WATERGATE FIGURES SIFT THROUGH SCANDAL 25 YEARS LATER.

Byline: Tom Fiedler Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Nearly 25 years after a Washington office building lent its name to the nation's greatest political scandal, the question still lingered among the famous figures here Friday:

Why didn't President Nixon burn the Watergate tapes, the ones that would bring down his presidency?

``We could not understand why the tapes were not destroyed to save President Nixon,'' said Washington lawyer Joseph Califano, who in 1972 counted The Washington Post and the Democratic Party among his clients. ``It was the only chance Nixon had.''

Before an audience of media lawyers, Califano joined former Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, retired Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee and former White House counsels John Dean and Leonard Garment on an American Bar Association panel titled ``Watergate: 25 Years Later'' at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club.

It was the first time so many of the key figures from both sides of the scandal sat together to reminisce, gently clash and collectively assess Watergate's impact on politics, government and journalism.

Moderator Floyd Abrams helped frame the historical context: ``It is hard to believe that it was 25 years ago. We are as close to Watergate today as we are to the year 2022, which seems like a date from `Star Trek.' ''

But as recalled by the panelists, the events seemed as fresh as yesterday as they discussed some of Watergate's enduring mysteries - like why didn't Nixon destroy the tapes and who the heck was Deep Throat?

There was even a nugget of news.

Califano revealed that he had suggested to Nixon's top aide, Alexander Haig, that he burn the secret Oval Office tapes.

Although Califano represented both The Washington Post and the Democratic Party, which were clawing daily at Nixon's role in the Watergate scandal, he had befriended Haig during the previous administration when they served together in the Pentagon, Califano as a political appointee and Haig as an up-and-coming Army general.

Califano said Friday that Haig telephoned him when word of the tapes became public and Haig realized that they could tie Nixon directly to the bungled burglary at the Democratic Party's Watergate offices and ensuing cover-up.

``I suggested to Haig that they burn the tapes,'' said Califano, although he warned also that the news media would react furiously. But that would pass, he told the general.

``It would have been a terrible 10 days, but it would have been over in 10 days,'' Califano recalled telling Haig.

Ironically, Nixon ignored the suggestion, although he said before he died that he regretted doing so. Instead, he abided by the advice of his new lawyer, Garment, who warned that by destroying the tapes he could be guilty of obstruction of justice.

Asked Friday why he was more concerned about the legal problems of destroying the tape than with the political problem of preserving them, Garment, 72, smiled and replied: ``I guess at that point I was not jaded enough. I've put on a lot of jade since then.''

The others on the panel had no such regrets. Dean, now 55, is an investment banker in Los Angeles who never returned to practicing law after Nixon fired him for refusing to go along with the cover-up.

``I look back on my days in Washington as very good days,'' he said after the panel concluded. ``I had more good days than bad days. I was only 30 years old at the time and I grew up very fast.''

Dean said the tapes captured a pivotal conversation that changed his attitude toward Nixon. It occurred at a time when The Washington Post and others were putting intense pressure on the Watergate burglars and they were demanding money to hire lawyers and keep quiet.

Dean expected Nixon to react with outrage to such demands for money. Instead, Dean said Nixon asked him: `` `How much money?' I reached for a number I thought would be outrageous; I said $1 million. He said: `That's no problem. I know where we can get $1 million.'

``It wasn't the answer that I wanted from my president.''

Dean also said history has also distorted the role played by The Post and especially Woodward and his partner, Carl Bernstein, who became journalistic cult heroes for their coverage. Their stories about the break-in, the Nixon campaign's money laundering and ``dirty tricks'' operation gnawed at the edges of the presidency, Dean said.

But no single story ever broke through to the scandal itself until the tapes became public ``and everything collapsed of its own weight.''

Woodward and Bradlee agreed.

``You give us too much credit for Watergate, as if we had some grand plan,'' Bradlee said.

It was more like being nibbled to death by ducks, Bradlee said. The Post ran 400 stories, none of them grasping the full dimensions of what had occurred.

``We didn't know what was happening. We were just in there with our noses down and our rear ends up.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) John Dean - Lost faith in Nixon

(2) WOODWARD

(3) BRADLEE