Donald Gilbert Sanders (April 26, 1930 – September 26, 1999) was an American lawyer and a key figure in the Watergate investigation. As deputy minority counsel of the Senate Committee, he discovered the existence of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's White House tapes. Nixon's refusal of a congressional subpoena to release the tapes was the basis of an articles of

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

against Nixon, and led to the president's subsequent resignation on August 9, 1974. Sanders served as an officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, Special Agent in the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and director of investigations for the

United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...

Early life and education

Sanders was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, to Anna Marie Schmitz (1908–2008) and Howard Sanders (1906–1988). He was educated at Washington University and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, graduating in 1954 with a law degree. In 1952, he married Dolores Henderson (1932–2008) of

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

and they had three children: Deborah, Michael, and Matthew. Sanders was a Captain in the

serving from 1954 until 1956.

FBI career

In November 1959, Sanders completed his FBI training and was assigned to Birmingham, Alabama. He was on the team in 1961 that solved the burning of the

Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the Racial segregation in the United States, segregated Southern United States, Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of t ...

' bus by the Ku Klux Klan. In 1963, Sanders also arrested Victor Feguer, the last prisoner executed in the 20th century by the federal government. In 1961 he was assigned to

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and then went to Washington, D.C., in 1964 as Assistant Inspector. Sanders resigned from the FBI in 1969.

Capitol Hill

In February 1969, Sanders became the Chief Counsel and Chief of Staff of the House Committee on Internal Security, formerly the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

. The HCIS investigated and held hearings for a number of organizations and individuals who were considered dangerous to national security. Sanders was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court. He left the HCIS in March 1973 and joined the United States Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (Watergate Committee) as the Deputy Minority Counsel. One of Sanders' responsibilities was to gather evidence by interviewing officials and aides to find out more information about the Watergate break-in. The most famous of these interviews occurred on July 13, 1973. Alexander Butterfield (

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

head and a former White House aide) was being privately questioned by Senate committee staff members, when Sanders asked if it were possible that a recording system had been used in the White House. Butterfield answered: "I wish you hadn't asked that question, but, yes, there is." Sanders went to relay the news to

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

, who was the Minority Counsel. Sanders first had to call him out of a local restaurant. "Because he was with some reporters, I got him away from them, and got him out on the street corner and told him the story," Sanders said. On July 16, 1973, during the televised hearings, Thompson publicly asked: "Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president?" The revelation of a cover-up about a taping system in the Oval Office led the House Judiciary Committee to submit three articles of

for

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...

, and contempt of congress. After the final article was approved July 30, 1974, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974.

Later years

Afterwards, Sanders worked as a Senior Program Analyst for the Atomic Energy Commission and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (Ford administration). In the latter position, he received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the department's highest recognition. He returned to the Hill as director of investigations for the

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...

and then worked for the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Sanders retired from national service in 1982 and returned to practice law in

. He was elected as Boone County Commissioner in 1988, and served until 1990. He completed an MA in history from the

in 1991. Sanders was President of the Boone County Historical Society. He and his family donated land to Boone County where Nathan Boone blazed the Booneslick Trail across central Missouri. Sanders also served as chairman of the Administrative Board of Midway Locust Grove United Methodist Church. On September 26, 1999, Sanders died of cancer at the age of 69.

References

External links