Leonard Garment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| White House Counsel | |
| In office April 30, 1973 – August 9, 1974 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | John Dean |
| Succeeded by | Philip W. Buchen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1924-05-11)May 11, 1924 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 13, 2013(2013-07-13) (aged 89) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Albert(deceased 1976) Suzanne Garment |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Brooklyn College (BA) Brooklyn Law School (LLB) |
Leonard Garment (May 11, 1924 – July 13, 2013) was an American attorney, public servant, and arts advocate. He served U.S. presidentsRichard Nixon andGerald Ford in theWhite House in various positions from 1969 to 1976, includingCounselor to the President, actingSpecial Counsel to Nixon for the last two years of his presidency, andU.S. Ambassador to the Third Committee at theUnited Nations. He played a key role in the Ford pardon of Nixon.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Booknotes interview with Garment onCrazy Rhythm, April 20, 1997,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Garment onIn Search of Deep Throat, September 28, 2000,C-SPAN |
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Garment was born inBrooklyn, New York.[1] He had two brothers, Charles and Martin.[2] In 1949, he graduated fromBrooklyn Law School[1] and joined the law firm of Mudge, Stern, Baldwin, and Todd.[3] He became the head of litigation and a partner in the late fifties.[4] Garment met Richard Nixon when the politician joined the firm in 1963. (Later the firm would be calledNixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Mitchell.[3]) He assisted withNixon's 1968 presidential campaign. In 1969, Garment became a part of Nixon's White House staff as special consultant to the president. He advised the president and worked on various special projects—particularly in the areas of civil and human rights, Indian affairs, and the arts.
Garment was the author of two books: the autobiographyCrazy Rhythm: From Brooklyn and Jazz to Nixon's White House, Watergate, and Beyond, andIn Search of Deep Throat: The Greatest Political Mystery of Our Time. Published in 2000, the latter book supported the theory thatDeep Throat wasJohn Sears.[5] Before Deep Throat's identity was revealed in 2005 as being former FBI Acting Associate DirectorW. Mark Felt, Garment himself was a suspect.
Felt was listed as a possible Deep Throat in the book (as are many others), but was dismissed by Garment because the author believed the secret source had to have strong White House connections. He was mistaken in his selection of Sears, who told Garment explicitly that he was not Deep Throat. To prove his argument, Sears admitted that he was an anonymous source for Carl Bernstein, but Garment still did not believe Sears, a longtime friend, was being truthful about not being Deep Throat.
When President Nixon's records were subpoenaed in connection to theWatergate investigation it was Garment who received the subpoena on behalf of Nixon on July 23rd, 1973 at theEisenhower Executive Office Building.[6]
Garment unilaterally took steps to pressFord to pardon Nixon. On Aug. 27, 1974, Garment and Nixon speechwriterRaymond Price, also a holdover from the Nixon administration, drafted a memo and pardon announcement for consideration by Ford. Garment speculated that, if a pardon were not quickly offered, "the whole miserable tragedy will be played out to God knows what ugly and wounding conclusion." He also thought the nation would at first recoil, but soon enough welcome the pardon.[7]
Garment had a long association with the arts, starting with his early career as ajazzsaxophonist withWoody Herman's band playing withAlan Greenspan before he entered law school. In the 1970s, he was chairman of the board of theBrooklyn Academy of Music. More recently, he was one of the founders of theNational Jazz Museum in Harlem. He was awarded theNational Medal of Arts in 2005 as an arts advocate and patron.
Tim Russert credited Leonard Garment with getting him into the news business as Garment had a friend atNBC News who was looking to rebuild their news division. Garment and Russert had previously worked together in 1976 during the U.S. Senate election ofDaniel Patrick Moynihan.
Garment was a close associate ofI. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, as law partners, atDechert, Price & Rhoads.
Garment died July 13, 2013, at hisManhattan home, at the age of 89.[8]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | White House Counsel 1973–1974 | Succeeded by |
