A G-Man's Life; The FBI, Being "Deep Throat, " and the Struggle for Honor in Washington

Washington, DC: PublicAffairs, 2006. First edition. Stated. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xliv, [2], 319 pages. Occasional Footnotes. Illustrations. Index. DJ has minor edge wear and creasing. William Mark Felt, Sr. (August 17, 1913 - December 18, 2008 was a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent who retired as the Bureau's Deputy Director in 1973. After keeping secret for 30 years his involvement with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Felt acknowledged in 2005 that he was the Watergate scandal's anonymous whistleblower, "Deep Throat". Felt worked in several FBI field offices prior to his promotion to the Bureau's headquarters in Washington, D.C. During the early investigation of the Watergate scandal (1972-1974), and shortly after the death of longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in May 1972, Felt was the Bureau's Associate Director, the second-ranking post in the FBI. While serving as Associate Director, Felt provided The Washington Post with critical information that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. In 1980, Felt was convicted of violating the civil rights of people thought to be associated with members of the Weather Underground Organization, by ordering FBI agents to search their homes as part of an attempt to prevent bombings. He was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. In 2006, he published an update of his 1979 autobiography, The FBI Pyramid. His last book, written with John O'Connor, is titled A G-Man's Life. In 2012, the FBI released Felt's personnel file at the agency, covering the period from 1941 to 1978. The first full portrait of one of the most enduringly mysterious public figures of our era-the man who Bob Woodward called "Deep Throat", and who thought of himself as the "Lone Ranger". Mark Felt, one of the most celebrated sources in American history, comes vividly to life in this combination of biography and autobiography. Felt learned spy craft in World War II and rose to the number two position at the FBI. But his place in history was secured when he decided to share his views on the probe of the Watergate break-in with Bob Woodward. Felt assiduously stayed away from "leaking" facts, but as Woodward and Carl Bernstein ploughed their way through the cover-up conspiracy, Felt guided them towards truth and away from errors. Felt's life story would make a good book, but seen through the filter of his role in Watergate, it becomes an amazing tale. Felt is now old, frail and forgetful. But he wrote an account of Watergate in 1982 and in it says that the FBI needed a "Lone Ranger" to protect the agency from the corruption the White House was imposing upon it. He had been tried, convicted and pardoned for his role in authorizing break-ins of the apartments of the Weather Underground and he was bitter at how the country he had served so long had treated him. But he did not, as he might have done, seize credit for being Deep Throat. It was only as he neared the end of his life that he confided his secret to his family which then shared it with their lawyer, John O'Connor. The answer to the question of who is Mark Felt? And why did he risk so much for his country is brilliantly answered in "A G-Man's Life". Underpinned by Felt's 1979 memoir and secret manuscript written in the 1980s, "A G-Man's Life" combines significant new revelations from his personal letters and memos, together with his family's and intimate associate's account of his life. Fascinating additional material from Felt includes his thoughts on how he provided guidance to Woodward and why. John O'Connor wrote the "Vanity Fair" story, which disclosed Mr. Felt's identity as "Deep Throat". Together, they re-ignite this key event from the past, defining Mark Felt's role, and answering crucial questions on the scandal that rocked not just America, but the world.