14 Facts About Richard Kleindienst

Richard Gordon Kleindienst was an American lawyer, politician, and US Attorney General during the early stages of Watergate political scandal.

Richard Kleindienst resigned his post in disgrace for his involvement in the Watergate cover-up.

Richard Kleindienst attended the University of Arizona before serving in the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1946.

On January 3,1964, Barry Goldwater asked his friend Kleindienst to serve as Director of Operations in his presidential campaign.

Richard Kleindienst suspended his private practice in 1969 to accept the post of Deputy Attorney General offered him by President Nixon.

Nixon and his aide John Ehrlichman told him to drop the case, which created an impression that they were violating their ethical obligations in favor of ITT, and that, as an attorney himself, Richard Kleindienst was now obligated to report these ethical lapses to the state bars in the jurisdictions involved.

On February 15,1972, Attorney General Mitchell resigned effective March 1 in order to work on the Nixon re-election campaign, with President Nixon nominating Richard Kleindienst to serve as his successor.

Later in the morning Richard Kleindienst was officially notified of the arrests.

Liddy told him that the break-in had originated within CRP, and that Mitchell wanted Richard Kleindienst to arrange the release of the burglars to reduce the risk of exposure of CRP's involvement.

The top law enforcement officer of the United States, Richard Kleindienst did not share with FBI investigators or his department's prosecutor Liddy's confession of his own involvement or Liddy's claim that Mitchell was seeking to obstruct justice.

Richard Kleindienst ultimately resigned in the midst of the Watergate scandal nearly a year later, on April 30,1973.

In October 1982, the US Supreme Court, on a unanimous vote, disbarred Richard Kleindienst, blocking him from practicing before the highest court.

In 1981, Richard Kleindienst was charged with perjury regarding how much he knew about a white-collar criminal he represented; he was acquitted.

Richard Kleindienst died at the age of 76, of lung cancer, on February 3,2000.