FREDDIE AIN'T TOO BRIGHT

Fred Thompson cooperated with the Nixon White House during Watergate investigation
The Associated Press
Published: July 7, 2007

WASHINGTON: Fred Thompson gained an image as a tough-minded investigative counsel for the Senate Watergate committee. Yet President Richard Nixon and his top aides viewed the fellow Republican as a willing, if not too bright, ally, according to White House tapes.

Those tapes show Thompson played a behind-the-scenes role that was very different from his public image three decades ago. He comes across as a partisan willing to cooperate with the Nixon White House's effort to discredit the committee's star witness.

It was Thompson who tipped off the White House that the Senate committee knew about the tapes.

Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called "dumb as hell." The president did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee's Democratic counsel.

"Oh shit, that kid," Nixon said when told by his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson's appointment on Feb. 22, 1973.

Nixon expressed concern that Thompson was not "very smart."
"Not extremely so," Buzhardt agreed.