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»» Gordon Liddy. chief operative for the White House Gordon Liddy »»

Gordon Liddy full name George Gordon Battle Liddy born November 30, 1930 

was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed 

during several years of Richard Nixon's Presidency. 

Along with E. Howard Hunt, Gordon Liddy masterminded the first break-in 

of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate 

building in 1972. 

The subsequent cover-up of the Watergate scandal led to Nixon's resignation 

in 1974; Gordon Liddy served four and a half years in prison for his role 

in the burglary.

Gordon Liddy later became an American radio talk show host, actor and 

political strategist. Gordon Liddy 's radio talk show is now syndicated 

in 160 markets and on both Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio 

stations in the United States. 

Gordon Liddy has also been a guest panelist for Fox News Channel in addition 

to appearing in a cameo role or as a guest celebrity talent in several 

television shows.

Gordon Liddy was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Sylvester J. Liddy and 

Maria Abbaticchio; his maternal grandfather was of Italian descent.

Gordon Liddy was raised in West Caldwell, New Jersey and educated at 

Fordham University. 

Gordon Liddy was named for George Gordon Battle, a New York City attorney 

who had mentored Liddy's father.

Gordon Liddy has said that, as a child, he grew up in a German-American 

community that included many admirers of Adolf Hitler, and that listening 

to Hitler's speeches "made me feel a strength inside I had never known 

before.

As an adult, however, Gordon Liddy came to condemn Nazism and Hitler as evil.

Gordon Liddy graduated in 1952 and joined the United States Army, serving 

for two years as an artillery officer at the time of the Korean War, but 

did not leave the US due to an injury. 

Gordon Liddy returned home in 1954 to study law at Fordham, earning a spot 

on the Law Review. 

Graduating in 1957, Gordon Liddy went to work for the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation (FBI) under J. Edgar Hoover, but his work at the agency 

prompted a supervisor to describe him as "a wild man" and a "superklutz".

At age 29, Gordon Liddy became the youngest Bureau Supervisor at FBI national 

headquarters in Washington, D.C. earning multiple commendations from J. Edgar 

Hoover.

Gordon Liddy left the FBI in 1962 to practice International Law in Manhattan.

Gordon Liddy worked as a lawyer in New York City and a prosecutor in Dutchess 

County, New York. 

In 1966, Gordon Liddy organized the arrest and unsuccessful trial of Timothy Leary. 

As an assistant district attorney, Gordon Liddy fired a gun into the courtroom 

ceiling during jury summation. Gordon Liddy ran unsuccessfully for the post of 

District Attorney and then for the United States House of Representatives in 1968, 

but used his political profile to run the presidential campaign of Richard Nixon 

in the 28th district of New York.