Existing comment:
Martha Elizabeth Beall Mitchell, 1918-1976
Martha Mitchell, the wife of the powerful Nixon advisor John N. Mitchell, knew much about the Watergate scandal before anyone else did, mostly from listening to her husband’s phone conversations and looking through his papers. John Mitchell was appointed attorney general by President Nixon in 1969 and held the position until 1972. At that time, he stepped in to serve as the director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP, or “CREEP”).
Martha Mitchell was traveling in California when she learned of the Watergate break-in. Stunned that CRP Security Director James McCord was among those arrested, she called Helen Thomas, a journalist at United Press International, to discuss what she knew. The conversation was cut short when Stephen King, an ex-FBI agent working as a security aide for CRP, accosted Mitchell, who later accused King of assaulting, kidnapping, and sedating her. In 1975, McCord admitted, “basically the woman was kidnapped.”
Jan De Ruth, 1970
Time magazine cover, November 30, 1970
Collection Description
In 1978, Time magazine donated approximately eight hundred works of original cover art to the National Portrait Gallery. The museum is dedicated to telling the stories of individuals who have shaped the United States, and the Time Collection -- featuring prominent international figures and events -- enriches our understanding of the United States in a global context. |