E. Howard Hunt

E. Howard Hunt – Life, Career, and Controversies

Explore the complex life of E. Howard Hunt (1918–2007): CIA operative, author, and central figure in the Watergate scandal. Learn his background, covert operations, criminal convictions, authorship, and enduring mysteries.

Introduction: Who Was E. Howard Hunt?

Everette Howard Hunt Jr. (October 9, 1918 – January 23, 2007), better known as E. Howard Hunt, was an American intelligence officer, author, and political operative whose career spanned from the Cold War’s covert operations to one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history: Watergate. Though not just a criminal in the narrow sense, Hunt’s life raises profound questions about the boundary between espionage, politics, and law.

He served decades in the CIA, participated in major covert operations overseas, later functioned in the Nixon White House’s “Plumbers” unit, and was convicted for his role in the Watergate burglaries. He also authored numerous espionage novels and non-fiction books, sometimes drawing on his own experiences. Hunt’s life is a case study in power, secrecy, loyalty, transgression, and legacy.

Early Life and Education

Everette Howard Hunt Jr. was born on October 9, 1918, in Hamburg, New York, to Ethel Jean (née Totterdale) and Everette Howard Hunt Sr., an attorney and Republican Party official.

He attended Hamburg High School, graduating around 1936. He then matriculated at Brown University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in English in 1940.

With the onset of World War II, Hunt entered military and intelligence service. He served in multiple capacities—including in the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Air Forces, and in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in China. His wartime experience in intelligence would lay the groundwork for his postwar career in the CIA.

CIA and Covert Operations

Entry into the CIA and Early Assignments

In 1949, shortly after the formal establishment of the CIA, Hunt joined the agency’s covert action arm (Office of Policy Coordination / Special Activities).

He was assigned to Mexico City in 1950, where he built contacts and oversaw clandestine initiatives. Hunt maintained a long relationship with William F. Buckley Jr., who had worked under him in Mexico.

Hunt also served in other CIA stations (e.g. Japan, Uruguay) and was involved in ideological and political operations.

Major Covert Actions: Guatemala & Cuba

One of his more consequential roles was participation in the 1954 U.S.-backed coup in Guatemala (Operation PBSUCCESS), aimed at overthrowing President Jacobo Árbenz.

Hunt was also involved in the planning and preparation of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, which sought to topple Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba but ended in a disastrous failure.

He then moved into domestic operations within the CIA—some of which included monitoring, influence, and clandestine media operations.

Watergate and the “Plumbers”

From Covert Agent to Political Operative

In the early 1970s, Hunt became part of a White House unit known as the “Plumbers,” established to detect and stop leaks of classified or politically damaging information, particularly following the Daniel Ellsberg Pentagon Papers release.

One of Hunt’s early assignments for the Plumbers was a break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist in Los Angeles, orchestrated to search for psychiatric files that might discredit Ellsberg.

Later in 1972, Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy organized the break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The burglary, planned to plant listening devices (“bugs”) and gather intelligence, failed and became the central event in the Watergate scandal.

Legal Consequences

Hunt was indicted, convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and illegal wiretapping, and sentenced to prison. He served approximately 33 months (he was paroled early) in federal prison.

While incarcerated, Hunt reportedly suffered a mild stroke.

He became one of the many figures whose legal fate and disclosures helped unravel the broader Nixon administration cover-up, eventually leading to President Nixon’s resignation in August 1974.

Literary Career and Later Years

Prolific Author

Hunt was also a prolific writer. He published dozens of spy and detective novels, some under his own name, others under pseudonyms (such as Robert Dietrich, Gordon Davis, David St. John, P. S. Donoghue).

Some of his notable non-fiction works include Give Us This Day: The Inside Story of the CIA and the Bay of Pigs Invasion (1973) and Undercover: Memoirs of an American Secret Agent (1974).

Near the end of his life, a memoir titled American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate, and Beyond was published (in 2007), ghostwritten in part due to his declining health.

Personal Life

Hunt’s first wife was Dorothy Wetzel (a CIA employee), with whom he had four children. Tragically, Dorothy Hunt died in the United Airlines Flight 553 crash in 1972, in which over $10,000 in cash (allegedly funds connected to Watergate) was found in her handbag.

Later he married Laura Martin, and they had additional children. After his release from prison, Hunt spent some years living in Mexico before moving back to the U.S., settling in Miami.

Death and Speculation

E. Howard Hunt died on January 23, 2007, in Miami, Florida (aged 88). After his death, his sons claimed that he made a confession on his deathbed implicating Lyndon B. Johnson in a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy—a claim that remains controversial and disputed.

Over the years, Hunt has been a subject of various conspiracy theories, especially linking him to the JFK assassination. Investigations (e.g. by the Rockefeller Commission) found no “credible evidence” tying Hunt to a JFK plot.

Legacy & Controversies

E. Howard Hunt’s life sits at the intersection of intelligence, politics, and criminality. His career raises several enduring questions and legacies:

• Blurring of covert operations and political agendas: Hunt’s movement from CIA operations abroad to political sabotage at home exemplifies how intelligence mechanisms can be repurposed for partisan ends.

• Accountability vs. secrecy: His conviction shows that even powerful actors can be held to account, though many other dimensions of his work remain classified or murky.

• Literature from experience: His fiction and memoirs provide a hybrid window into the mindset of espionage, though they must be read with skepticism about self-justification and narrative shaping.

• Myth, rumor, and conspiracy: His life is entangled with conspiracy theories (especially surrounding JFK), and distinguishing fact from myth is challenging in his case.

• Cautionary tale: Hunt’s trajectory is often cited as cautionary: how service in secrecy can lead to overreach, moral compromises, and legal downfall.

Selected Quotes

While E. Howard Hunt was more known for clandestine action than public philosophy, some quotes attributed to him include:

• “We were in a fight—not a fight against people, but a fight against ideas.”

• “I carry secrets every day of my life.”

• “So many people want the skeletons of power hung on the walls; they never want to look into the closets.”

Because Hunt was secretive by nature, many of his public statements are vague or defensive rather than declarative.