“Deep Throat” Revealed!
June 2, 2005 
“Deep Throat,” the informant reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein relied on in covering the Watergate scandal, has been revealed to be Mark Felt, a 91-year-old man suffering from dementia.
How anti-climatic was that?
Of course, Felt wasn’t in a state of mental disrepair back in the Watergate days. (And even this week, he said he plans on cashing in on this, so how crazy can he be?)
It’s just that, at least for most people not over 40 years old, seeing an old guy with a walker revealed as the confidential informant iconicized in the movie All the President’s Men just doesn’t compute as interesting.
And besides the desire to make money off of this, why would he just decide to reveal himself as “Deep Throat” now? It just doesn’t make sense. (Or does it?)
At least we now know that the students and faculty at the University of Illinois who participated in the Deep Throat Uncovered project were wrong. (Prof. William Gaines just posted a letter of apology for the misidentification.)
The reaction by people in the political world is very telling, however. A lot of Republicans have been calling Felt a traitor this week for revealing the information that led to President Nixon’s resignation. Talk about alienating people from politics! How anyone can criticize someone for taking on criminal activity in the White House is beyond me.
So there you have it. “Deep Throat” revealed!
RELATED: If you are over 40 or just have a sincere interest in the story, check out Bob Woodward’s article, How Mark Felt Became ‘Deep Throat’… As a Friendship — and the Watergate Story — Developed, Source’s Motives Remained a Mystery to Woodward, which is a fascinating perspective on the story.
