Now that Mark Felt has come out as Deep Throat the media is engaged in the business of reliving that traumatic era in American politics. The year 2002 marked the 30th anniversary of the beginning of Watergate — the scandal that brought down a president and changed the way the executive branch works, and its reputation. Legislative results included The War Powers Act (1973), Federal Election Campaign Amendments (1974), the Ethics in Government Act (1978) and the Presidential Records Act (1978.) In 2004 famed Watergate player John Dean visited NOW to talk about his book, WORSE THAN WATERGATE: THE SECRET PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W. BUSH, which contends that the Bush Administration is the in the process of rolling back some of the open government policies brought about by Watergate.

• John Dean on Presidential Secrecy
• Changes to the Presidential Records Act
• Civil Liberties and National Security on NOW

		Reliving Watergate Though many today may not recognize the name of Rose Mary Woods (the secretary who erased 18 and 1/2 crucial minutes of a White House tape), some of the names and phrases of the scandal have great resonance. In 2002, John Dean wrote a special e-book for Salon.com called UNMASKING DEEP THROAT, probably hoping for decades of speculation. Other famous Watergate names have had different post-scandal careers. G. Gordon Liddy hosts a talk show. Charles Colson became a born-again Christian while serving his Watergate sentence and in 1976 founded the Prison Fellowship Ministries. John Ehrlichman retired from public life and in the 1990s an Atlanta gallery displayed 43 of his pen-and-ink drawings from the Watergate era. Find out more about this crucial event in American politics. WASHINGTON POST: Revisting Watergate AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Richard Nixon ONLINE NEWSHOUR: Thirty Years Later CNN/AllPolitics Watergate Revisited The National Archives: The Watergate Files The Nixon Archives Additional sources: THE OXFORD COMPANION TO AMERICAN HISTORY
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