Bradlee:
Deep Throat
‘is a great hero’

The day after W. Mark Felt revealed he was the Watergate source known as "Deep Throat," NBC's Andrea Mitchell sat down with Ben Bradlee, the editor in chief of The Washington Post when Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein reported the story. What follows is a transcript of that conversation, edited for continuity.

Andrea Mitchell:  Mr. Bradlee, what is the significance of Deep Throat?

Ben Bradlee: Well, I mean, let's start with the much maligned anonymous source.  He was anonymous for, virtually anonymous, for 32 years, so don't let us hear any more about we can't keep secrets.  And I think that's good.  Some stories just require anonymous sources.

Mitchell: You know, there's a lot of talk about, oh, they could have done it without Deep Throat.  As the guy in charge, how important was it for you to know that the source, Woodward's source, was so high up that he was bulletproof?

Bradlee: Well, of course I didn't know how high up Deep Throat was.  I knew that he was high up, but when you say, "so high up," I really didn't know how high up.  I knew the bona fides.  What I appreciated was that he was right.  You know, there was never any information given that came from him that was denied.

Now this said, I think that all of the excitement about his being revealed shouldn't make us lose sight of the fact that there were a lot of other sources, there were a lot of other papers that did some wonderful reporting about this, and the Senate hearings and the momentum — Deep Throat couldn't have stopped it.

So one, I think once the tapes came out, that was the real curtain.  But Deep Throat was vital to us, in the start that we got, and in the lead that we got.

Mitchell: When did you learn his identity?

Bradlee: Some time after Nixon resigned, I thought that I sensed the beginnings of a movement to discredit the source, and to get myself in a position where I could be useful in fighting that.  If it happened, I had to know, obviously.  So Bob and I took a walk down to McPherson Square here (in Washington, D.C.), sat on a park bench, and I said, “Who the hell is he?  I've got to know.”  And he told me, right away.  Lasted three minutes, the whole conversation.

Mitchell: And who did you tell?

Bradlee: I didn't tell a soul, and if you want to know, did I tell Sally?  No.  I didn't.

Mitchell: In fact we've talked to Sally Quinn — your wife, your partner in life, and she said you didn't tell her.

Bradlee: Well, I didn't.  I just told you I didn't.

Mitchell: And how awkward was that?

Bradlee: And to her credit, she never asked me.  She was extremely interested, but she never asked.

Mitchell: Didn't want to push that button.

Bradlee: She didn't.

Mitchell: Would you have told her if she had asked?

Bradlee: No.  No.  It had nothing to do with how I feel about her, but I'd given my word, and I didn't.

Mitchell: How hard was it not to tell Sally Quinn?

Bradlee: Not very hard.  I mean, I got no pressure from the Graham family (owners of The Washington Post).  There was a lot of pressure about, “Are you sure you're right, are you sure we're right?”  But neither Don nor Katharine, who was very much alive and fascinated by this story.

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