Charles Nuzum
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Charles "Charlie" A. Nuzum (1923 – 2 August 2008) was an agent of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
who oversaw the investigation into the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
. Nuzum was chief of the FBI's bankruptcy, antitrust and
wiretapping Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
unit at the time of the break-in at the Watergate office.


Early life

Charles Nuzum was born in
Bourbon County, Kansas Bourbon County (county code BB) is a county located in Southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 14,360. Its county seat and most populous city is Fort Scott. History Early history For many millennia, the Great Pl ...
in 1923. When Nuzum was a child, his family moved to
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
. When World War II started Nuzum was attending St. Petersburg Junior College, later serving as a pilot flying a B-24 in the Army Air forces. Charles won some awards including Distinguished Flying Cross,
Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...
and the
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
award. In 1948 he graduated from the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and later joined the FBI in 1954. Nuzum moved to Washington in the early 1960s. Nuzum had a wife, Joy L. Nuzum and two children, Charles Nuzum Jr. and Denise Perrino.


Involvement with Watergate

At the time of the Watergate scandal, Mr. Nuzum was chief of the FBI's bankruptcy, antitrust, and wiretapping unit. Nuzum lead the investigation into the Watergate burglary. The investigation revealed that the White House was connected to the burglary, and the burglary to an ever so expanding set of other numerous crimes, taken under to punish the so-called political enemies of Nixon's administration. Nuzum would inform his superiors, which also included Robert Gebhardt, the FBI's assistant director of the investigative division. Robert Gebhardt then would send the reports to the FBI's associate director, Mark Felt. Felt then passed the information on to L. Patrick Gray, the FBI’s acting director. Many of the key memos from this period contain the name and initials of Charles Nuzum.


Retirement

In 1975, Charles Nuzum retired. Shortly after retiring, Nuzum returned to Florida and became employed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, as a state beverage division chief. At the time of his retirement in 1983, he was president of the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators. Nuzum was also a valued member of the " Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI."


Death

In 2008, Nuzum suffered an accidental fall. He was hospitalized at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he died on August 2.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuzum, Charles 1923 births 2008 deaths Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) University of Michigan alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II