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[[Image:Liddy.JPG|right|thumb|G. Gordon Liddy]]
'''George Gordon Battle Liddy''' (born [[November 30]], [[1930]]) was the chief operative for President [[Richard Nixon]]'s [[White House Plumbers]] unit when they broke into the [[Watergate]] complex, which at the time was the headquarters of the [[Democratic National Convention]], in [[1972]]. The cover-up of Watergate led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. Liddy later became an [[United States|American]] radio talk show host, actor and political strategist. Liddy's [[talk radio|radio talk show]] is now [[radio syndication|syndicated]] in 160 markets and on both [[Sirius Satellite Radio]] and [[XM Satellite Radio]] stations in the [[United States]]. He has also been a guest panelist for [[Fox News Channel]].

==Biography==
Liddy was born in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], raised in [[West Caldwell, New Jersey]], and educated at [[Fordham University]]. He graduated in 1952 and joined the [[United States Army]], serving for two years as an [[artillery]] officer in the U.S. during the [[Korean War]]. He returned home in 1954 to study [[law school|law]] at Fordham. Graduating in 1957, he went to work for the [[FBI]] under [[J. Edgar Hoover]]. That same year he married Frances Ann Purcell. Liddy tells a story of an unusual encounter he had with Hoover: while paying the director a courtesy call, the purpose to which Hoover had only briefly alluded, the latter launched into a bizarre 45 minute tirade against [[Eleanor Roosevelt]]. In this tirade he said that the former First Lady was an enemy of the Bureau and a subversive. Liddy later said, "Despite the irrelevance, I found this fascinating."  He joked that afterwards another young agent approached him saying he was also going to have a meeting with the legendary director and wanted to know how to make a good impression. Liddy put on his best poker face and told his colleague to just let Mister Hoover know how much he loved and admired [[Eleanor Roosevelt]].

Liddy left the FBI in 1962 and worked as a lawyer in [[New York City]] and [[Dutchess County, New York]]. In 1966, he organized the arrest and unsuccessful trial of [[Timothy Leary]]. He ran unsuccessfully for the post of District Attorney and then for the [[House of Representatives]] in 1968, but used his political profile to run the presidential campaign of [[Richard Nixon]] in the 28th district of New York.

In 1971, after serving in several positions in the Nixon administration, Liddy was moved to Nixon's 1972 campaign, the [[Committee to Re-elect the President]], (officially known as [[CRP]] but to opponents known as CREEP), in order to extend the scope and reach of the White House "Plumbers" unit, which had been created in response to various damaging "leaks" of information to the press.  At CRP, Liddy concocted several far-fetched plots intended to embarrass the Democratic opposition.  Most were rejected, but one caught the eye of Nixon operatives in the White House, and Liddy organized the ill-conceived break-in of the Democratic National Campaign headquarters in the Watergate complex. Liddy and [[E. Howard Hunt]] also broke into [[Daniel Ellsberg]]'s psychiatrist's office as Ellsberg had leaked the [[Pentagon Papers]] and the Plumbers were hoping to find information they could use to discredit him. 

For his role in [[Watergate]], which he coordinated with Hunt, Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping, and received a 20-year sentence.  He served four and a half years in prison before his sentence was commuted by President [[Jimmy Carter]].

In 1982, Liddy published an autobiography, titled ''[[Will]],'' which sold more than a million copies and was made into a television movie. The book received reviews that were typically lauditory of Liddy's writing ability and sense of humor, if not of his personal character.  In it he states that he once made plans with Hunt to kill journalist [[Jack Anderson]], based on a literal interpretation of a Nixon White House statement "we need to get rid of this Anderson guy". 

In the mid-1980s with Liddy joined up with fellow ex-con Timothy Leary for a tour in which the two went on joint lecture tours.

In 1992, Liddy joined the talk circuit  and then became host of a syndicated radio program (first through Unistar, and later CBS, before joining Radio America in 2003) espousing extremely conservative views, which was characterized by his highly provocative style.

The made-for-TV movie, ''The Highwayman'', marked Liddy's acting debut.  He also appeared on the TV series ''[[Miami Vice]].'' Movie credits include: ''[[When Nature Calls]]'' (1985), ''[[Super Force]]'' (1990), ''[[Street Asylum]]'' (1990) and ''[[Adventures in Spying]]'' (1992).

Liddy describes himself as having been sickly as a child, and possessed of many irrational fears.  To confront and overcome these fears, Liddy performed various acts that would "kill the fear".  Examples include catching, cooking and eating a [[rat]] (in order to overcome a [[phobia]] to rats) and climbing a tree during a [[thunderstorm]] (in order to overcome a phobia to [[lightning]]).

One of Liddy's most famous feats of endurance involved holding his hand on a candle flame until the flesh on his hand was burned. According to the book ''[[All The President's Men]]'', he did this once at a dinner party and afterwards somebody asked "What's the trick?". He replied, "The trick is not minding."  (In giving that response, Liddy may have been copying a line spoken by [[Peter O'Toole]] (portraying [[T. E. Lawrence]]) in one of the opening scenes from the 1963 motion picture  ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]''.)

For many years Liddy was an outspoken [[atheist]], but is now a [[Roman Catholic]].

==Controversial statements==
During Liddy's tenure as a radio talk-show host, many controversial statements have been attributed to him, some of which would eventually lead to condemnation by then-President Bill Clinton.

* August 26, 1994 - ''Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing [[bulletproof vests]]." ... "They've got a big target on there, [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives|ATF]]. Don't shoot at that, because they've got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots.... Kill the sons of bitches.''

* September 15, 1994 - ''If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a [[firefight]], give them a firefight. Just remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the head.''

==Acting career==
G. Gordon Liddy has acted in several movies, including ''[[The Highwayman]]'', ''[[Street Asylum]]'', ''[[Camp Cucamonga]]'', ''[[Adventures in Spying]]'' and ''[[Rules of Engagement (film)|Rules of Engagement]]''. He also appeared in the television show ''[[18 Wheels of Justice]]'', had a recurring role on ''[[Miami Vice]]'', and guest starred in [[Al Franken]]'s TV show ''[[LateLine (sitcom)|LateLine]]''.

==Trivia==
* Despite their political differences, Liddy and [[Al Franken]] are friends. Franken has been on Liddy's radio show multiple times and shares a similar friendship with noted feminist [[Camille Paglia]], who has also appeared several times on his show. Liddy is friends with yet another well-known liberal: Lanny Davis. A lawyer, a friend of the Clintons, and an outspoken supporter of [[President Clinton]] during his controversial second term, Davis has been on Liddy's radio show numerous times, and for many years, when Davis appeared on Liddy's show, he would be boasted as "The liberal's liberal" and would have a special spiel played after "Miami Vice" was played to start the show. Liddy made a guest appearance on Whoopi Goldberg's television talk show in 1993.

* While condemning [[Nazism]], Liddy has admitted some limited admiration for [[Adolf Hitler]].

* While often talking a great deal about military matters and promoting his “tough guy” persona, Liddy in fact was stationed at [[Coney Island]] during his two years in the [[US Army]], and never saw combat.

* Liddy claims that he is the only white man ever to have engaged in [[weight training]] with the [[Fruit of Islam]] (the paramilitary wing of the [[Nation of Islam]]).  This occurred while he was in prison.

==External links==

* {{imdb name|name=G. Gordon Liddy|id=0005147}}
* [http://www.liddyshow.us/ Liddy's website]
* [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=505 G. Gordon Liddy -- An interview] 
* [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2505 FAIR Article on G. Gordon Liddy Talk Show Statements]

== Copyright ==
"Original data received from Wikipedia on April 22, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen 

[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G._Gordon_Liddy&action=history Here]."

[[Category:Watergate figures|Liddy, G. Gordon]]