Nixon Official
His work on the 1968 campaign led to Mardian becoming close to John N. Mitchell, in charge of the campaign overall. Mardian was appointed as general counsel to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in the Nixon administration. He supported Mitchell's 'Southern strategy' and advised the Department on ways of easing the pace of school integration. His success in this post led to a promotion as Assistant Attorney General under Mitchell.
Mardian was in charge of the Internal Security Division, which headed up the fight against the radical left, prosecuting draft dodgers. He was trusted to handle the transfer to the White House of wiretap logs, which had been discovered among J. Edgar Hoover's possessions in the Federal Bureau of Investigation after his death. However he acquired a reputation for extremism due to his zealous prosecutions and grand jury investigations of left-wing groups.
Although Mardian was well regarded, he lost out on two important promotions in 1972, as Deputy Attorney General, and as deputy manager of the Committee to Re-elect the President (where Jeb Stuart Magruder, more than 10 years younger, succeeded: Mardian did not hide his disappointment, nor his contempt for Magruder).
Read more about this topic: Robert Mardian
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