Jeb Stuart Magruder
Encyclopedia
Jeb Stuart Magruder has had careers as a businessman, civil servant, political organizer, and Presbyterian minister. He is also a published writer
. A Republican
, Magruder was the second official in the administration of President Richard Nixon
to plead guilty to charges of involvement with events resulting in the first Watergate burglary and the subsequent Watergate scandal
(the first being Fred LaRue
).
. Magruder was an excellent junior tennis player and swimmer, among the best in the greater New York area. He was educated at Williams College
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in political science
in 1958. He represented Williams on the varsity
swimming team. After he began his business career, he earned a Master of Business Administration
degree from the University of Chicago
. Magruder also served with the U.S. Army for 21 months, and was stationed in South Korea
as a private first class; he did this during an intermission of his studies at Williams College.
after college, and has said he did not enjoy it. He then moved to San Francisco, where he worked for the Crown Zellerbach firm, in their sales and marketing department. He married Gail Nicholas on October 17, 1959, in Los Angeles
. The couple had four children.
when he was transferred for work. He became involved there as a political organizer for the Republican Party during the 1960 election campaign, as chairman of an urban ward.
Magruder moved to Chicago for his MBA studies, and changed employers to the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton
. Magruder's first major political job was managing the successful 1962 primary
campaign of Donald Rumsfeld
for the Republican nomination, preparing for the congressional election in the 13th district of Illinois, to the United States House of Representatives
. Rumsfeld subsequently won the congressional election. Magruder ended his consulting job later in 1962 to become employed by Jewel
, a regional grocery firm, where he worked for three-and-a-half years, being promoted to merchandise manager.
Magruder became involved with the Illinois organization of the Barry Goldwater
presidential campaign in late 1963, but became disillusioned with Goldwater's political views. He then worked briefly as campaign manager for Richard Ogilvie's 1966 campaign for president of the Cook County
Board of Supervisors. The political workload, combined with work pressures, caused Magruder to end employment with Jewel and relocate to California
in mid-1966, where he began a new job at a high salary with the Broadway Stores company. Magruder's next political involvement started in mid-1967, when he served as Southern California coordinator for the Richard Nixon
presidential campaign, but left early in 1968 due to internal organizational problems.
Magruder entered partnership during early 1969 with two other entrepreneurs to start two new businesses, and became president and chief executive officer of these firms.
as a business executive, was approached through Republican acquaintances and asked to interview to join the White House staff. He was appointed to the White House
staff in 1969 at age 34, as Special Assistant to the President. His pay decreased about 20 per cent due to his new job, and he left a home in Los Angeles to move to Washington, D.C.
. He worked for H.R. Haldeman and Herbert G. Klein
, Nixon's Communications Director for the Executive Branch.
(CRP) as Deputy Director, and assistant to CRP Director and Attorney General of the United States John N. Mitchell
. With much of Mitchell's time being occupied by a scandal involving the ITT Corporation
and by the illness of his wife Martha, Magruder assumed more of the duties of managing the CRP. The campaign to re-elect the President was extraordinarily successful, winning 49 of 50 states, losing only Massachusetts
and the District of Columbia to Democrat George McGovern
; the final tally was 520 to 18 electoral votes for Nixon, the second largest Electoral College (United States) margin in history, after Franklin D. Roosevelt
's 1936 victory over Alf Landon
(523 to 8).
's United States presidential inauguration ceremony and festival, in January 1973, as Inaugural Director. In March, 1973, he began a job as Director of Policy Planning with the United States Department of Commerce
, but had to resign it soon afterwards, since Watergate began to become increasingly publicized after disclosures of perjury
which had occurred during the original Watergate trial, in a letter to the Washington Star
from Watergate burglar James McCord.
and John N. Mitchell
(Attorney General of the United States and Director of CRP) on January 27 and February 4, 1972, to review preliminary plans by G. Gordon Liddy
(Counsel to CRP) for intelligence gathering ideas for the 1972 campaign. The Watergate burglaries would evolve from those meetings. From the day they met in December, 1971, Magruder and Liddy (who had been hired by Mitchell and Dean) had a conflicted personal relationship.
s. In exchange, Magruder was allowed to plead guilty in August 1973 to a one-count indictment
of conspiracy
to obstruct justice, defraud the United States, and eavesdrop on the Democratic Party
's national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. On May 21, 1974, Magruder was sentenced by Judge John Sirica
to ten months to four years for his role in the failed Watergate burglary and subsequent coverup; he served seven months of the sentence in a prison near Allenwood, Pennsylvania. After his sentencing, Magruder said, "I am confident that this country will survive its Watergates and its Jeb Magruders."
Magruder was the only direct participant of the scandal to claim that President Nixon had specific foreknowledge of the Watergate burglary, and that Nixon actually directed Mitchell to proceed with the burglary, which was organized by G. Gordon Liddy
and E. Howard Hunt
. Magruder originally testified that he knew of nothing to indicate that President Nixon had any foreknowledge of the Watergate burglary. He also wrote in his 1974 book "An American Life: One Man's Road to Watergate ", "I know nothing to indicate that Nixon was aware in advance of the plan to break into the Democratic headquarters. It is possible that Mitchell or Haldeman told him in advance, but I think it's likelier that they would not have mentioned it unless the operation had produced some results of interest to him." This book was published before Magruder's sentencing on May 21, and also before Nixon resigned as President in August, 1974.
Magruder's story concerning the famous meeting in Key Biscayne, Florida
with John Mitchell and Fred LaRue in late March, 1972, has also changed several times. The plan to eavesdrop on the Watergate complex was approved by Mitchell soon after this meeting. Additionally, Magruder testified that he thought that he was helping establish what he perceived to be a legal intelligence-gathering operation. In May 1983, President Ronald Reagan
refused a request from Magruder for a pardon.
, he ended his involvement with politics and business, earned a Master of Divinity
from the Princeton Theological Seminary
in 1981, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He served as associate minister at the First Presbyterian Church in Burlingame, California
and First Community Church of Columbus, Ohio
(where for a period of time Magruder chaired that city's Commission on Ethics and Values), and in 1990 became senior pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Kentucky
. In 1995, Kentucky
Governor
Brereton Jones
reinstated Magruder's right to campaign for public office in the state.
In 1974, Magruder published a book about his involvement with the Watergate scandal named An American Life: One Man's Road to Watergate. He also published "From Power to Peace" in 1976, about the reaffirmation of his Christian faith after the scandal.
, that Nixon knew about the Watergate burglary from the beginning. These statements contradicted Magruder's prior statements that the cover-up was no higher in the organization than Mitchell. Magruder said during the 2003 interviews that he attended a meeting with Mitchell on March 30, 1972, at which he heard Nixon tell Mitchell by telephone to begin the Watergate plan. This account, however, has been contested by one source who disputed Magruder's claim, Fred LaRue
. LaRue, who was the only other person present at the same meeting in which the alleged telephone call from Nixon to Mitchell occurred, claimed no telephone call from Nixon to Mitchell happened during this meeting. Magruder stated originally that the only telephone call from the White House during this meeting came from H.R. Haldeman's aide, Gordon C. Strachan
. Sixteen years later, on August 7, 1990, Magruder changed his story and claimed that the telephone call from the White House came from H.R. Haldeman himself. In 2003, Magruder changed his story an additional time to claim the President Nixon himself had telephoned Mitchell at the Key Biscayne meeting.
On 23 July 2007, he was hospitalized after crashing his car into a motorcycle and a truck on State Route 315 in Columbus. It was later reported that Magruder suffered a stroke while driving. He was charged with failure to maintain an assured clear distance and failure to stop after an accident or collision. Magruder pleaded guilty in January 2008 to a charge of reckless operation stemming from crashes with two vehicles in July. His license was suspended and he was fined $300.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Magruder was the second official in the administration of President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
to plead guilty to charges of involvement with events resulting in the first Watergate burglary and the subsequent Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
(the first being Fred LaRue
Fred LaRue
Frederick Cheney "Fred" LaRue was a presidential aide of the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon who served time in prison for his role in events resulting the Watergate first break-in and the subsequent Watergate scandal and cover-up...
).
Early life
He grew up on Staten Island, New York, where he was an honor student at Curtis High SchoolCurtis High School
Curtis High School operated by the New York City Department of Education is one of seven public high schools located in Staten Island, New York City, New York. It was founded on February 9, 1904 and was the first high school on Staten Island.-History:...
. Magruder was an excellent junior tennis player and swimmer, among the best in the greater New York area. He was educated at Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
in 1958. He represented Williams on the varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
swimming team. After he began his business career, he earned a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
degree from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. Magruder also served with the U.S. Army for 21 months, and was stationed in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
as a private first class; he did this during an intermission of his studies at Williams College.
Marriage, family
Magruder was employed by IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
after college, and has said he did not enjoy it. He then moved to San Francisco, where he worked for the Crown Zellerbach firm, in their sales and marketing department. He married Gail Nicholas on October 17, 1959, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The couple had four children.
Business career and political organization
Magruder relocated his family to Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
when he was transferred for work. He became involved there as a political organizer for the Republican Party during the 1960 election campaign, as chairman of an urban ward.
Magruder moved to Chicago for his MBA studies, and changed employers to the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
. Magruder's first major political job was managing the successful 1962 primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
campaign of Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
for the Republican nomination, preparing for the congressional election in the 13th district of Illinois, to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Rumsfeld subsequently won the congressional election. Magruder ended his consulting job later in 1962 to become employed by Jewel
Jewel (supermarket)
Jewel-Osco is a supermarket chain headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Jewel-Osco has 182 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana.Jewel-Osco and Jewel are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Eden Prairie,...
, a regional grocery firm, where he worked for three-and-a-half years, being promoted to merchandise manager.
Magruder became involved with the Illinois organization of the Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
presidential campaign in late 1963, but became disillusioned with Goldwater's political views. He then worked briefly as campaign manager for Richard Ogilvie's 1966 campaign for president of the Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
Board of Supervisors. The political workload, combined with work pressures, caused Magruder to end employment with Jewel and relocate to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in mid-1966, where he began a new job at a high salary with the Broadway Stores company. Magruder's next political involvement started in mid-1967, when he served as Southern California coordinator for the Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
presidential campaign, but left early in 1968 due to internal organizational problems.
Magruder entered partnership during early 1969 with two other entrepreneurs to start two new businesses, and became president and chief executive officer of these firms.
Joins White House staff
Magruder, while working in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a business executive, was approached through Republican acquaintances and asked to interview to join the White House staff. He was appointed to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
staff in 1969 at age 34, as Special Assistant to the President. His pay decreased about 20 per cent due to his new job, and he left a home in Los Angeles to move to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He worked for H.R. Haldeman and Herbert G. Klein
Herbert G. Klein
Herbert G. Klein was best known as United States President Richard Nixon's Executive Branch Communications Director....
, Nixon's Communications Director for the Executive Branch.
Committee to Re-elect the President
Magruder served in the White House until the spring of 1971, when he left to manage the Committee to Re-elect the PresidentCommittee to Re-elect the President
The Committee for the Re-Election of the President, abbreviated CRP but often mocked by the acronym CREEP, was a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's administration...
(CRP) as Deputy Director, and assistant to CRP Director and Attorney General of the United States John N. Mitchell
John N. Mitchell
John Newton Mitchell was the Attorney General of the United States from 1969 to 1972 under President Richard Nixon...
. With much of Mitchell's time being occupied by a scandal involving the ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
and by the illness of his wife Martha, Magruder assumed more of the duties of managing the CRP. The campaign to re-elect the President was extraordinarily successful, winning 49 of 50 states, losing only Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and the District of Columbia to Democrat George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
; the final tally was 520 to 18 electoral votes for Nixon, the second largest Electoral College (United States) margin in history, after Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's 1936 victory over Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
(523 to 8).
Manages 1973 Inaugural
With the campaign successful, Magruder worked from October 1972 on managing Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's United States presidential inauguration ceremony and festival, in January 1973, as Inaugural Director. In March, 1973, he began a job as Director of Policy Planning with the United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...
, but had to resign it soon afterwards, since Watergate began to become increasingly publicized after disclosures of perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
which had occurred during the original Watergate trial, in a letter to the Washington Star
Washington Star
The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
from Watergate burglar James McCord.
Involved with Watergate scandal
Magruder, in his role with CRP, became involved with the Watergate matters from an early stage, in many aspects of the planning, execution, and cover-up.The Liddy plan
Magruder met with White House Counsel John DeanJohn Dean
John Wesley Dean III is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up...
and John N. Mitchell
John N. Mitchell
John Newton Mitchell was the Attorney General of the United States from 1969 to 1972 under President Richard Nixon...
(Attorney General of the United States and Director of CRP) on January 27 and February 4, 1972, to review preliminary plans by G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
(Counsel to CRP) for intelligence gathering ideas for the 1972 campaign. The Watergate burglaries would evolve from those meetings. From the day they met in December, 1971, Magruder and Liddy (who had been hired by Mitchell and Dean) had a conflicted personal relationship.
Cooperates with prosecutors
During April 1973, Magruder began cooperating with federal prosecutorProsecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
s. In exchange, Magruder was allowed to plead guilty in August 1973 to a one-count indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
of conspiracy
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
to obstruct justice, defraud the United States, and eavesdrop on the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. On May 21, 1974, Magruder was sentenced by Judge John Sirica
John Sirica
John Joseph Sirica was the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he became famous for his role in the Watergate scandal...
to ten months to four years for his role in the failed Watergate burglary and subsequent coverup; he served seven months of the sentence in a prison near Allenwood, Pennsylvania. After his sentencing, Magruder said, "I am confident that this country will survive its Watergates and its Jeb Magruders."
Magruder was the only direct participant of the scandal to claim that President Nixon had specific foreknowledge of the Watergate burglary, and that Nixon actually directed Mitchell to proceed with the burglary, which was organized by G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
and E. Howard Hunt
E. Howard Hunt
Everette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
. Magruder originally testified that he knew of nothing to indicate that President Nixon had any foreknowledge of the Watergate burglary. He also wrote in his 1974 book "An American Life: One Man's Road to Watergate ", "I know nothing to indicate that Nixon was aware in advance of the plan to break into the Democratic headquarters. It is possible that Mitchell or Haldeman told him in advance, but I think it's likelier that they would not have mentioned it unless the operation had produced some results of interest to him." This book was published before Magruder's sentencing on May 21, and also before Nixon resigned as President in August, 1974.
Magruder's story concerning the famous meeting in Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....
with John Mitchell and Fred LaRue in late March, 1972, has also changed several times. The plan to eavesdrop on the Watergate complex was approved by Mitchell soon after this meeting. Additionally, Magruder testified that he thought that he was helping establish what he perceived to be a legal intelligence-gathering operation. In May 1983, President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
refused a request from Magruder for a pardon.
After Watergate
After the Watergate scandalWatergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, he ended his involvement with politics and business, earned a Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
from the Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...
in 1981, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He served as associate minister at the First Presbyterian Church in Burlingame, California
Burlingame, California
Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
and First Community Church of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
(where for a period of time Magruder chaired that city's Commission on Ethics and Values), and in 1990 became senior pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. In 1995, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Brereton Jones
Brereton Jones
Brereton Chandler Jones is a horse breeder and politician from the US state of Kentucky. From 1987 to 1991, he served as lieutenant governor of Kentucky and from 1991 to 1995, he was the state's 58th governor...
reinstated Magruder's right to campaign for public office in the state.
In 1974, Magruder published a book about his involvement with the Watergate scandal named An American Life: One Man's Road to Watergate. He also published "From Power to Peace" in 1976, about the reaffirmation of his Christian faith after the scandal.
Continued controversy
In 2003, Magruder asserted in a PBS documentary called Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History, and in an interview with the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, that Nixon knew about the Watergate burglary from the beginning. These statements contradicted Magruder's prior statements that the cover-up was no higher in the organization than Mitchell. Magruder said during the 2003 interviews that he attended a meeting with Mitchell on March 30, 1972, at which he heard Nixon tell Mitchell by telephone to begin the Watergate plan. This account, however, has been contested by one source who disputed Magruder's claim, Fred LaRue
Fred LaRue
Frederick Cheney "Fred" LaRue was a presidential aide of the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon who served time in prison for his role in events resulting the Watergate first break-in and the subsequent Watergate scandal and cover-up...
. LaRue, who was the only other person present at the same meeting in which the alleged telephone call from Nixon to Mitchell occurred, claimed no telephone call from Nixon to Mitchell happened during this meeting. Magruder stated originally that the only telephone call from the White House during this meeting came from H.R. Haldeman's aide, Gordon C. Strachan
Gordon C. Strachan
Gordon Creighton Strachan was an aide to H.R. Haldeman, Chief of Staff for U.S. President Richard Nixon and a figure in the Watergate scandal....
. Sixteen years later, on August 7, 1990, Magruder changed his story and claimed that the telephone call from the White House came from H.R. Haldeman himself. In 2003, Magruder changed his story an additional time to claim the President Nixon himself had telephoned Mitchell at the Key Biscayne meeting.
On 23 July 2007, he was hospitalized after crashing his car into a motorcycle and a truck on State Route 315 in Columbus. It was later reported that Magruder suffered a stroke while driving. He was charged with failure to maintain an assured clear distance and failure to stop after an accident or collision. Magruder pleaded guilty in January 2008 to a charge of reckless operation stemming from crashes with two vehicles in July. His license was suspended and he was fined $300.