Why Deep Throat And The Ensuing Mystery Around The Watergate Whistleblower Mattered

The informant helped lead reporters to the scandal that changed the nation

Aug 08, 2025

In 1972, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post. It launched them to the stratosphere of superstardom in the journalism world. The story won the pair a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service the year after their story ran.

It also landed them a book deal.

All The President’s Men told the story of how they were able to break the Watergate scandal. The amount of detective work that they put in along the way, the trials that they faced piecing together this story.

Within the pages, Woodward revealed that there was a secret source. During this era, some people helped reporters but their identities were not revealed to anyone else, this was called “Deep Background.” This person helped keep him on the right path and avoided the red herrings that the Nixon administration were throwing out to derail the plot from coming to light.

This person was called Deep Throat in the book.

And it set off a nation-wide mystery. Who was this secret person that brought down a president? Why did they want to stay hidden? Finally, possibly the most important question, why did they become a source in the first place?"

Theories abounded for a very long time about who this person was. Many people, including some within the White House, believed that FBI Associate Deputy Director Mark Felt was Deep Throat. Though, at the time there was no confirmation.

Others thought that Nixon’s White House Associate Counsel Fred Fielding was the background source He had access to the files that Woodward and Bernstein used. It was also believed that the reporters ruled out someone within the FBI.

For a fun twist, Woodward had Deep Throat. Bernstein allegedly had his own deep background source, who may have been Fielding, though no one knows for sure.

Why did Deep Throat Matter? And who was this shadowy source?

For decades or longer, journalists have relied on sources to help craft their pieces. Sometimes those people needed to be anonymous for various reasons. The editors and publishers would usually know, in case there was a legal issue.

But as mentioned, sometimes sources needed to stay even lower profile. The reasons can be varied but often revolved around needing to protect themselves from retribution. Or sometimes the higher-ups at the outlet being part of the story.

Deep Throat feared that the White House would not only fire him but possibly jail him for speaking out against their cover-up. It would have fit with the Nixon administration , to terminate and get rid of anyone who disagreed with them.

There is an old saying, “The cover-up is worse than the crime.” Nixon nor his people took this to heart.

For his part, Deep Throat believed that the crimes being committed to protect the president were wrong. He also wanted the American people to know about it. They deserved to know about it.

Everything that was revealed led to Nixon resigning rather than facing an impeachment and removal from office.

Nixon’s resignation is why Deep Throat helped Woodward and Bernstein. The story needed to stay out in the public. Any distractions from the administration needed to be taken care of, and the Watergate scandal needed to stay on the front page.

And in lieu of social media, the best way to do that was to make it headline news.

Woodward and Bernstein did the legwork. They found the documents and evidence needed to craft the story of the cover-up for the public. Deep Throat steered them in the right direction, helping them find the items that they needed.

Because of everything that happened, the course of American history was changed. In the early days of the scandal, it appeared that one or two people might take the fall, but the president would be protected. But that didn't happen because of the reporters and their deep background.

Then it became a game of resign or removal.

Journalists helped uncover one of the biggest scandals in American history, and they did it with the help of an anonymous source. It was an irritant to many politicians throughout the years that every court, including the Supreme Court of the United States, upheld their right to not reveal their sources.

It reinforced the idea of a free press. One that is able to investigate and report on the facts of an administration without fear of retribution from the White House.

As for why Woodward and Bernstein kept the identity of Deep Throat secret, even in the book, the answer might be very simple. The man was still working within the government at the time.

And while Nixon left office, many of his associates still held their positions. Revealing the identity of the source at the time would have put him at risk for prosecution or other retaliatory actions.

On May 31, 2005, Vanity Fair ran an article revealing the identity of Deep Throat. It was the former associate director of the FBI, Mark Felt. He waited until he was near death to come forward and admit that he was the source that brought down a president.

Woodward and Bernstein confirmed the claims when they were contacted about it.

Deep Throat helped keep the Watergate story in the headlines and brought about the truth for the American people. Many people wonder why he did it in an anonymous way if he was such a champion of the truth.

As with everything connected to the scandal and the attached crimes, it is as simple as it is complicated.

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