mays, Buzhardt Named Alternates". The Index-Journal. April 1, 1968. p. 11. Retrieved November 2, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Woodward & Bernstein 1976, pp. 33–34
  11. ↑ Best 1977, p. 24
  12. ↑ Armstrong 1989, pp. 1237–1242
  13. ↑ Garment 2000, p. 97
  14. ↑ Broder, David S. (March 18, 1975). "It's Tough Choice: 'An Honest Boob—Or Competent Scoundrel?'". Salt Lake Tribune. p. 38. Retrieved December 6, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Former Nixon Attorney Dies". Galveston Daily News. December 17, 1978. p. 2. Retrieved December 6, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Moreno, Sylvia (February 4, 2005). "Watergate Papers Go Public; University of Texas to Unveil Woodward- Bernstein Collection". Washington Post  – via HighBeam (subscription required) . Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ Michaelson, Judith (June 4, 1989). "Reliving Nixon's 'Final Days' : ABC-TV docudrama, based on Woodward/Bernstein book, details the resignation of a President". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Garment 2000, p. 98

References

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