Fifty years after the break-in and burglary of the Democratic National Headquarters at Watergate, it is still regarded as one of the biggest political controversies of all time. And one chapter continues to shock decades later: the story of whistleblower Martha Mitchell, who leaked details from the scandal—and paid a high price.
The Most Talked About Woman in Washington
Martha, a conservative and flamboyant socialite from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was the wife of John Mitchell, the attorney general and confidante of President Richard Nixon. By 1970, she was also one of the most famous women in America.
With her blonde bouffant and larger-than-life persona, Martha was so well-known that she graced the November 1970 cover of Time magazine, which reported that she had a “lifetime habit of speaking her mind on the instant” and was a “figure of ridicule to liberals and a public embarrassment to many a traditionalist Republican.” That same year, the New York Times called her “the most talked about, talkative woman in Washington.” Her nickname in Washington was the “Mouth of the South.”
“She was this loud, brash, outspoken woman, an incredibly polarizing figure, at a time when most Cabinet wives were completely unknown,” says Garrett Graff, author of Watergate: A New History. “She was the most in-demand Republican speaker in the country next to the president himself.”
In addition to making the talk show rounds, Martha was known for listening in on her husband’s phone calls and meetings, much to the distress of her husband and the Nixon administration. Adding to their ire, she often shared that sensitive information with reporters during late night calls that were rumored to be fueled by her fondness for whiskey.