The Journal

Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Max Gersh Judge Glenn Norton of the Missouri Court of Appeals (left) and former Missouri Gov. Bob Holden listen to Egil "Bud" Krogh, Jr. Sept. 27 at the Old Post Office.

To this day, Egil "Bud" Krogh, Jr. still feels the need to atone for his part in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s.

"What that conduct represented struck at the heart of what the government was sworn to protect," Krogh said to a crowd of approximately 50 people.

Krogh, who served as an adviser to President Richard M. Nixon, lectured Sept. 27 as part of the Issues for the 21st Century speaker series produced by the Holden Public Policy Forum at the downtown Old Post Office campus.

Though the audience consisted mostly of community members rather than students, Krogh and former Missouri Gov. Bob Holden stressed the importance of integrity in today's youth - the theme of Krogh's new book, "Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices and Life Lessons from the White House."

The event was streamed live on the Internet at http://www.webster.edu/holdenppf.

Krogh fielded questions from both audience members in the Old Post Office and those around the world, including Webster's Vienna, Austria campus. A book sale and signing ended the night.
Loyalty and idealism

Young, idealistic and incredibly loyal to Nixon and his administration, Krogh was asked to head the Special Investigations Unit in 1971. The group was formed to investigate leaks - particularly that of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times earlier that year - earning the unit its more memorable name, the White House Plumbers.

The Plumbers included former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy and former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, both of whom would later play large roles in the break-ins at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

Krogh was careful to stress misplaced loyalties and his own personal vanity as he explained his mindset. Krogh said he was convinced that national security issues were at stake and that the president's Vietnam strategies were endangered

It was with Krogh's authorization the Plumbers broke into the Los Angeles office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, the psychiatrist of the Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers. The Papers contained provocative details of U.S. policy in Vietnam, and the purpose of the break-in was to discover documents that could discredit Ellsberg.

"I had not thought of the consequences, legality or ethics of what they were about to do," Krogh said.

Because the Plumbers accidentally broke a window during the break-in, the burglars decided to wreck Fielding's office to avoid suspicion, Krogh said.

"What part of 'covert operation' didn't (they) understand?" Krogh said, recalling his reaction to the Fielding break-in.

Krogh said he thought the Plumbers had gone too far. The Los Angeles break-in ultimately failed to produce anything the administration could use against Ellsberg.
Recovering integrity

Soon, the country was engulfed in what became known as the Watergate scandal. For two years, Krogh persisted in defending his actions as a necessity to preserve national security.

Krogh said the turning point in his attitudes toward the break-in was a family trip to Williamsburg, Va. Watching his children explore the historic House of Burgesses - the meeting place of one of the first elected bodies in the United States - Krogh said he realized the duplicity of his actions and those of the administration.

"How can you enjoy all those rights … and be the worst form of hypocrite?" Krogh said.

The government failed by not protecting the American people from its own unlawful interference, Krogh said.

Krogh subsequently plead guilty to criminal conspiracy in 1973. Additionally, Krogh said he demanded from special prosecutor Leon Jaworski that he be sentenced before he testified so it would not appear as if he was taking a deal for his information. He was sentenced to two to six years, serving four and a half months.

Krogh was also disbarred.

After his release, Krogh was allowed to practice law again in Seattle, thanks to the support of Jaworski, who felt Krogh was genuinely remorseful.

Krogh recounted taking a class to help him take the bar exam again. The company operating the class guaranteed a pass on the exam; if not, the student could take the class again for free. A woman at the class examined his past records.

"You passed the written bar in 1968, but you failed the practicum in the Fourth Amendment," she jokingly said, ushering Krogh into the class at no cost.

The Fourth Amendment protects U.S. citizens from unlawful searches and seizures - like the break-in Krogh orchestrated at Fielding's office.
Krogh's message

Though Krogh spent much of his lecture explaining his involvement in the scandals of the Nixon administration, his main focus was to use his experiences as a lesson to never lose integrity.

Holden, who introduced Krogh, said this was Krogh's most important message of the night.

"Don't compromise (your integrity), because if you do compromise it, you have nothing to offer," Holden said.

Krogh said he felt a burden lift when he wrote his book, which also details his days with the Plumbers and deals with the issue of integrity. However, Krogh said he would feel the need to atone for the rest of his life.

Several people at the event - including Krogh himself - paralleled the Nixon administration's policies with those of the current administration. Krogh wrote the White House a memo in 2001 urging the administration to maintain its personal integrity and an op-ed piece in The New York Times earlier this year.

Senior Brenda Thacker, a senior interdisciplinary major, relayed the importance of having honest leaders.

"If your superiors don't have integrity, you are less likely to have it," Thacker said.

Senior Chris Baricevic, a business major, also attended Krogh's lecture.

"How do you keep faith … when some of our leaders have a (lack) of integrity?" Baricevic asked.

Krogh had an answer ready.

"Because the concept of integrity lives in you," Krogh said.

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