John Mitchell – Biography
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John Mitchell, the first attorney general under President Richard Nixon, was married to Martha Mitchell.
John Mitchell- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings
On September 2, 1918, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Martha Elizabeth Beall was born. She later became Martha Mitchell. Mitchell’s mother taught elocution, while her father was a cotton merchant. In 1937, she obtained her high school diploma from Pine Bluff.
She then attended three universities, graduating in 1942 from the University of Miami, the University of Arkansas, and Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Because her parents disapproved of her aspirations to become an actor, she decided to major in history and minor in education.
Following his college graduation, Mitchell worked as a seventh-grade teacher in Mobile, Alabama. She “despised” the work, though, and quit after a year. She obtained employment as an arsenal’s secretary when she returned to Pine Bluff.
Mitchell relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1945, following the commanding general of the arsenal, where she worked as a secretary. She met Clyde Jennings, a serviceman, there. On October 5, 1946, the two got married. Their son Jay followed them to New York and arrived there in November 1947.
John Mitchell- Relationship, Married Life
She rose to fame in Washington, D.C. thanks to her candid remarks about politics and daily life there. Mitchell, who frequently called reporters, claimed that during the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate building complex, she was physically barred from speaking with the media.
When Mitchell was once more given the opportunity to address the media, she described herself as “a political prisoner” who was tired of “all those ugly things” in politics. Due in part to suspicions regarding her mental fragility, her words garnered little attention.
In 1973, Mitchell and her husband, who continued to support the president, divorced. Nixon’s departure from the presidency on August 9, 1974, as a result of the Watergate scandal and impending impeachment accusations, served as vindication for her. As she was diagnosed with cancer in 1975 and passed away at age 57 in 1976, she had little time to appreciate this.
After a few years, Mitchell and her husband filed for divorce in August 1957.
In New York City in 1954, Martha met John Mitchell; they were wed in December 1957. Their daughter Martha “Marty” was born in January 1961. In 1964, the family moved to Rye, New York.
When they both worked for the same legal firm at the time, John Mitchell, an attorney, made friends with Richard Nixon. Mitchell later supported and assisted in organizing Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. That year, after Nixon won the presidency, he appointed John Mitchell as his attorney general.
John Mitchell- Professional Career
In a 1969 television appearance, Mitchell claimed that her husband had claimed that a recent anti-Vietnam War demonstration had resembled the Russian revolution, with some American liberals acting “worse than communists,” This incident catapulted Martha Mitchell into the national spotlight and gave her a reputation for speaking her opinion. She frequently called reporters to express her opinions about events taking place inside the White House.
Mitchell represented “The Wives of Washington” on the cover of Time magazine’s edition from November 30, 1970. The Republican base adored her even though other Republicans thought she was embarrassing.
By calling senators’ wives and employees and threatening to run a campaign against anyone who didn’t support her husband’s Supreme Court nominations, Mitchell engaged in direct political activity. She called a newspaper in their home state of Arkansas after Senator J. William Fulbright refused to back a candidate and demanded that they “crucify Fulbright.”
On May 18, 2019, American actor Miles Teller smiles for the camera during a photocall for the movie “Too Old To Die, Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell” at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 02: On March 2, 2011, in Washington, DC, ranking member U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) interrogates U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during his testimony at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on receiving “the Monetary Policy Report to the Congress required under the Humphrey-Hawkins Act.” Republican criticism of the Federal Reserve’s monetary strategy drew a response from Bernanke. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/Jonathan Ernst)
On October 2, 2010, in New York City, actor Ben Whishaw attended the premiere of “The Tempest” as part of the 48th New York Film Festival. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/Astrid Stawiarz) Local captioning Whishaw, Ben.
Mitchell’s husband left his position as attorney general in February 1972 to lead Nixon’s reelection committee. Several men were detained on June 17, 1972, after they broke into the DNC’s offices in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. When Nixon’s re-election committee was eventually linked to the burglars, his administration decided to hide its role.
John Mitchell vehemently denied any association between the White House and the crime. However, Martha Mitchell was aware of one of the burglars’ memberships in the reelection committee and knew him personally.
The majority of the information Martha Mitchell obtained about the Watergate crisis came through listening in on her husband’s calls and meetings and poring over his paperwork. John Mitchell tried to keep his wife from learning about the break-in, but after a few days, she read a newspaper headline and became aware of what was going on.
Reporter Helen Thomas of United Press International called Martha Mitchell on June 22 from California. Mitchell claimed that she had given her husband the following choice: stop engaging in politics, or she would leave.
Then, before the line was cut off, Mitchell uttered the phrase “You simply get away.” Thomas claims that the conversation was abruptly terminated by a security guard. Mitchell claimed to Thomas that she was forbidden from speaking to anyone else and that she was once held down and given a tranquilizer injection.
A few days later, Martha Mitchell went back to the East Coast. Thomas received another hand from her and she said, “I won’t tolerate all the immoral activities that take place. You wouldn’t believe it if you could see me. I am blue and black.” Newspapers relegated stories concerning what Mitchell was saying to their back pages and paid them little attention.
Beginning in July, John Mitchell announced his resignation as Nixon’s campaign manager, ostensibly to devote more time to “the pleasure and welfare of my wife and daughter.” At the same time, rumors about Martha Mitchell’s heavy drinking and mental health crisis started to circulate.
Even though Nixon was re-elected as president in November 1972, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein from the Washington Post continued to investigate the Watergate affair. A Watergate burglar who was convicted in 1973 claimed that John Mitchell had given the go-ahead for the intrusion. Martha Mitchell revealed to reporters in May 1973 that her husband was attempting to defend Nixon. She added that Nixon might resign or face impeachment.
At a press appearance in August 1973, Nixon claimed that John Mitchell had never told him about Watergate. Martha Mitchell retorted, “Nixon was aware of the whole goddamn thing,” after that. However, John Mitchell never named Nixon in his conspiracy case, which resulted in his trial and conviction.
Death and Later Years
John Mitchell left the couple’s New York City residence in September 1973. For the remainder of Martha Mitchell’s life, the two remained at odds. Martha Mitchell fought to have John Mitchell lose custody of their daughter Marty, but she was unsuccessful.
Mitchell maintained her status as a public figure even without her husband by her side. In 1974, David Frost spoke with her for the BBC about Watergate. The same year, she spent a week co-hosting a morning discussion program in New York City with guests including Woodward and Bernstein.
Mitchell had a multiple myeloma diagnosis in 1975. Despite having received alimony, her husband stopped paying it, and she was having financial difficulties as her bone marrow disease got worse. On May 31, 1976, she passed away in a hospital in New York City and was buried in her native Pine Bluff.
The Martha Mitchell Effect: What Is It?
The Martha Mitchell effect, which refers to the situation in which a patient tells a story that seems implausible but turns out to be true, is named after Martha Mitchell’s experiences.
In 1979, Martha: The Life of Martha Mitchell, a biography of Martha Mitchell, was released. Additionally, she was portrayed in the plays This is Martha Speaking and Dirty Tricks. In the 2022 Starz limited series Gaslit, based on the Slow Burn podcast, Julia Roberts plays Mitchell.
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