Existing comment:
The Watergate Bug
Richard Milhous Nixon, 1913-1994
Harry Robbins Haldeman, 1926-1993
This nationally syndicated cartoon references the widespread and illegal use of wiretapping, or “bugging,” during the Nixon administration. On the right, President Nixon and his chief of staff, H. R. “Bob” Haldeman, hover in the shadows, fearfully observing the overfed “Watergate Bug.” The creature is out of control, surrounded by strewn bones and a shoe. A briefcase labeled “Gray FBI” hints at the identity of its latest victim: FBI Acting Director L. Patrick Gray. In January 1973, Gray revealed to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had destroyed documents and regularly reported to White House Counsel John Dean.
The caption at the bottom reveals the pair fretting, “Do you think it’s still hungry…?” as other unsatiated bugs remark, “So much for the hors d’oeuvres!” Indeed, Gray, who resigned on April 27, 1973, was only the first on a long list of government employees whose criminal actions were exposed.
Patrick Oliphant, 1973
Gift of Susan Corn Conway, in honor of Alan Fern, on behalf of Patrick Oliphant |