An agent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Felt rose all the way to the second in command as the Bureau’s Associate Director, and retired from that position in 1973. During the Nixon Watergate scandal, Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward used a confidential informant, giving him inside information that implicated President Nixon in the coverup of the burglary of the Democratic National Committee, which was housed in D.C.’s Watergate hotel and office complex.
The informant, which Woodward’s managing editor Howard Simons dubbed “Deep Throat”, provided enough information — and confirmation of details that reporters developed on their own — that the newspaper was able to keep the public focused on the scandal, leading to investigations, criminal convictions, and impeachment proceedings against the president. When it became clear that Nixon would be impeached and convicted for his participation in the burglary’s coverup, Nixon become the only President of the U.S. to resign from office.
The confidential informant did not come forward to reveal himself until 2005: Felt admitted he was that informant, which was confirmed by the Washington Post’s publisher. The secret was held so closely that Woodward and his partner, reporter Carl Bernstein, didn’t even tell their wives his identity before Felt came forward. Felt died in a hospice facility on December 18. He was 95.