[SimeyTheLimey]

I thought I'd share this story with you. Willie was a friend of mine who recently passed away. He was both an amazing guy, and an amazingly modest guy. He certainly never told me this story.

William F. Reckert, 77, who died April 1 of congestive heart failure at his home in Springfield, spent more than 50 years literally dotting the i's and crossing the t's for Justice Department investigations, including the Watergate special prosecution team.

* * *

His family said he discovered the infamous 18 1/2-minute gap as he typed the June 20, 1972, secret recording of an Oval Office conversation between President Richard Nixon and chief of staff H.R. Haldeman.

"Dad thought there was a fault with the [transcribing] equipment and called a guard in," his son said. "When he found out there had been no power or equipment failure, they called [special prosecutor Leon] Jaworski's office. They kept him there, and he wasn't allowed to communicate with our family until they sent him home about 3 or 4 o'clock that morning in a big, black limousine."

"He talked about it very, very infrequently," the son said. "It was only later in life when we said, 'C'mon, you were working on the White House tapes that night,' that he said, 'Well, enough time has passed that I guess it's all right.' He was like the anonymous government employee, the courier who picked up the tapes, or whatever. Mom said the night they brought him home, he was white as a sheet."

What a "you will never guess what" story!

Link is to his obituary in the Washington Post. RIP Willie.

[goMac]

I actually knew Richard Nixon's brother. The family is still quite active in politics. It was very interesting to hear some of the phone calls that he would make.

[chris v]

I love the "Rosemary Woods Stretch" where she tried to show how she could have accidentally left her foot on the erase button while doing other office tasks for 18.5 minutes. One of the greatest political plays of the 20th century.

[zigzag]

That's a remarkable story, especially the fact that he never mentioned it to you.

I've known some other remarkable blind men - one a judge, the other a law professor. The latter is particularly notable because he wrote the leading text on art law, of all things, and has a valuable painting collection that he can't even see.

[historylme]

That is awesome. I'm humbled by such people. That is too cool!

[SimeyTheLimey]

Thanks for taking a look. Willie was quite something. I only knew him in the last 4 years, but I feel like it was a privilege.