‘White House Plumbers’ on HBO: How did President Nixon's fixers get their notorious nickname?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Apart from being the place where the President of the United States of America resides, The White House is also a big place of secrets. Right from the Oval Office to the alleys leading up to the Pressroom, the US Presidential palace is laden with secrets that can topple the world order. One such secret got out in the open over 50 years ago when President Richard Nixon had to step down from the Presidency after being exposed for a crime of bugging the offices of his opposition at Watergate.
The streaming behemoth, HBO, known for its vivid political dramas and satires in the past has launched yet another show called ‘White House Plumbers’ that follows the story of men appointed by President Nixon to fix the leaks emanating from the White House to the media. The committee of ‘White House Plumbers’ was formed after Daniel Ellsberg, a US Military Analyst, leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, which exposed the injustice and lies of the Vietnam War. The truth led the American people to distrust their government, which the US government is still fighting till day to regain. But naming senior members working for the government as ‘plumbers’ is rather odd. Why did the few men who infiltrated the offices of the Democrats at Watergate named ‘plumbers’? Let’s find out.
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Why were Nixon's men called 'White House Plumbers'?
G Gordon Liddy, a former FBI agent, and E Howard Hunt, a former CIA agent were the founding members of the "plumbers." John Paisley, a liaison to the CIA was assigned to help the Plumbers in their operations. John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s counsel and assistant in domestic affairs, David Young, assistant to Secretary of State, and his assistant Egil Krogh worked closely with the 'White House Plumbers', helping them to achieve their political targets.
However, one of the stories that were going around in the White House is that Liddy and Hunt were there to fix the leaks of classified information to the press, hence they were called the "plumbers." But David Young, assistant to the Secretary of State came home one day and was sitting on the dining table when her grandmother asked, “What do you do at the White House?” David replied, “I help President fix some leaks.” “Her grandmother replied, “Oh, you’re a plumber!” Young told Liddy and Hunt who now knew what their designation truly was — helping the President to stop classified leaks just as a plumber would stop leakage at the house.
When will 'White House Plumbers' air on HBO?
‘White House Plumbers’ is scheduled for a May 1, 2023 release on HBO Max, with episodes releasing every Monday for the next five weeks.
