The break-in at Watergate hotel remains in the minds of Americans, even fifty-plus years after the fact. One significant character who remains lesser-known in the story, Martha Mitchell, learned valuable information about the incident and refused to stay silent despite violent attempts by the men who committed the crime. So what details disappear when this whistleblower gets left out of the story?
Martha Mitchell’s Story Before Watergate
As Leon Neyfakh described Martha Mitchell as “someone who knew too much” as far as Nixon’s team cared, according to his article regarding a podcast episode about her.. But her story began long before the plans to break into Watergate hotel were even a thought. Born in 1918 Arkansas, the only child of George and Arie Beall Martha Mitchell established herself as “the most talked about, talkative woman in Washington,” as the New York Times published in 1970. “She says what she thinks and lets the chips fall where they may,” former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once said. A woman’s readiness to speak her mind, regardless of what the men around her wanted, remains a widely unaccepted notion today, so no shock comes with learning that the government officials of the late sixties and early seventies- including her then-husband U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell- wanted to keep her quiet. Washington referred to her as “The Mouth of the South,” according to history.com’s 2022 article about Mitchell. Richard Nixon, the man who’s name coincides with “Watergate Scandal,” once told H.R. Halderman, his chief of staff at the time, “We have to turn off Martha.”
Read more: Martha Mitchell’s Daughter, Martha Elizabeth Mitchell: What Happened to Her and Where is She Now?
Silencing the Source: the Kidnapping and the Aftermath
Unfortunately for Martha, threat would not remain empty. After recognizing James McCord, a former CIA officer who previously acted as her personal bodyguard, as one of the burglars arrested, Martha decided to phone Helen Thomas, a reporter for United Press International. Thomas would later recount in her book, Front Row at the White House, that Martha said she would leave her husband if he didn’t give up his “dirty business” politics when she suddenly cried out, “You just get away- get away!” The line went dead, and Thomas wouldn’t find out until after Martha found her freedom that former FBI agent Steve King, a security official at the time, literally tore the cord out of the wall to prevent Martha from speaking. He remains unpunished for his role in her kidnapping, and despite these allegations- or perhaps because of them- Donald Trump chose him for ambassador to the Czech Republic in 2017, according to Jeff Stein, National Security Correspondent, via his Newsweek article about King.
Thomas continues, writing that the men keeping Martha in a hotel against her will physically and medically abused her. Amongst other allegations, they gave her a non-consensual injection, threatened her at gunpoint, and caused a hand injury so bad she needed six stitches in two fingers. “I’m black and blue,” Martha told Thomas. “They don’t want me to talk.” True to her form, however, she did so anyway, sharing her story beyond Thomas. Unsurprisingly, further attempts to silence her were carried out. Administrative aides began spreading rumors that Martha experienced hallucinations, derangement, or simply drunkenness But in 1975, James McCord, the man Martha recognized from the photo, confirmed her story to the New York Times, backing up her claim that the men held her political prisoner and “kept her locked up and she began to be afraid for her life.”
Death and Legacy: the Martha Mitchell Effect
Martha Mitchell lived to fifty-seven years old, when she unconsciously passed away in 1976 after fighting multiple myeloma since the year before, according to John T. McQuiston via The New York Times. Despite the attempts to keep her quiet before and since Watergate, Martha’s legacy lives on not only as the woman who refused to stay silent, but also through an official psychological term called “The Martha Mitchell Effect.” Coined by Harvard psychology professor Brendan Maher, the term describes a medical professor dismisses a patient’s legitimate perception of real events as delusion and diagnoses them with a mental illness instead of taking the patient seriously and further investigating. This type of medical negligence did not vanish after the seventies, still disregards people who need help as mentally ill and not worth listening to. Kathleen M. Pike, in writing for The Manhattan Times News, further elaborates on the origins of the term by describing Martha’s experience as “strategic slandering of reputation” by using a false mental illness diagnosis to discredit her because the guilty parties knew her story would destroy all their attempts to hide the truth about what happened that night in the Watergate hotel.
Today, Martha Mitchell rests among family in Bellwood Cemetery of Arkansas, according to findagrave.com. Though her time on Earth ended almost fifty years ago, she remains a significant historical figure not only in her bold personality, but also her bravery in overcoming violent attempts at silencing her.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the cause of death for Martha Mitchell?
Martha Mitchell passed away from Dies multiple myeloma, a type of Bone‐Marrow Cancer, in 1976.
What is the Martha Mitchell Effect?
The Martha Mitchell Effect occurs when a person’s accurate perceptions are dismissed as delusions, often leading to a false mental illness diagnosis.
Sources:
Lineberry, Cate. “Martha Mitchell: The Socialite Turned Watergate Whistleblower.” History.com Originally published April 25, 2022. Updated June 24, 2024. Accessed January 16, 2025.
https://www.history.com/news/martha-mitchell-watergate-kidnapping
(Digitized Version) “McCord Declares That Mrs. Mitchell Was Forcibly Held.” The New York Times. Originally published February 19, 1975. Accessed via webpage January 16, 2025.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/19/archives/mccord-declares-that-mrs-mitchell-was-forcibly-held-comment-from.html
Neyfakh, Leon. “Martha: Read a transcript of Slow Burn: Season 1, Episode 1.” Slate. Published November 30, 2017. Accessed January 16, 2025.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/slow-burn-season-1-episode-1-transcript.html
McQuinston, John T. “Martha Mitchell, 57, Dies of Bone-Marrow Cancer.” The New York Times. Originally published June 01, 1976. Accessed via webpage January 16, 2025.
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/01/archives/martha-mitchell-57-dies-of-bonemarrow-cancer-martha-mitchell-57.html
Pike, Kathleen M., PhD. “The Martha Mitchell Effect.” Manhattan Times News. Published February 24, 2023. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://www.manhattantimesnews.com/the-martha-mitchell-effect-el-efecto-martha-mitchell/
Stein, Jeff. “Trump Ambassador Beat and ‘Kidnapped’ Woman in Watergate Cover-Up: Reports.” Newsweek. Published December 11, 2017. Accessed January 16, 2025.
https://www.newsweek.com/2017/12/29/donald-trump-watergate-stephen-king-martha-mitchell-richard-nixon-john-744823.html
Author Unknown. “Martha Mitchell.” findagrave.com. Published April 25, 1998. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2265/martha-mitchell
