Richard Gordon Kleindienst (August 5, 1923–February 3, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician.
Born in Winslow, Arizona, he served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946, attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, graduating from the latter in 1950.
From 1953 to 1954 he served in the Arizona House of Representatives and then went into private practice, which he continued until 1969. During this time he was also a candidate for Governor of Arizona.
He was a deputy Attorney General of the United States from 1969 until 1972 and was appointed Attorney General of the United States by President Richard Nixon on June 12, 1972.
He resigned on April 30, 1973 in the midst of the Watergate scandal and returned to private practice. Kleindienst resigned the same day John Dean was fired and H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman quit. He was convicted of a misdemeanor for perjury during his testimony in the Senate during his confirmation hearings. He was fined and given a suspended jail sentence.
Kleindienst died of lung cancer in 2000.
Further reading
- Kleindienst, Richard, Justice: The Memoirs of Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, 1985.
External link
Last updated: 05-21-2005 19:31:00
