WASHINGTON — Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations, has died. He was 99.
Alexander Butterfield testifies July 16, 1973, before the Senate Watergate Committee. Butterfield, the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations, has died. He was 99.Â
Associated Press
Alexander Butterfield, former deputy assistant to President Nixon, speaks during the Presidential Tapes Conference at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Feb. 16, 2003. Butterfield, the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations, has died. He was 99.Â
Chitose Suzuki, Associated Press
WATERGATE SCANDAL
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Three of the seven defendants, including G. Gordon Liddy, center, charged in connection with the break-in and alleged bugging of Democratic headquarters arrive at U.S. District Court for the start of their trial on Jan. 8, 1973. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo)
WATERGATE SCANDAL
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
G. Gordon Liddy, 42, renders a salute on arrival at the U.S. District Court for appearance in connection with the Watergate trial on Jan. 15, 1973. It was understood that Liddy and another defendant were standing firm in their determination to go through with the political espionage trial. Other person is not identified. (AP Photo)
Edward M. Kennedy
- Anonymous
Sen.Edward M. Kennedy, (D-Mass)., levels charges at the Nixon administration in Indianapolis Friday, Oct. 7, 1972, during an outdoors rally. Kennedy echoed charges of corruption made by George McGovern Friday. Kennedy cited a campaign slush fund, the Soviet Grain deal, the Watergate affair, and others in his "corrupation" charge. Kennedy ended a five-city tour of Indiana with the Indianapolis rally. (AP Photo)
Alfred C. Baldwin III
- AP
Alfred C. Baldwin III, former FBI agent who said he monitored telephones as a spy for President Nixon's campaign committee, turns to talk with the reporters as he arrived Jan. 18, 1973, to testify for the prosecution in the Watergate trial in Washington. (AP Photo)
NIXON
- CHARLES TASNADI
President Nixon tells a White House news conference, March 15, 1973, that he will not allow his legal counsel, John Dean, to testify on Capitol Hill in the Watergate investigation and challenged the Senate to test him in the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
Watergate Woodward And Bernstein
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Reporters Bob Woodward, right, and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting of the Watergate case won them a Pulitzer Prize, sit in the newsroom of the Washington Post in Washington May 7, 1973. (AP Photo)
Frank Wills
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the now infamous Watergate break-in on June 17, is now working as a security guard in another Washington office building shown May 16, 1973. It was Wills chance discovery of a piece of tape attached to a Watergate Basement door latch that lead to the arrest of five men in connection with the breaking into of the democratic national committee offices. (AP Photo)
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, May 17, 1973- Members of the Senate Watergate Investigating committee in Washington, D.C., May 17, 1973, From left are; Sen. Lowell Weicker, R-Conn., Sen. Edward Gurney, R-Fla., Chief Minority Counsel Fred Thompson, Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., Chairman, Chief counsel Samuel Dash, Sen, Herman Talmadge, D-Ga., Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii and Sen. Joseph Montoya, D-N. Mexico. In foreground is witness Robert Odle. (AP Photo).
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senator Sam Ervin, D-N.C., chairman of the Watergate Investigating Committee, listens to other members of the committee Thursday May 18, 1973 during the first day of public hearings in Washington. They are, from left; Fred Thompson, chief minority couns. Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Ervin; and Samuel Dash, Chief majority. (AP Photo).
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- AP
Chairman Sam Ervin, (D-N.C)., holds up "sensitive material" envelope Tuesday June 5, 1973 in the Senate Caucus Room during the testimony of Mrs. Sally J. Harmony before the Senate Watergate Committee. Ervin asked Mrs. Harmony if she could identify the envelope, she said she could not. (AP Photo).
Watergate Conference
- Anonymous
David Dorsen, assistant chief counsel, left, Stephen Sachs, attorney for Gray, and L. Patrick Gray III look over documents prior to Gray testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee Aug. 6, 1973 in Washington. (AP Photo)
WATERGATE COMPLAINT DOCUMENT
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
This photograph shows the first and last pages of the complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the Senate Watergate Committee, Thursday, Aug. 9, 1973. The complaint names as defendant Richard M. Nixon, individually and as President of the United States. The signatures appear on the last page of the complaint. (AP Photo)
NIXON
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Nixon sits in his White House office, August 16, 1973, as he poses for pictures after delivering a nationwide television address dealing with Watergate. Nixon repeated that he had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in and was not aware of any cover-up. (AP Photo/stf)
Robert S. Strauss
- Bob Daugherty
Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert S. Strauss tells newsmen in Washington on Wednesday, May 8, 1974, that the Democratic Party will hold another fund raising telethon in June. Strauss said party leaders had previously decided to stay away from President Richard Nixon's Watergate troubles and the impeachment move in the House but added, "We're rethinking that." (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty)
WATERGATE
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pickets are shown marching outside the CBS Television studios in Washington, July 21, 1974, in protest over the network's handling of stories relating to the President. A spokesman for the pickets said the network did not report much of the good the President is doing, only problems he is having. (AP Photo)
Richard M. Nixon, Pat Nixon
- Charlie Harrity
In this Aug. 9, 1974 black-and-white file photo, President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon are shown standing together in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Thirty-six years after Nixon testified secretly to a grand jury investigating Watergate, a federal judge ordered the first public release of the transcript. (AP Photo/Charlie Harrity, File)
Watergate complex
- SUSAN WALSH
This is the the view of the Watergate complex, right, from room 723 of the former Howard Johnson Hotel in Washington Tuesday, June 17, 1997, on the 25th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, which led to the downfall of President Nixon. The room was used as a look-out during the break-in of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
E. Howard Hunt Jr.
- William A. Smith
E. Howard Hunt Jr., Watergate political espionage defendant arrives at the U.S. District Court in Washington, Jan. 15, 1973. Hunt pleaded guilty last week. Earlier today four others pleaded guilty. Man at right is unidentified. (AP Photo/William A. Smith)
Sen. George McGovern
- Ray Stubblebine
Senator George McGovern denounced the weekend break-in at the democratic national committee headquarters in Washington by five men with bugging devices at news conference in New York on Monday, June 19, 1972. (AP Photo/ Ray Stubblebine)
Richard Nixon, Richard M. Nixon, Richard Milhous Nixon
- Bob Daugherty
Supporters of President Nixon pray as they continue their fast and vigil as the House Judiciary Committee continues its impeachment inquiry, in Washington, D.C., July 23, 1974. The vigil was organized by supporters of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of South Korea and the National Committee for Fairness to the Presidency, which is headed by Rabbi Baruch Korff. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
FORD
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Gerald Ford reads a proclamation in the White House on Sept. 8, 1974 granting former president Richard Nixon "a full, free and absolute pardon" for all "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency. (AP Photo)
Photos: Looking back at the Watergate scandal
President Donald Trump's surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey drew swift comparisons to the Nixon-era "Saturday Night Massacre." Both cases involve a president getting rid of an official leading an investigation that could ensnare the White House. As many people across the country contemplate the comparisons, here's a look back at the Watergate scandal in photos:
WATERGATE SCANDAL
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Three of the seven defendants, including G. Gordon Liddy, center, charged in connection with the break-in and alleged bugging of Democratic headquarters arrive at U.S. District Court for the start of their trial on Jan. 8, 1973. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo)
WATERGATE SCANDAL
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
G. Gordon Liddy, 42, renders a salute on arrival at the U.S. District Court for appearance in connection with the Watergate trial on Jan. 15, 1973. It was understood that Liddy and another defendant were standing firm in their determination to go through with the political espionage trial. Other person is not identified. (AP Photo)
Edward M. Kennedy
- Anonymous
Sen.Edward M. Kennedy, (D-Mass)., levels charges at the Nixon administration in Indianapolis Friday, Oct. 7, 1972, during an outdoors rally. Kennedy echoed charges of corruption made by George McGovern Friday. Kennedy cited a campaign slush fund, the Soviet Grain deal, the Watergate affair, and others in his "corrupation" charge. Kennedy ended a five-city tour of Indiana with the Indianapolis rally. (AP Photo)
Alfred C. Baldwin III
- AP
Alfred C. Baldwin III, former FBI agent who said he monitored telephones as a spy for President Nixon's campaign committee, turns to talk with the reporters as he arrived Jan. 18, 1973, to testify for the prosecution in the Watergate trial in Washington. (AP Photo)
NIXON
- CHARLIE TASNADI
President Nixon tells White House newsmen, March 15, 1973, that he will not allow his legal counsel, John Dean, to testify on Capitol Hill on the Watergate investigation. (AP Photo/Charlie Tasnadi)
NIXON
- CHARLES TASNADI
President Nixon tells a White House news conference, March 15, 1973, that he will not allow his legal counsel, John Dean, to testify on Capitol Hill in the Watergate investigation and challenged the Senate to test him in the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
WATERGATE SCANDAL
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic National Committee office in the luxurious Watergate complex in Washington, shown April 20, 1973. (AP Photo)
Watergate Woodward And Bernstein
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Reporters Bob Woodward, right, and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting of the Watergate case won them a Pulitzer Prize, sit in the newsroom of the Washington Post in Washington May 7, 1973. (AP Photo)
WATERGATE WOODWARD
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
A May 7, 1973 close-up of reporter Bob Woodward, whose reporting of the Watergate case won a Pulitzer for the Washington Post. (AP Photo)
BERNSTEIN
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporter is shown in this photo dated May 7, 1973. Bernstein and Bob Woodward won a Pulitzer Prize for the Washington Post with their coverage on Watergate. (AP Photo)
Frank Wills
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the now infamous Watergate break-in on June 17, is now working as a security guard in another Washington office building shown May 16, 1973. It was Wills chance discovery of a piece of tape attached to a Watergate Basement door latch that lead to the arrest of five men in connection with the breaking into of the democratic national committee offices. (AP Photo)
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, May 17, 1973- Members of the Senate Watergate Investigating committee in Washington, D.C., May 17, 1973, From left are; Sen. Lowell Weicker, R-Conn., Sen. Edward Gurney, R-Fla., Chief Minority Counsel Fred Thompson, Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., Chairman, Chief counsel Samuel Dash, Sen, Herman Talmadge, D-Ga., Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii and Sen. Joseph Montoya, D-N. Mexico. In foreground is witness Robert Odle. (AP Photo).
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senator Sam Ervin, D-N.C., chairman of the Watergate Investigating Committee, listens to other members of the committee Thursday May 18, 1973 during the first day of public hearings in Washington. They are, from left; Fred Thompson, chief minority couns. Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Ervin; and Samuel Dash, Chief majority. (AP Photo).
Senate Watergate Investigating committee
- AP
Chairman Sam Ervin, (D-N.C)., holds up "sensitive material" envelope Tuesday June 5, 1973 in the Senate Caucus Room during the testimony of Mrs. Sally J. Harmony before the Senate Watergate Committee. Ervin asked Mrs. Harmony if she could identify the envelope, she said she could not. (AP Photo).
Mitchell
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell smokes a pipe as he listens to a question during his appearance before the Senate Watergate Committee in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, July 11, 1973. (AP Photo)
Watergate Conference
- Anonymous
David Dorsen, assistant chief counsel, left, Stephen Sachs, attorney for Gray, and L. Patrick Gray III look over documents prior to Gray testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee Aug. 6, 1973 in Washington. (AP Photo)
WATERGATE COMPLAINT DOCUMENT
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
This photograph shows the first and last pages of the complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the Senate Watergate Committee, Thursday, Aug. 9, 1973. The complaint names as defendant Richard M. Nixon, individually and as President of the United States. The signatures appear on the last page of the complaint. (AP Photo)
NIXON
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Nixon sits in his White House office, August 16, 1973, as he poses for pictures after delivering a nationwide television address dealing with Watergate. Nixon repeated that he had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in and was not aware of any cover-up. (AP Photo/stf)
REBOZO
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Longtime confidante of President Nixon, Charles ``Bebe'' Rebozo, is sandwiched between Capitol policemen after being questioned by the Senate Watergate committee in this March 21, 1974 photo. (AP Photo)
Robert S. Strauss
- Bob Daugherty
Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert S. Strauss tells newsmen in Washington on Wednesday, May 8, 1974, that the Democratic Party will hold another fund raising telethon in June. Strauss said party leaders had previously decided to stay away from President Richard Nixon's Watergate troubles and the impeachment move in the House but added, "We're rethinking that." (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty)
WATERGATE
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pickets are shown marching outside the CBS Television studios in Washington, July 21, 1974, in protest over the network's handling of stories relating to the President. A spokesman for the pickets said the network did not report much of the good the President is doing, only problems he is having. (AP Photo)
ROSE MARY WOODS
- AP
Rose Mary Woods, President Richard Nixon's secretary is shown at her White House desk in 1973, demonstrating the "Rose Mary Stretch" which could have resulted in the erasure of part of the Watergate tapes. (AP Photo)
Thompson
- Anonymous
Sen. Fred D. Thompson, Chief Minority Counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee, is seen with Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), during the Watergate hearings in Washington, May 17, 1973. (AP Photo, File)
Thompson
- Anonymous
Sen. Fred Thompson, center, smokes a pipe as he listens to questions during the Senate Watergate Committee in Washington, July 11, 1973. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo)
Richard M. Nixon, Pat Nixon
- Charlie Harrity
In this Aug. 9, 1974 black-and-white file photo, President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon are shown standing together in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Thirty-six years after Nixon testified secretly to a grand jury investigating Watergate, a federal judge ordered the first public release of the transcript. (AP Photo/Charlie Harrity, File)
Watergate complex
- SUSAN WALSH
This is the the view of the Watergate complex, right, from room 723 of the former Howard Johnson Hotel in Washington Tuesday, June 17, 1997, on the 25th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, which led to the downfall of President Nixon. The room was used as a look-out during the break-in of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
James McCord
- STF
Watergate witness James McCord, left, testifies in the hearing of the Senate Select Committee on the Watergate case, May 22, 1973. (AP Photo)
Howard H. Baker
- STF
Sen. Howard H. Baker (R-Tenn.) is pictured at a hearing of the Senate Select committee on the Watergate case in Washington, May 18, 1973. (AP Photo)
Sally Harmony
- Henry Griffin
Watergate witness Sally Harmony, former secretary to G. Gordon Liddy, testifies in the Senate Select Committee hearings in Washington, June 5, 1973, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)
E. Howard Hunt Jr.
- William A. Smith
E. Howard Hunt Jr., Watergate political espionage defendant arrives at the U.S. District Court in Washington, Jan. 15, 1973. Hunt pleaded guilty last week. Earlier today four others pleaded guilty. Man at right is unidentified. (AP Photo/William A. Smith)
Sen. George McGovern
- Ray Stubblebine
Senator George McGovern denounced the weekend break-in at the democratic national committee headquarters in Washington by five men with bugging devices at news conference in New York on Monday, June 19, 1972. (AP Photo/ Ray Stubblebine)
Richard Nixon, Richard M. Nixon, Richard Milhous Nixon
- Bob Daugherty
Supporters of President Nixon pray as they continue their fast and vigil as the House Judiciary Committee continues its impeachment inquiry, in Washington, D.C., July 23, 1974. The vigil was organized by supporters of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of South Korea and the National Committee for Fairness to the Presidency, which is headed by Rabbi Baruch Korff. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
FORD
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Gerald Ford reads a proclamation in the White House on Sept. 8, 1974 granting former president Richard Nixon "a full, free and absolute pardon" for all "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency. (AP Photo)
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