1 00:00:32,241 --> 00:00:34,786 Is the country gonna right itself now? 2 00:00:35,787 --> 00:00:37,246 Do we have Watergate behind us? 3 00:00:37,830 --> 00:00:39,957 We'll never have Watergate behind us, I hope, 4 00:00:40,041 --> 00:00:41,501 because in a way, it's been good. 5 00:00:41,584 --> 00:00:44,754 We're teaching the politicians to be straight and not crooked. 6 00:00:49,133 --> 00:00:51,844 I'm convinced if it hadn't been for Martha, 7 00:00:53,096 --> 00:00:54,722 there'd have been no Watergate. 8 00:01:01,229 --> 00:01:03,189 Mrs. Mitchell! 9 00:01:03,272 --> 00:01:06,484 Is this democracy, where people are not allowed 10 00:01:06,567 --> 00:01:08,528 to speak their own mind and the truth? 11 00:01:08,611 --> 00:01:10,071 You know I love the press. 12 00:01:11,823 --> 00:01:13,741 So if I have something on my mind, 13 00:01:13,825 --> 00:01:16,536 I'm not going out and yell it to anybody, 14 00:01:16,619 --> 00:01:20,373 unless I believe that it's what should be done or said. 15 00:01:33,970 --> 00:01:37,807 When you arrived at London Airport yesterday morning, 16 00:01:37,890 --> 00:01:42,228 you said, "Richard Nixon shattered my marriage." 17 00:01:42,311 --> 00:01:47,066 Now, how did Richard Nixon have so much effect on your whole life? 18 00:01:48,484 --> 00:01:52,029 Ooh, David, you've opened up a kettle of worms. 19 00:01:52,738 --> 00:01:55,366 And I don't know whether I could really explain it 20 00:01:55,449 --> 00:01:58,161 in the length of time you and I have together. 21 00:01:58,244 --> 00:01:59,954 Well, we've got at least 30 minutes. 22 00:02:00,580 --> 00:02:03,124 It dates back from the beginning. 23 00:02:11,674 --> 00:02:13,759 John Newton Mitchell, attorney general, 24 00:02:13,843 --> 00:02:17,555 lived with his wife Martha in Washington's Watergate Apartments. 25 00:02:18,097 --> 00:02:20,016 The world seemed good to them. 26 00:02:21,559 --> 00:02:24,312 I know that the president is very fond of my husband. 27 00:02:24,395 --> 00:02:27,440 They've been law partners. They've been very close. 28 00:02:27,523 --> 00:02:29,984 Mitchell is a former bond lawyer, 29 00:02:30,067 --> 00:02:33,487 who before he managed Mr. Nixon's 1968 campaign 30 00:02:33,571 --> 00:02:35,406 had never ventured into politics. 31 00:02:35,990 --> 00:02:37,408 Now as attorney general, 32 00:02:37,491 --> 00:02:40,244 he has been dealing with some of the most controversial issues 33 00:02:40,328 --> 00:02:41,621 of our time. 34 00:02:41,704 --> 00:02:43,414 Some say that your husband 35 00:02:43,497 --> 00:02:46,542 is the second most powerful man in Washington. 36 00:02:46,626 --> 00:02:48,669 Could you tell us what he's really like? 37 00:02:48,753 --> 00:02:51,297 My husband is probably one of the most 38 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:53,591 intelligent men in this whole country. 39 00:02:54,425 --> 00:02:56,135 In the world I would even say. 40 00:02:58,679 --> 00:03:01,057 Mr. Mitchell, how did you meet your wife? 41 00:03:01,140 --> 00:03:02,475 Was it a blind date? 42 00:03:02,558 --> 00:03:06,020 Neither one of us were blind, apparently, because it worked out all right. 43 00:03:08,606 --> 00:03:13,069 I was just plain Mrs. Mitchell living in Rye, New York. 44 00:03:14,111 --> 00:03:17,365 Washington was almost like another country. 45 00:03:30,253 --> 00:03:33,422 Being semiofficial here in Washington, 46 00:03:33,506 --> 00:03:35,341 there are so many things 47 00:03:35,424 --> 00:03:39,387 requested and required of me as a cabinet wife. 48 00:03:42,098 --> 00:03:46,227 I would like to better the relations of America 49 00:03:46,310 --> 00:03:48,354 with the other nations of the world, 50 00:03:48,896 --> 00:03:52,149 to try to put a little love into the world. 51 00:03:53,526 --> 00:03:56,529 Well, I've often said to young candidates as to how to win, 52 00:03:56,612 --> 00:03:58,364 first pick the right wife. 53 00:04:00,449 --> 00:04:04,078 Doesn't make as much news, and she must recognize that, 54 00:04:04,161 --> 00:04:06,580 that the husband is going to make the news. 55 00:04:09,667 --> 00:04:13,212 Washington was a male-dominated city. 56 00:04:14,130 --> 00:04:17,425 It was run by white men at the White House, 57 00:04:17,925 --> 00:04:21,095 and men at every single cabinet level. 58 00:04:22,847 --> 00:04:28,227 Women who were part of the Washington social scene were hostesses. 59 00:04:28,311 --> 00:04:31,439 Women went into the other room and had coffee 60 00:04:31,522 --> 00:04:34,692 while the men talked about the important things. 61 00:04:34,775 --> 00:04:37,987 But Martha Mitchell wasn't playing the Washington game. 62 00:04:38,988 --> 00:04:40,614 She was not gonna be just the wife 63 00:04:40,698 --> 00:04:43,367 who sits in the background and not say anything. 64 00:04:45,828 --> 00:04:49,123 A political wife isn't like a normal person 65 00:04:49,707 --> 00:04:52,084 that can do and say what they please. 66 00:04:52,585 --> 00:04:55,129 -But I do say what I please. -Yes. 67 00:04:55,212 --> 00:04:56,922 Well, sweetie, I tell you what. 68 00:04:57,006 --> 00:04:59,091 I've seen that in the paper today, 69 00:04:59,175 --> 00:05:02,094 and I don't think you all have been home and doing your homework. 70 00:05:03,971 --> 00:05:06,307 If Martha was coming to a dinner at the White House, 71 00:05:06,390 --> 00:05:08,768 people were on alert. 72 00:05:09,352 --> 00:05:13,647 Women were more reserved then, but not Martha. 73 00:05:15,608 --> 00:05:18,402 The president obviously was aware of it. 74 00:05:18,486 --> 00:05:21,280 It wasn't that he didn't like women. 75 00:05:21,364 --> 00:05:25,951 It was that he didn't like loud women. 76 00:05:28,996 --> 00:05:31,832 Oh, I used to have a lot of fun with the president. 77 00:05:31,916 --> 00:05:34,752 He didn't know when I was kidding and when I wasn't. 78 00:05:35,419 --> 00:05:38,672 -He found me a rather strange person. 79 00:05:39,757 --> 00:05:42,176 She would on occasion drink too heavily, 80 00:05:42,885 --> 00:05:47,181 and then she'd get on the telephone and start calling official Washington. 81 00:05:50,059 --> 00:05:52,353 She liked to call the president. 82 00:05:52,937 --> 00:05:55,856 She liked to call, quote, "My president." 83 00:05:56,774 --> 00:05:58,651 Did you call President Nixon 84 00:05:58,734 --> 00:06:01,445 and talked to him on the telephone recently, Martha? 85 00:06:01,529 --> 00:06:05,825 -Did you call and tell him what to do? -Oh, I advise him every once in a while. 86 00:06:10,287 --> 00:06:11,914 Martha Mitchell said today 87 00:06:11,997 --> 00:06:14,500 those who advocate violent revolution in the United States 88 00:06:14,583 --> 00:06:16,794 should be kicked out of this country. 89 00:06:16,877 --> 00:06:19,880 She did not say where she wanted them kicked to. 90 00:06:20,965 --> 00:06:24,218 At 2 a.m., she called the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, 91 00:06:24,301 --> 00:06:27,096 demanding that Senator Fulbright be crucified. 92 00:06:27,179 --> 00:06:30,474 Mrs. Mitchell's become a kind of character around here, 93 00:06:30,558 --> 00:06:34,019 and it's rather interesting. 94 00:06:34,103 --> 00:06:37,481 I've always thought that Mr. Fulbright-- If you wanna call him that. 95 00:06:37,565 --> 00:06:39,442 I have an awful time calling him that. 96 00:06:39,525 --> 00:06:42,653 He's either half-bright-- He's now down to quarter-bright. 97 00:06:45,281 --> 00:06:46,949 One of the GOP Senate leaders, 98 00:06:47,032 --> 00:06:49,910 asked if he had heard the Martha Mitchell story, replied, 99 00:06:49,994 --> 00:06:51,996 "Oh my God, was she on the phone again?" 100 00:06:52,621 --> 00:06:54,582 Ladies and gentlemen! 101 00:06:56,041 --> 00:06:58,544 I don't think there's any question that early, 102 00:06:58,627 --> 00:07:02,131 they enjoyed Martha getting the attention that she got. 103 00:07:03,007 --> 00:07:05,009 She was good. She was on message. 104 00:07:06,385 --> 00:07:08,345 Even though she was pro-Nixon, 105 00:07:08,429 --> 00:07:10,806 she was completely untethered. 106 00:07:12,224 --> 00:07:15,561 And Mitchell seemed to go along with it, which was even more interesting. 107 00:07:15,644 --> 00:07:19,148 I can neither control what she says or what she does. 108 00:07:21,734 --> 00:07:25,362 In fact, she is getting to be known as "the unguided missile." 109 00:07:26,864 --> 00:07:28,532 Sweetie, let me tell you something. 110 00:07:28,616 --> 00:07:31,494 If I'm doing anything wrong in this government, 111 00:07:31,577 --> 00:07:33,204 just tell me about it. 112 00:07:33,704 --> 00:07:35,831 Anytime, really. 113 00:07:44,131 --> 00:07:47,760 The whole administration was completely anti-press, 114 00:07:48,260 --> 00:07:52,056 and that's one reason that I became so friendly with the press. 115 00:07:52,139 --> 00:07:53,974 How's my boyfriends? 116 00:07:54,058 --> 00:07:55,434 When I came along, 117 00:07:55,518 --> 00:07:58,187 the American people related to me in certain ways. 118 00:07:58,938 --> 00:08:01,273 The administration couldn't believe it. 119 00:08:02,274 --> 00:08:04,693 "What are we gonna do with Martha Mitchell?" 120 00:08:07,196 --> 00:08:11,325 And wife of the attorney general of the United States, Martha Mitchell! 121 00:08:12,368 --> 00:08:16,997 We have voted you the person who has done the most for Ma Bell, 122 00:08:17,081 --> 00:08:21,126 and your prize is a telephone in the shape of the Supreme Court. 123 00:08:22,294 --> 00:08:24,838 Well, that'll make hanging it up a real pleasure. 124 00:08:38,769 --> 00:08:41,689 Martha Mitchell hit this town like a bombshell. 125 00:08:45,317 --> 00:08:46,527 She was so refreshing, 126 00:08:48,070 --> 00:08:51,448 and every reporter in town wanted to interview her, including myself. 127 00:08:53,117 --> 00:08:55,995 I remember once coming back from California, 128 00:08:56,078 --> 00:08:58,289 and the Mitchells were onboard. 129 00:09:00,416 --> 00:09:02,418 We were on the backside of the plane, 130 00:09:02,501 --> 00:09:04,461 and the men were playing cards, 131 00:09:04,545 --> 00:09:06,463 and Martha Mitchell came back. 132 00:09:06,547 --> 00:09:09,633 I said, "Well, you know, what did you think of the miniskirts?" 133 00:09:09,717 --> 00:09:12,595 "Why don't you ask me something important?" 134 00:09:12,678 --> 00:09:16,390 I said, "Okay, what do you think of the Vietnam war?" 135 00:09:16,473 --> 00:09:18,350 She said, "It stinks." 136 00:09:19,685 --> 00:09:23,480 The men stopped playing cards and grabbed their notebooks. 137 00:09:24,398 --> 00:09:28,193 And then she was barred from Air Force One. 138 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,995 Vietnam was the quintessential war that the United States got involved in. 139 00:09:38,078 --> 00:09:41,415 Several administrations inherited it, 140 00:09:41,498 --> 00:09:44,793 and Nixon was stuck with it. 141 00:09:45,669 --> 00:09:49,256 So Martha's comments were beyond awkward. 142 00:09:49,340 --> 00:09:53,260 Nobody else who was remotely connected to the administration 143 00:09:53,344 --> 00:09:55,638 would ever say anything like that. 144 00:09:56,347 --> 00:09:59,683 I'm sure you realize that could be dangerous for a political party, 145 00:09:59,767 --> 00:10:01,101 a wife speaking out. 146 00:10:01,644 --> 00:10:04,396 -That's always been, "Don't let her talk." -Not really. 147 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,148 -Really? -I don't think so. 148 00:10:06,231 --> 00:10:09,401 It's just unusual for a woman to speak her piece of mind. 149 00:10:16,950 --> 00:10:20,788 Martha is not nuts. Martha knows exactly what she is doing. 150 00:10:24,166 --> 00:10:26,377 Well, she's not a concern. 151 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,629 Isn't she? 152 00:10:40,599 --> 00:10:44,978 She's always a pain in the ass… it scares me. I just can't stand it. 153 00:11:05,916 --> 00:11:09,878 The year 1972 is the year of opportunity for peace 154 00:11:10,462 --> 00:11:13,674 such as America has never had in its whole history. 155 00:11:29,064 --> 00:11:31,984 Good evening. Attorney General John Mitchell resigned today, 156 00:11:32,067 --> 00:11:34,737 effective March 1st, to go back to his old job 157 00:11:34,820 --> 00:11:37,656 running Richard Nixon's presidential campaign. 158 00:11:40,075 --> 00:11:44,329 In 1972, John Mitchell was the campaign manager. 159 00:11:44,913 --> 00:11:47,958 Martha Mitchell was definitely chomping at the bit 160 00:11:48,041 --> 00:11:50,878 to go out and make campaign appearances. 161 00:11:51,754 --> 00:11:54,840 I was one of the first at CREEP, 162 00:11:54,923 --> 00:11:58,010 which was the Committee to Reelect the President. 163 00:11:59,094 --> 00:12:02,055 Magruder, Porter, and myself 164 00:12:02,139 --> 00:12:04,850 were the first three people that opened up CREEP. 165 00:12:05,851 --> 00:12:08,353 I had my own staff, my own office. 166 00:12:08,854 --> 00:12:11,440 I was involved in the whole campaign. 167 00:12:12,566 --> 00:12:15,319 I knew Martha through my mother, June Dankworth, 168 00:12:15,402 --> 00:12:17,362 who had been working with CREEP. 169 00:12:18,155 --> 00:12:20,741 Over the years, they became very close friends. 170 00:12:20,824 --> 00:12:23,076 And to me, she was Aunt Martha. 171 00:12:23,994 --> 00:12:26,705 They liked Martha because the public liked her. 172 00:12:26,789 --> 00:12:30,209 She was always kind of the show pony that went on the road. 173 00:12:31,585 --> 00:12:34,379 I'm out all around the country, 174 00:12:35,255 --> 00:12:40,344 working day in and day out to make this man president. 175 00:12:41,512 --> 00:12:44,890 She's been very loyal to the party and to the president 176 00:12:44,973 --> 00:12:49,019 and seemed, at first, to enjoy her public appearances. 177 00:12:49,853 --> 00:12:52,189 But she was getting more and more programmed. 178 00:12:55,692 --> 00:12:58,529 What changed your feelings about him? At one time, 179 00:12:58,612 --> 00:13:00,948 you believed in Richard Nixon, you and your husband. 180 00:13:01,532 --> 00:13:02,366 What happened? 181 00:13:02,950 --> 00:13:04,284 California. 182 00:13:08,580 --> 00:13:11,416 I didn't want to come out here that particular time, 183 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:15,128 and I was made to come out here on that trip at the last minute. 184 00:13:23,971 --> 00:13:26,807 Hello, everybody. What are you doing tonight? 185 00:13:28,183 --> 00:13:29,726 John Mitchell and I 186 00:13:29,810 --> 00:13:33,939 and some others from the campaign were in Los Angeles. 187 00:13:34,022 --> 00:13:35,691 We were having a fundraiser. 188 00:13:37,484 --> 00:13:41,446 A waiter comes over with a phone, and I find out what happened. 189 00:13:45,242 --> 00:13:48,245 Five men were arrested early Saturday while trying to install 190 00:13:48,328 --> 00:13:51,707 eavesdropping equipment at the Democratic National Committee. 191 00:13:51,790 --> 00:13:54,418 The intruders gained entrance to committee offices, 192 00:13:54,501 --> 00:13:57,296 where files were ransacked and papers removed. 193 00:13:57,379 --> 00:13:59,339 After the break-in was detected, 194 00:13:59,423 --> 00:14:01,550 five men were arrested at gunpoint. 195 00:14:07,890 --> 00:14:10,434 John left me in California… 196 00:14:12,769 --> 00:14:14,688 and not to my wishes at all. 197 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,737 And then I read the newspaper for the first time in five days. 198 00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:29,995 This is a police photograph of James W. McCord. 199 00:14:30,078 --> 00:14:33,165 He is one to five persons surprised and arrested yesterday 200 00:14:33,248 --> 00:14:34,374 inside the headquarters 201 00:14:34,458 --> 00:14:36,919 of the Democratic National Committee in Washington. 202 00:14:37,002 --> 00:14:38,629 And guess what else he is? 203 00:14:38,712 --> 00:14:42,174 A consultant to President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign committee. 204 00:14:46,345 --> 00:14:48,305 I knew McCord, you see. 205 00:14:50,390 --> 00:14:53,769 James McCord had been a bodyguard for her 206 00:14:53,852 --> 00:14:55,896 and took her daughter to school. 207 00:14:57,064 --> 00:15:01,568 John Mitchell had hired him to be an assistant to his family. 208 00:15:05,155 --> 00:15:09,117 John Mitchell comes back from California over to Washington. 209 00:15:10,327 --> 00:15:12,829 At that point, he did have a big problem. 210 00:15:12,913 --> 00:15:15,791 He had clearly authorized this bungled burglary. 211 00:15:18,126 --> 00:15:19,586 Today, John Mitchell, 212 00:15:19,670 --> 00:15:21,755 the chairman of President Nixon's reelection committee, 213 00:15:21,838 --> 00:15:23,840 denied any connection with the incident. 214 00:15:25,968 --> 00:15:28,845 Why did they let me go all this time 215 00:15:28,929 --> 00:15:31,515 without knowing about the break-in at Watergate? 216 00:15:32,683 --> 00:15:35,769 Why did they leave me out here in California? 217 00:15:36,979 --> 00:15:39,106 Now, I'm inclined to believe 218 00:15:39,189 --> 00:15:43,568 that these characters must have gotten me out of Washington 219 00:15:43,652 --> 00:15:45,195 because of Watergate. 220 00:15:47,406 --> 00:15:49,700 I immediately picked up the telephone, 221 00:15:49,783 --> 00:15:53,203 called Washington to find out what it was all about. 222 00:15:54,746 --> 00:15:58,125 I meet with John Mitchell in his apartment. 223 00:15:59,459 --> 00:16:02,337 -There are calls from Martha then. 224 00:16:02,421 --> 00:16:06,967 She was outraged that John had left her in California 225 00:16:07,050 --> 00:16:09,553 and not given her the full story. 226 00:16:11,138 --> 00:16:15,017 All I heard is that Martha was out of hand, 227 00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:17,436 that she had been hysterical. 228 00:16:21,773 --> 00:16:24,484 We were in a villa at the hotel. 229 00:16:25,068 --> 00:16:27,654 I'm sitting on the bed, I'm calling Helen Thomas, 230 00:16:28,238 --> 00:16:29,740 and the bodyguard came in. 231 00:16:32,451 --> 00:16:35,328 He said, "Mrs. Mitchell is on the phone with Helen Thomas." 232 00:16:38,540 --> 00:16:41,460 "She's telling her a bunch of stuff about Watergate." 233 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,128 "What should I do?" 234 00:16:45,589 --> 00:16:49,051 Pretty soon, I heard her saying, "Get away." 235 00:16:49,134 --> 00:16:52,387 I didn't know what was happening, and then there was a phone disconnect. 236 00:17:02,564 --> 00:17:05,317 I was a doctor that was on call for the hotel. 237 00:17:07,819 --> 00:17:09,780 I just went to a private room. 238 00:17:11,615 --> 00:17:13,033 There were people in the room, 239 00:17:13,116 --> 00:17:16,161 and they were beside themselves about her yelling and screaming. 240 00:17:17,537 --> 00:17:19,247 They wanted to calm her down. 241 00:17:20,749 --> 00:17:24,544 She was held down, and I did give her an injection, tranquilizer. 242 00:17:30,175 --> 00:17:32,260 This whole thing was very unusual, right? 243 00:17:33,136 --> 00:17:36,223 But when some high official from the government calls, 244 00:17:36,306 --> 00:17:37,307 well, then you do it. 245 00:17:38,975 --> 00:17:42,854 And that was the beginning of my being held a prisoner. 246 00:17:43,563 --> 00:17:45,148 You really were held a prisoner? 247 00:17:45,232 --> 00:17:48,443 Literally held a prisoner within four walls. 248 00:17:51,071 --> 00:17:53,782 Following the embarrassing Watergate bugging affair, 249 00:17:53,865 --> 00:17:57,536 Martha Mitchell is talking again. Late yesterday, she told a reporter 250 00:17:57,619 --> 00:18:00,914 she'd become a captive of her husband's security guards. 251 00:18:00,997 --> 00:18:04,376 When she used the phone, she said, five of them tore it out of the wall, 252 00:18:04,459 --> 00:18:08,672 then, quote, "Threw me down on a bed and stuck a needle in my behind." 253 00:18:10,549 --> 00:18:13,468 I don't think there are many women in this country 254 00:18:13,552 --> 00:18:14,761 who call you up and say, 255 00:18:14,845 --> 00:18:17,055 "Look, I'm being held a political prisoner." 256 00:18:17,139 --> 00:18:18,849 So you did have this feeling that 257 00:18:18,932 --> 00:18:22,144 there were certain hostile forces. 258 00:18:23,603 --> 00:18:25,605 She displayed bruises on her arms, 259 00:18:25,689 --> 00:18:28,191 and she said she had more bruises on her thighs. 260 00:18:28,275 --> 00:18:32,028 She said, quote, "I was a patriot until I got assassinated." 261 00:18:38,702 --> 00:18:41,580 The president got into a number of political things today. 262 00:18:41,663 --> 00:18:45,750 His principal concern was the Martha Mitchell question. 263 00:18:47,127 --> 00:18:50,422 The president feels that John's got to close her down somehow 264 00:18:50,505 --> 00:18:51,339 or lock her up. 265 00:18:51,423 --> 00:18:54,259 That he can't just leave her speaking out like this. 266 00:18:54,342 --> 00:18:56,928 It's gonna create a major national problem. 267 00:19:01,057 --> 00:19:03,268 Martha Mitchell is telling reporters 268 00:19:03,351 --> 00:19:06,646 she is leaving her husband until he decides to get out of politics. 269 00:19:07,731 --> 00:19:10,233 She said, "I love my husband very much, 270 00:19:10,317 --> 00:19:13,862 but I'm not going to stand for all those dirty things that go on." 271 00:19:22,871 --> 00:19:24,456 I frankly believe that if it hadn't been for Martha, 272 00:19:24,539 --> 00:19:27,584 John probably wouldn't have let this Watergate thing get out of hand. 273 00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:33,089 We've got a lid on it, but it may not stay on, 274 00:19:33,173 --> 00:19:37,093 and his getting out might just be a good move on that. 275 00:19:42,182 --> 00:19:45,518 The Martha fans will think, "Isn't that a wonderful thing?" 276 00:19:46,019 --> 00:19:47,687 The man has given up his - you know, 277 00:19:47,771 --> 00:19:49,314 it's kind of like the Duke of Windsor 278 00:19:49,397 --> 00:19:51,983 giving up his throne for the woman he loves. 279 00:19:54,319 --> 00:19:56,071 The poor woman isn't well and all, 280 00:19:56,154 --> 00:19:58,782 and he's gonna be by her side, and all that. 281 00:19:58,865 --> 00:20:02,452 And we would leak out the fact that she's not well - very strongly. We have to. 282 00:20:02,535 --> 00:20:04,204 We're already doing that. 283 00:20:06,456 --> 00:20:10,252 All of a sudden, these rumors start flying out of the White House. 284 00:20:11,294 --> 00:20:14,339 And the first thing I know, it's in print that I'm crazy, 285 00:20:14,422 --> 00:20:16,258 that I'm this, that I'm that. 286 00:20:18,802 --> 00:20:20,887 The resignation is going to be a positive story. 287 00:20:20,971 --> 00:20:23,348 It's gonna hang totally on Martha. 288 00:20:23,431 --> 00:20:25,308 I mean, I think you should do it. 289 00:20:25,392 --> 00:20:27,060 Call in the press. 290 00:20:29,604 --> 00:20:31,523 John Mitchell, the former attorney general, 291 00:20:31,606 --> 00:20:34,192 has quit as President Nixon's campaign director. 292 00:20:35,318 --> 00:20:37,862 He told the president that his reason for resigning 293 00:20:37,946 --> 00:20:39,197 was Mrs. Mitchell. 294 00:20:39,698 --> 00:20:42,701 Some Democrats maintain that the burglary of their headquarters 295 00:20:42,784 --> 00:20:45,453 carried out by, among others, a member of Mitchell's staff, 296 00:20:45,537 --> 00:20:46,663 may have been a factor. 297 00:20:46,746 --> 00:20:49,165 Republicans flatly and vehemently deny this. 298 00:20:49,249 --> 00:20:52,210 They say the one and only reason is Mrs. Mitchell. 299 00:20:52,294 --> 00:20:55,880 A Justice Department friend of the Mitchells said after that, quote, 300 00:20:55,964 --> 00:20:57,632 "Martha has a special problem." 301 00:20:57,716 --> 00:21:00,677 "Obviously, it has gotten more serious," unquote. 302 00:21:07,183 --> 00:21:09,936 I was mortified, hurt, 303 00:21:10,854 --> 00:21:13,440 and I didn't know whom had really hurt me. 304 00:21:16,192 --> 00:21:19,112 I think the California incident was kind of the beginning. 305 00:21:21,489 --> 00:21:23,575 That's when she realized 306 00:21:23,658 --> 00:21:27,370 that, for whatever reason, she was being silenced. 307 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,958 Martha Mitchell has ended up 308 00:21:32,042 --> 00:21:35,295 describing herself as a political prisoner. 309 00:21:38,423 --> 00:21:42,927 I think that all of us have some obligation to free Martha Mitchell. 310 00:21:44,888 --> 00:21:47,599 Free Martha Mitchell! 311 00:21:47,682 --> 00:21:51,061 Free Martha Mitchell! 312 00:21:51,144 --> 00:21:53,146 -Come on! -Free Martha Mitchell! 313 00:21:53,229 --> 00:21:55,065 Free Martha Mitchell! 314 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,071 The story of how she was held against her will 315 00:22:01,154 --> 00:22:03,073 seemed so fanciful. 316 00:22:04,491 --> 00:22:06,201 Did people really believe her? 317 00:22:06,701 --> 00:22:08,787 I doubt anybody did. 318 00:22:19,089 --> 00:22:21,424 I'm staying in my own little apartment, 319 00:22:21,508 --> 00:22:24,177 hiding because I am so embarrassed. 320 00:22:25,970 --> 00:22:30,266 I just completely resigned myself from politics 321 00:22:30,767 --> 00:22:33,061 while they were trying every way under the sun 322 00:22:33,144 --> 00:22:35,230 to get Watergate out of the way. 323 00:22:46,241 --> 00:22:50,286 Watergate was not just a burglary, by any means. 324 00:22:55,291 --> 00:22:59,170 What Watergate was, was a massive campaign 325 00:22:59,254 --> 00:23:03,633 that played dirty tricks on people to win reelection. 326 00:23:07,095 --> 00:23:11,391 It was the mad scramble to cover up and conceal, 327 00:23:11,474 --> 00:23:16,229 as much as possible, at least until the '72 election. 328 00:23:23,945 --> 00:23:26,656 Four more years! 329 00:23:26,739 --> 00:23:28,491 And it succeeded. 330 00:23:28,575 --> 00:23:30,452 Nixon won by a landslide. 331 00:23:37,792 --> 00:23:41,504 Hate was the theme of his presidency. 332 00:23:43,715 --> 00:23:49,721 Let's use the power of the presidency as an instrument of revenge 333 00:23:49,804 --> 00:23:53,099 against anyone who was in his way, 334 00:23:53,183 --> 00:23:55,268 including Martha Mitchell. 335 00:24:07,947 --> 00:24:11,576 With the election, the Watergate story dried up 336 00:24:11,659 --> 00:24:13,036 and went to bed basically. 337 00:24:14,954 --> 00:24:18,208 And it wasn't resurrected until McCord. 338 00:24:21,544 --> 00:24:23,755 James McCord, the man who told the judge 339 00:24:23,838 --> 00:24:26,841 that there was a lot more to be said about the Watergate case, 340 00:24:26,925 --> 00:24:30,094 today went before a Senate committee to tell what he knows. 341 00:24:31,429 --> 00:24:32,931 McCord had said 342 00:24:33,014 --> 00:24:35,808 John Mitchell had advanced knowledge of Watergate. 343 00:24:36,309 --> 00:24:40,021 Mr. Mitchell, you were once virtually a symbol of law and order-- 344 00:24:40,104 --> 00:24:42,857 I still am. You better believe it. 345 00:24:49,572 --> 00:24:52,408 John Mitchell is out of the administration at that point. 346 00:24:52,492 --> 00:24:54,035 He's a private citizen. 347 00:24:54,118 --> 00:24:57,288 But Martha started talking to friends in the press. 348 00:24:57,914 --> 00:25:01,000 Fred LaRue told me to be careful when calling 349 00:25:01,084 --> 00:25:04,045 because Martha picked up the phone and would listen in. 350 00:25:04,629 --> 00:25:07,173 So be very careful what you say. 351 00:25:15,306 --> 00:25:18,142 Did you see what Martha Mitchell did? 352 00:25:18,977 --> 00:25:20,603 No. Did she call somebody? 353 00:25:20,687 --> 00:25:22,480 She called The New York Times. 354 00:25:29,112 --> 00:25:30,321 And told them what? 355 00:25:30,822 --> 00:25:32,865 She went through a whole thing of, "They're framing John, 356 00:25:32,949 --> 00:25:34,659 and I'm not gonna let them do it." 357 00:25:35,368 --> 00:25:37,328 She says, "They're not gonna pin anything on him." 358 00:25:37,412 --> 00:25:39,414 "I won't let them, and I don't give a damn who gets hurt." 359 00:25:39,497 --> 00:25:40,832 "I can name names." 360 00:25:44,335 --> 00:25:48,798 I think she was angry at Nixon for putting John in this whole situation. 361 00:25:48,881 --> 00:25:50,717 She wanted to protect John, 362 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,554 but I don't think she knew how involved John really was. 363 00:25:55,305 --> 00:25:58,057 I think her love for John was her blindside. 364 00:25:58,850 --> 00:26:03,605 I am sick and tired of people saying I'm after publicity. 365 00:26:03,688 --> 00:26:09,986 But if I have to get publicity in order to clear two guiltless people, 366 00:26:10,069 --> 00:26:11,696 my husband and myself-- 367 00:26:12,196 --> 00:26:16,242 And you can place all the blame right on the White House. 368 00:26:16,326 --> 00:26:18,369 What do you mean "on the White House"? 369 00:26:19,954 --> 00:26:22,081 What do I mean "on the White House"? 370 00:26:22,165 --> 00:26:23,875 The blame on the White House. 371 00:26:23,958 --> 00:26:26,461 Well, where do you think all of this originated? 372 00:26:26,544 --> 00:26:28,796 Do you think my husband's that stupid? 373 00:26:29,422 --> 00:26:31,841 And whom do you think he's been protecting? 374 00:26:32,675 --> 00:26:33,676 Whom? 375 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,178 I have no idea. Who? 376 00:26:36,179 --> 00:26:38,931 Mr. President, he has been protecting, 377 00:26:39,432 --> 00:26:42,143 under no uncertain circumstances. 378 00:26:44,312 --> 00:26:46,564 I'll tell them all. And you know what they're gonna do, 379 00:26:46,648 --> 00:26:48,733 they'll probably end up killing me. 380 00:26:48,816 --> 00:26:53,071 But I depend on you, the press, to protect me. 381 00:26:57,617 --> 00:27:00,244 I was in Madison, Wisconsin, 382 00:27:00,328 --> 00:27:02,205 and she tracked me down. 383 00:27:02,288 --> 00:27:04,666 And then she said Nixon should resign. 384 00:27:04,749 --> 00:27:06,959 She was the first to say so. 385 00:27:08,461 --> 00:27:10,296 The wife of the former Nixon campaign manager 386 00:27:10,380 --> 00:27:14,092 said her husband and the president spent many evenings planning strategy. 387 00:27:14,175 --> 00:27:15,968 And in Mrs. Mitchell's words, 388 00:27:16,052 --> 00:27:18,888 "Mr. President always knew what was going on." 389 00:27:19,639 --> 00:27:24,811 Here is a president telling we Americans 390 00:27:24,894 --> 00:27:27,563 he doesn't know about all these horrible things 391 00:27:27,647 --> 00:27:29,607 that are happening underneath his nose? 392 00:27:31,150 --> 00:27:33,486 This man knew what was going on, 393 00:27:33,569 --> 00:27:38,157 or he was negligent in being president. 394 00:27:39,701 --> 00:27:41,160 She smelled it. 395 00:27:42,578 --> 00:27:45,039 She knew something dirty was going on. 396 00:27:46,332 --> 00:27:50,878 Carl Bernstein and I started to realize she was a Greek chorus of one, 397 00:27:50,962 --> 00:27:53,172 because she was telling the truth. 398 00:27:54,507 --> 00:27:59,178 When you're married to someone who's in serious legal trouble, 399 00:27:59,262 --> 00:28:01,973 like John Mitchell was, you know. 400 00:28:03,558 --> 00:28:06,352 The only thing that John Mitchell got mad about 401 00:28:06,436 --> 00:28:10,189 was when I said that I thought that Mr. President should resign. 402 00:28:11,649 --> 00:28:15,111 And I think perhaps he got a little backtalk from the White House. 403 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:18,531 Martha told John Mitchell, 404 00:28:18,614 --> 00:28:21,492 "If you stick with Nixon, you're going to jail." 405 00:28:22,285 --> 00:28:25,204 "And the man who caused it all is going free." 406 00:28:31,711 --> 00:28:34,839 Former Attorney General John Mitchell has left his wife 407 00:28:34,922 --> 00:28:37,091 and has moved into a New York hotel. 408 00:28:37,967 --> 00:28:42,263 Newsweek says this is the result of a recent series of violent outbursts 409 00:28:42,346 --> 00:28:45,141 in which Mrs. Mitchell threw her husband's clothes 410 00:28:45,224 --> 00:28:47,351 into the hall of their apartment building. 411 00:28:47,435 --> 00:28:51,189 Friends claim Mitchell has told them his wife is a sick woman, 412 00:28:51,272 --> 00:28:54,734 but that he cannot bring himself to take the legal steps necessary 413 00:28:54,817 --> 00:28:56,110 to have her committed. 414 00:29:16,672 --> 00:29:18,966 She was by herself after he left. 415 00:29:20,802 --> 00:29:22,887 Her daughter, Marty, wasn't there. 416 00:29:22,970 --> 00:29:28,476 And I know that when they were estranged, that was a hole in Martha's heart. 417 00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:33,022 I've been under the most trying things, 418 00:29:33,105 --> 00:29:36,818 and if anybody could turn out to be an alcoholic, I should. 419 00:29:36,901 --> 00:29:37,944 But I'm not. 420 00:29:46,327 --> 00:29:48,329 I think she was scared all the time 421 00:29:48,412 --> 00:29:50,915 that something else might happen to her. 422 00:29:51,624 --> 00:29:54,877 She said, "I know they're doing this because they think I know too much." 423 00:29:59,590 --> 00:30:01,259 I have been doped. 424 00:30:03,678 --> 00:30:06,764 They've tried to put me in the mental institution twice. 425 00:30:10,726 --> 00:30:12,061 They've tried to kill me. 426 00:30:14,272 --> 00:30:15,815 I was scared to death. 427 00:30:20,152 --> 00:30:23,865 Because every day, I wake up and I think, "What's gonna happen today?" 428 00:30:32,164 --> 00:30:36,961 I don't know why I didn't realize, to some extent, 429 00:30:37,044 --> 00:30:39,297 what was going on, but I didn't. 430 00:30:44,677 --> 00:30:46,387 …until I found out 431 00:30:46,470 --> 00:30:49,265 Richard Nixon and Mitchell sat in the Oval Office 432 00:30:49,348 --> 00:30:51,767 and planned all this mess on me. 433 00:30:51,851 --> 00:30:53,311 It was in the tapes. 434 00:30:53,853 --> 00:30:56,606 It was only last week that the Senate Watergate Committee 435 00:30:56,689 --> 00:30:58,733 learned of the existence of tape recordings 436 00:30:58,816 --> 00:31:00,526 of President Nixon's conversations, 437 00:31:00,610 --> 00:31:03,362 including conversations bearing on Watergate. 438 00:31:05,656 --> 00:31:09,952 John Mitchell, as I thought, resigned because of me, 439 00:31:10,453 --> 00:31:14,165 but the tapes say, to the contrary, 440 00:31:14,248 --> 00:31:18,377 that he and Richard Nixon controlled me, 441 00:31:18,461 --> 00:31:21,464 and therefore they had planned 442 00:31:21,547 --> 00:31:25,927 exactly how Mitchell would get out of the campaign. 443 00:31:39,732 --> 00:31:44,403 She really went over the brink this time around. 444 00:31:45,738 --> 00:31:49,492 We've created something of a Frankenstein with the press, you know. 445 00:31:49,992 --> 00:31:51,452 She's a-- She's a celebrity. 446 00:31:51,535 --> 00:31:53,454 That is correct. 447 00:31:54,997 --> 00:31:57,375 I can try to keep a lid on it and keep things quiet. 448 00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:01,671 With you taking this move, it will be a surprise. 449 00:32:01,754 --> 00:32:02,713 Otherwise… 450 00:32:02,797 --> 00:32:05,841 You're right, it will be tied right into Watergate. 451 00:32:13,683 --> 00:32:15,726 Nixon's closest political associates 452 00:32:15,810 --> 00:32:18,020 were placed under criminal indictment today 453 00:32:18,104 --> 00:32:21,232 in a climactic moment for the long Watergate investigation. 454 00:32:21,315 --> 00:32:22,483 John Mitchell, 455 00:32:22,566 --> 00:32:24,527 former attorney general and campaign director, 456 00:32:24,610 --> 00:32:29,031 now charged with obstruction of justice, lying to the grand jury and the FBI, 457 00:32:29,115 --> 00:32:30,533 faces 30 years in prison. 458 00:32:34,078 --> 00:32:37,164 I'm sure Mitchell thought he was gonna get a pardon, 459 00:32:37,790 --> 00:32:41,127 but then, of course, Nixon left without pardoning him. 460 00:32:44,171 --> 00:32:46,757 Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, 461 00:32:46,841 --> 00:32:49,385 I have felt it was my duty to persevere. 462 00:32:51,053 --> 00:32:54,223 However, it has become evident to me 463 00:32:55,391 --> 00:32:59,645 that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress. 464 00:33:00,271 --> 00:33:03,524 I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. 465 00:33:21,959 --> 00:33:25,087 The night that Nixon resigned 466 00:33:25,171 --> 00:33:31,218 was the first time I really felt the whole thing. 467 00:33:32,261 --> 00:33:37,975 And that was the beginning of I had to stand up. 468 00:33:41,270 --> 00:33:42,938 There was a time people thought 469 00:33:43,022 --> 00:33:45,399 that Martha Mitchell was amusing and outrageous, 470 00:33:45,483 --> 00:33:48,736 with her outspoken opinions and midnight telephone calls. 471 00:33:48,819 --> 00:33:51,739 Then came her frank angry statements on the Watergate, 472 00:33:51,822 --> 00:33:55,117 and the chilling realization that Martha Mitchell was telling the truth. 473 00:34:00,998 --> 00:34:03,042 Welcome to Panorama. I'm Maury Povich. 474 00:34:03,125 --> 00:34:06,587 And would you please welcome our co-host this week, Martha Mitchell. 475 00:34:16,388 --> 00:34:20,559 The White House was telling reporters such as myself, 476 00:34:20,643 --> 00:34:23,229 John Mitchell was resigning 477 00:34:23,312 --> 00:34:26,440 because he had to go take care of his wife who had flipped. 478 00:34:26,524 --> 00:34:29,193 -Poor John had to take care of me. -That's right. 479 00:34:32,947 --> 00:34:35,282 People say you started the whole Watergate thing. 480 00:34:35,366 --> 00:34:38,244 -You let everybody know. -That's absolutely right. 481 00:34:38,327 --> 00:34:41,163 -Are you happy with the outcome? -Thank you-- I am indeed. 482 00:34:41,247 --> 00:34:42,790 Do you think that if President-- 483 00:34:42,873 --> 00:34:45,084 It's been the greatest thing in the world for this country. 484 00:34:45,167 --> 00:34:47,211 We're going to get all the politicians 485 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,047 real true blue again. 486 00:34:50,131 --> 00:34:51,966 They're not going to be dishonest. 487 00:34:52,049 --> 00:34:56,262 The men who were closest to Richard Nixon, in the White House and in politics, 488 00:34:56,345 --> 00:35:00,182 today were sentenced to prison for their role in the Watergate cover-up. 489 00:35:01,642 --> 00:35:03,936 For many people, it was the grand finale 490 00:35:04,019 --> 00:35:05,271 of the Watergate drama. 491 00:35:06,272 --> 00:35:08,440 Afterward, John Mitchell had a comment. 492 00:35:08,524 --> 00:35:09,859 It could've been a lot worse. 493 00:35:09,942 --> 00:35:12,111 He might've sentenced me to live with Martha Mitchell, 494 00:35:12,194 --> 00:35:14,321 so I think I'm on the plus side since then. 495 00:35:18,284 --> 00:35:20,286 Are you bitter at all about this? 496 00:35:20,369 --> 00:35:21,829 Extremely so. 497 00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:35,551 Martha Mitchell, 498 00:35:35,634 --> 00:35:39,096 a lady who has been famous for dispensing much talk at the White House, 499 00:35:39,180 --> 00:35:41,682 has taken up selling dresses at the Pink House. 500 00:35:42,892 --> 00:35:45,728 She sued John Mitchell for overdue support payments, 501 00:35:45,811 --> 00:35:48,981 and within the last two weeks, a court document described her 502 00:35:49,064 --> 00:35:53,277 as desperately ill, without funds and without friends. 503 00:35:54,361 --> 00:35:58,240 When she got sick, she didn't wanna see a lot of her friends. 504 00:35:58,741 --> 00:36:01,410 The one person who she did wanna see, refused to see her. 505 00:36:19,345 --> 00:36:21,639 About 400 people in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 506 00:36:21,722 --> 00:36:22,848 turned out this morning 507 00:36:22,932 --> 00:36:25,768 to pay their final respects to Martha Mitchell. 508 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,857 Her candor got her in trouble with the Nixon administration 509 00:36:32,358 --> 00:36:34,193 and with her own husband. 510 00:36:35,653 --> 00:36:38,447 But it earned her many admirers back at home. 511 00:36:38,530 --> 00:36:40,366 Some of them sent flowers. 512 00:36:40,908 --> 00:36:44,453 One arrangement in white chrysanthemums spelled out this message, 513 00:36:44,536 --> 00:36:46,247 "Martha was right." 514 00:36:46,330 --> 00:36:47,665 There was no card. 515 00:36:58,342 --> 00:37:00,052 Was she a crazy lady? 516 00:37:01,679 --> 00:37:03,138 I certainly don't think so. 517 00:37:03,222 --> 00:37:05,015 I think that she was a terrific person, 518 00:37:05,099 --> 00:37:08,269 and I think she was a visionary in a sense. 519 00:37:08,811 --> 00:37:10,062 Prophetic. 520 00:37:17,444 --> 00:37:19,989 Mrs. Mitchell, you're certainly going to appear 521 00:37:20,072 --> 00:37:21,490 in the history books here and there. 522 00:37:21,573 --> 00:37:23,450 How would you like people to think of you? 523 00:37:24,827 --> 00:37:27,037 Well, if I ever do any good, Barbara, 524 00:37:27,121 --> 00:37:31,875 I would like to go down as doing some good for my country, that's all. 525 00:37:31,959 --> 00:37:34,086 That would be the greatest thrill in the world. 526 00:37:34,712 --> 00:37:36,714 And your way of doing it is to speak out. 527 00:37:36,797 --> 00:37:37,840 That's it.