Texas-born Leon Jaworski was long been a lawyer of distinction and good connections, but his 15 seconds of fame came from serving as Special Prosecutor during the Watergate scandal that brought down the Richard M. Nixon White House.
After World War II, Jaworski had helped prosecute German war criminals. He was an old confederate of Lyndon Johnson and, although a Democrat, hedged his bets and sometimes supported the candidacies of Republicans such as Nixon, George H.W.Bush and Ronald Reagan.
Nixon resigned in disgrace after Jaworski subpoenaed tapes of Oval Office phone conversations, some of which contained sensitive, damning references to Watergate.
The White House stonewalled, but the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the tapes to be turned over. Soon thereafter, Nixon tendered his resignation.
No comments:
Post a Comment