Judy Hoback Miller

Judith "Judy" Hoback Miller (born May 10, 1937)^[1] is an American woman known for her involvement in the Watergate scandal in 1972 during the presidency of Richard Nixon. She served as the bookkeeper for the Committee to Re-elect the President, also known as CREEP.^[2]

Personal life

She was born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Lois (née Litchfield 1899-1955) and Charles Luther Graham (1895-1951). Her father was an athletic coach at West Chester University and the swimming pool there is named in his honor.^[3] Her father served in World War I and her parents are buried in Arlington National Cemetery. She has two brothers, Ross Graham and David Graham (d. 2013).^[4]

She was married and had a daughter Kelly with her first husband James Hoback (1938-1970), who died of a heart attack. In 1984 she married Grover Miller. Grover owned his own marketing firm titled H & M Marketing for which Judy worked as the accountant. She is now retired and lives in Florida with her second husband. Her daughter Kelly is a teacher.^[5][6]

Watergate

She was working as the bookkeeper for Richard Nixon in 1972 during his election campaign when Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein contacted her for information. Woodward has stated that she was just as important, if not more so, as Deep Throat, in terms of unveiling the Watergate Scandal, because Hoback had all of the information about where money was going and who it was coming from.^[7]

She was one of the few people that would talk openly with Woodward and Bernstein, and allowed them to come to her home, although she has stated she was "pretty nervous and scared" and was also "frustrated that the truth wasn't coming out". She had already notified the FBI and felt they were not handling the situation properly.^[8] She revealed to them that documents had been destroyed that contained information about financial mishandling, and some of the committee members including G. Gordon Liddy and Jeb Stuart Magruder were receiving payouts from a secret fund. This information eventually lead to Richard Nixon resigning from his office as the President of the United States.^[9][10]

Portrayal in media

In the 1976 film All the President's Men, actress Jane Alexander was hired to portray Judy Hoback, who is referred to as "The Bookkeeper" in the film. Alexander met with Hoback to prepare for the role, and the production even rented out Hoback's real-life former home for her character's scenes. Some historians have criticized the film for downplaying the importance of Hoback's role in the scandal. Jane Alexander was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Hoback.^[11]

References