Haldeman, H(arry) R(obbins) (1926-1993)

US presidential aide. He was chief of staff to Richard Nixon 1969-1973. Immensely protective and loyal towards his president, Haldeman was crucially involved in the Watergate cover-up and, after being convicted of obstructing justice and lying, served 18 months in a federal prison.

As a young man he began a career in advertising, rising to the vice-presidency of the prestigious agency J Walter Thompson, before being enlisted as an aide to the ambitious Republican politician Richard Nixon. He worked in Nixon's successful vice-presidential re-election campaign of 1956, his unsuccessful presidential campaign of 1960, and his campaign for the California governorship 1962. When Nixon eventually won the presidency 1968 he chose Haldeman as his chief of staff. With Henry Kissinger and John Ehrlichman, he formed part of the close-knit group of advisers dubbed by the press ‘the Teutonic Trio’. In this capacity, Haldeman controlled the White House with military discipline, screening the president from unwanted visitors and sometimes even from his own colleagues. This unquestioning loyalty eventually led to his own demise. While the former president was granted a free pardon by his successor, Gerald Ford, Haldeman, with Ehrlichman, was left unprotected. After his release from prison he rebounded to a third successful career, in the hotel business.