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[[Image:Nixon 30-0309a.gif|thumb|400px|right|'''Mitchell''' (far left) meeting with [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]], [[J. Edgar Hoover]], and [[John Ehrlichman]] on [[May 26]], [[1971]].]]

'''John Newton Mitchell''' ([[September 15]], [[1913]] &ndash; [[November 9]], [[1988]]) was the first [[United States Attorney General]] ever to be convicted of illegal activities and imprisoned. He also served as campaign director for the [[Committee to Re-elect the President]], which employed [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] burglar [[James W. McCord, Jr.]] in a "security" capacity.

Mitchell was born in [[Detroit, Michigan]], and grew up on [[Long Island]] in [[New York]]. He earned his law degree from [[Fordham University]] and was admitted to the New York bar in [[1938]]. Except for three years' service as a naval officer during [[World War II]] where he was a [[PT Boat]] commander and received the [[Silver Star]], from 1938 until [[1968]] Mitchell practiced law in [[New York City]].  

[[Richard Nixon]] met John Mitchell when Mitchell's municipal bond law firm merged with Nixon Mudge Rose Guthrie & Alexander in [[1967]]. The two men became friends, and in [[1968]], with considerable trepidation, Mitchell agreed to become Nixon's presidential campaign manager.  

During his successful 1968 campaign, Nixon turned over the details of the day-to-day operations to the superbly organized Mitchell. After he became president in January [[1969]], Nixon appointed Mitchell attorney general. Mitchell remained in office from 1969 until he resigned in [[1972]] to manage President Nixon's successful reelection campaign. As attorney general, Mitchell believed that the government's need for "[[law and order (politics)|law and order]]" justified restrictions on civil liberties. He advocated the use of wiretaps [[United States v. U.S. District Court| in national security cases]] without obtaining a court order and the right of police to employ the preventive detention of criminal suspects. He brought conspiracy charges against critics of the [[Vietnam War]], and demonstrated a reluctance to involve the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in [[civil rights]] issues. "The Department of Justice is a law enforcement agency," he told reporters. "It is not the place to carry on a program aimed at curing the ills of society."  

On [[February 21]], [[1975]], Mitchell was found guilty of [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]], [[obstruction of justice]], and [[perjury]] and sentenced to two and a half to eight years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, which he dubbed the [[White House horrors]]. Tape recordings made by President Nixon and the testimony of others involved confirmed that Mitchell had participated in meetings to plan the break-in of the Democratic party's national headquarters in the [[Watergate Hotel]].  In addition, he had met, on at least three occasions, with the president in an effort to cover up White House involvement after the burglars were discovered and arrested. In [[1972]], he warned reporter [[Carl Bernstein]] about a forthcoming Watergate-related article: "[[Katharine Graham|Katie Graham's]] gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that's published." This threat against the ''[[Washington Post]]'' publisher is considered the most famous threat in the history of American journalism.

Around 5 P.M. on [[November 9]], [[1988]], he collapsed from a [[heart attack]] on the sidewalk in front of 2812 N St., N.W., [[Georgetown, Washington, DC]].  That evening he would die at [[George Washington University Hospital]].  He was buried with full honors at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

His wife [[Martha Beall Mitchell|Martha]] passed away in [[1976]].  The [[Martha Mitchell effect]] is named after John Mitchell's wife.

==See also==
*[[Richard Nixon]]
*[[Telephone_tapping|Wire tapping]]
*[[United_States_v._U.S._District_Court|United States v. U.S. District Court]]

==References==
*Rupert, James. (November 11, 1988). "Mistake Didn't Affect Care Of Mitchell, Officials Say". ''[[Washington Post]]'', p. C12.

== 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=John_N._Mitchell&action=history Here]."

[[Category:Watergate figures|Mitchell, John Newton]]