Anderson, Jack (1922–)

JACK ANDERSON IS a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, author, and public speaker. A former missionary, Anderson's career as an investigative reporter began in the early 1950s when he teamed with the most famous muckraking journalist of his day, Drew Pearson.

Anderson's most notable encounter with whitecollar crime took place during the Watergate era (1972–74). Anderson had reported on several scandals involving President Richard Nixon, which landed Anderson at the top of Nixon's infamous Enemies List. As a result, a plan emerged by the Plumbers (a secret covert-operations unit within the White House) to have Anderson murdered. Gordon Liddy, the Plumbers' chief fanatic, finally backed-off of the plan to assassinate Anderson because it was deemed impractical.

Upon taking office, the Nixon administration dispatched an allegedly Mafia-connected attorney, Murray Chotiner, to see visit Anderson. The lawyer informed Anderson of the administration's wish to have a friendly relationship with him, and that Chotiner had been appointed liaison to Anderson. At Anderson's request, and as a show of “friendliness” to help further Anderson's investigations, Chotiner promptly fetched the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) file on Governor George Wallace of Alabama. It contained information on a Wallace crony who was taking kickbacks on sales on alcohol in state liquor stores, and laundering cash through a law firm in which Wallace was a partner. Anderson made use of the information, but also began writing pieces critical of the Nixon crowd, and the Nixon administration “friendship” was promptly withdrawn.

Anderson soon began uncovering a host of scandals that would come to mark the Nixon administration as one of the most corrupt in American history. It began when Anderson discovered that Nixon was trying to get his presidential pension increased. Anderson also discovered, via secret papers that were leaked to him, that Nixon had ordered a U.S. Navy flotilla to the Bay of Bengal in order to support Pakistan in its war against India. This, despite Nixon's sworn neutrality in the conflict.

Nixon had deceived the American people about U.S. neutrality in the war, as well as a possible confrontation with the Soviet Navy in the Indian Ocean. The White House began investigating Anderson and his possible sources of information (via phone taps, lie detector tests, and in some cases, intimidation). Press attacks against Anderson ensued. Meanwhile, Anderson was awarded the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the India-Pakistan War. Shortly thereafter, Anderson came into possession of memo written by International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) corporate lobbyist Dita Beard. The memo made clear that ITT was about to donate $400,000 in support of the upcoming Republican National Convention in San Diego, California, in return for which the Nixon Justice Department would allow ITT to keep two newly purchased companies, Hartford Insurance and Grinnell Corporation. The Senate Judiciary Committee called immediate hearings on the matter. ITT hired a detective firm to investigate Anderson.

Despite the decision not to eliminate Anderson, the Nixon White House used other government agencies to harass Anderson. At the White House's request, the IRS audited Anderson's income taxes for months but found nothing irregular. The Central Intelligence Agency followed Anderson all over Washington in unmarked cars, but Anderson easily detected their presence and wrote about the stalking.

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