I was recently in Boston at the American Bar Association’s Conference on Professional Responsibility, where I wrangled my way into a speaking slot. The keynote speaker at the opening plenary session was John Dean, the White House lawyer who was the focus of a lot of the Watergate investigation and prosecution. It was a fascinating presentation.
Dean has made a career out of Watergate. It defines him. Though it has been 40 years since a bunch of inept burglars got caught attempting to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters during the Nixon reelection campaign, new information keeps bubbling to the surface. We seem to have an insatiable appetite for learning how the best and the brightest can be brought low by a combination of hubris and stupidity. The word schadenfreude comes to mind. But apart from its prurient value, Watergate teaches some lessons in lawyering that every generation since has had to learn again.
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