George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer and FBI agent who was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.

Working alongside E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in May and June 1972. After five of Liddy's operatives were arrested inside the DNC offices on June 17, 1972, subsequent investigations of the Watergate scandal led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. Liddy was convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and refusing to testify to the Senate committee investigating Watergate. He served nearly 52 months in federal prisons.

He later joined with Timothy Leary for a series of debates on multiple college campuses, and similarly worked with Al Franken in the late 1990s. Liddy served as a radio talk show host from 1992 until his retirement on July 27, 2012. His radio show as of 2009 was syndicated in 160 markets by Radio America and on both Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio stations in the United States. He was a guest panelist for Fox News Channel in addition to appearing in a cameo role or as a guest celebrity talent on several television shows.

Liddy was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1930. His father, Sylvester James Liddy, was a lawyer; his mother was Maria (Abbaticchio). His family was of Irish and Italian descent. Liddy was named for George Gordon Battle, a noted attorney and Tammany Hall leader. He was raised in Hoboken and West Caldwell, New Jersey. He attended St. Benedict's Preparatory School, his father's alma mater, in Newark.

Liddy was educated at Fordham University, graduating in 1952. While at Fordham he was a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles. Following graduation, Liddy joined the United States Army, serving for two years as an artillery officer during the Korean War. He was assigned to an antiaircraft radar unit in Brooklyn for medical reasons. In 1954, he was admitted to the Fordham University School of Law, earning a position on the Fordham Law Review. After graduating in 1957, he worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under J. Edgar Hoover.

Liddy began his career with the FBI in 1957, initially serving as a field agent in Indiana and Denver. While stationed in Denver, he made a significant arrest on September 10, 1960: Ernest Tait, a notable criminal who had twice appeared on the Ten Most Wanted.

At age 29, Liddy became the youngest bureau supervisor at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Under the mentorship of deputy director Cartha DeLoach, Liddy secured a position on director J. Edgar Hoover's personal staff, even acting as Hoover's ghostwriter. Despite his achievements, Liddy was also known for his reckless behavior among his fellow agents, highlighted by two particular incidents. ...

Source: Article "G. Gordon Liddy" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

George Gordon Battle Liddy, né le 30 novembre 1930 à New York et mort le 30 mars 2021 à Mount Vernon en Virginie, était le chef opérationnel de l'équipe des «plombiers», espions cambrioleurs financés par l'administration de Richard Nixon. Avec Howard Hunt, il organise le cambriolage du siège du Parti démocrate en juin 1972, pour y placer un système d'écoutes, point de départ du scandale du Watergate.

Gordon Liddy est né à Brooklyn, New York, mais passa son enfance dans le New Jersey. En 1952, il fut diplômé de l'Université Fordham et passa alors deux ans dans l'armée comme officier d'artillerie mais sans quitter le territoire national pour raison de santé.

Liddy a travaillé au FBI de 1957 à 1962. En 1966, il est procureur dans l'État de New York et organise l'arrestation de Timothy Leary. Il tente sans succès de se faire élire représentant et participe à la campagne présidentielle de Nixon en 1968.

Après plusieurs postes à la Maison-Blanche, Liddy est nommé au Comité pour la réélection du président. Il est chargé de développer l'équipe des «plombiers», dont les faits d'armes incluent le cambriolage du psychiatre de Daniel Ellsberg, expert qui a révélé les Papiers du Pentagone, rapport secret sur la guerre du Viêt Nam, à la presse. En janvier 1973, jugé avec les cambrioleurs du Watergate, il est condamné, pour conspiration, cambriolage et écoutes illégales, à 20 ans de prison mais est amnistié au bout de quatre années par le président Jimmy Carter.

Après son séjour en prison, Liddy fonde une société de sécurité privée et intervient dans des radios pour développer des prises de position très conservatrices. Il fit par ailleurs plusieurs apparitions sur le grand et le petit écran.

Source: Article "Gordon Liddy" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.