John Newton Mitchell - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

John N. Mitchell was born in Detroit, Michigan on November 15, 1913. He served in the United States Navy in World War II. Following his Military Service, Mitchell became a law in the same law firm as Richard Nixon. The two men became friends and it was Mitchell who directed Nixon’s 1968 Presidential Campaign. When Nixon was elected President, he appointed Mitchell to the position of U. S. Attorney General. In 1972, Mitchell resigned as Attorney General to once again manage Nixon’s re-election campaign. During the re-election campaign, Mitchell and member of the Committee to Re-elect the President, fund a series of operations to gather information on the Democrats. One of these clandestine operations involved breaking into the office of Democratic Chairman Lawrence O’Brien in the Watergate Complex. On July 3, 1972, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard L. Barker and James W. McCord broke into O'Brien's office and were caught by police. This was the beginning of what would become known as “The Watergate Scandal.” Over the next several years an number of high ranking official and advisors in the Nixon Administration were either forced to resign or were convicted as a result of the Watergate Investigation. On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first President to resign from office. In 1975 John Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and served 19-months in a federal corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base. He was released from federal custody due to medical reasons and lived quietly, outside of the public eye until his death on November 9, 1988. John Newton Mitchell is buried in section 7A in Arlington National Cemetery.

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Description: John Newton Mitchell was born on November 15, 1913 in Detroit, Michigan. He served as a torpedo boat commander in the United States Navy during World War II. After his military service, Mitchell became a lawyer and eventually a partner in the law firm of Rose, Guthrie, Alexander and Mitchell. In 1962 Richard Nixon joined the law firm of Mudge, Stern, Baldwin and Todd and in 1967 the two firms merged and Nixon and Mitchell became good friends. As a result of their friendship Mitchell successfully managed Nixon 1968 Presidential Campaign. After being elected president, Nixon rewarded Mitchell by appointing him Attorney General. In early 1972 Mitchell resigned as attorney general to become director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Later that year Gordon Liddy presented with an action plan called Operation Gemstone. Liddy wanted a $1 million budget to carry out a series of black ops activities against Nixon's political enemies. Mitchell decided that the budget for Operation Gemstone was too large. Instead he gave him $250,000 to launch a scaled-down version of the plan. On 20th March, Liddy and Frederick LaRue attended a meeting of the committee to re-elect, where it was agreed to spend $250,000 "intelligence gathering" operation against the Democratic Party. One of Liddy's first tasks was to place electronic devices in the Democratic Party campaign offices in an apartment block called Watergate. Liddy wanted to wiretap the conversations of Larry O'Brien, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This was not successful and on July 3, 1972, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard L. Barker and James W. McCord returned to O'Brien's office. However, this time they were caught by the police. This was the beginning of what President Gerald Ford call “our long national nightmare,” known as the Watergate Scandal. Over the next several years it was determined that some of Nixon’s top advisors were involved. The United States Senate conducted the Watergate Hearings and as a result several of Nixon’s top advisors were forced to resign including H. R. Halderman and John Ehrlichman. The scandal would also force Nixon to resign as President on August 9, 1974. Maurice Stans and John Mitchell were also accused of obstructing the investigation. On February 21, 1975, John Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and served 19-months in a federal corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. He was released from federal custody because of medical reason and lived quietly in Washington, D. C. Mitchell was one of the few Watergate figures who never published a book or memoire about Watergate. John N. Mitchell died on November 9, 1988 after suffering a heart attack. He is resting in Section 7A of Arlington National Cemetery. Date of birth: 11/15/1913 Date of death: 11/09/1988 Area of notoriety: Politics Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daily - 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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