Egil Krogh

Egil Krogh was an American attorney who rose to prominence within the administration of President Richard Nixon and later served briefly as the United States Secretary of Transportation. His career encompassed roles in legal counsel, covert operations, public office, private practice, and ethics education. After a period of incarceration for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, he returned to the legal profession and became an outspoken advocate for integrity in public service until his death in 2020.

Early life and career

Egil Krogh was born on August 3, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Josephine (Woolling) and Egil Einar Krogh, a Norwegian immigrant who worked as an executive for the Marshall Field’s department‑store chain. The family moved frequently because of his father’s career assignments; they lived in Chicago, Portland, Oregon, St. Louis, Missouri, and eventually settled in Seattle, Washington.

He attended Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, where he graduated with highest honors in 1961. After college, Krogh served as a communications officer aboard the USS Yorktown from 1962 to 1965, during which time he was part of the United States Navy’s fleet. Following his naval service, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1968.

Krogh began his legal career at Hullin, Ehrlichman, Roberts, and Hodge, a Seattle law firm associated with John Ehrlichman, who would later become a senior aide to President Nixon. In 1968 he joined Ehrlichman’s counsel office for Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. After Nixon’s election, Krogh assisted in the arrangements for the inauguration ceremony.

Within the White House, Krogh served as an advisor on matters concerning Washington, D.C., and later acted as liaison to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. It was during this period that he met G. Gordon Liddy, who would become a key figure in the administration’s covert operations.

Cabinet tenure

In 1973, Krogh briefly held the position of United States Secretary of Transportation, acting in an interim capacity under President Nixon. While his time in the role was short and largely administrative, it placed him within the executive branch at a high level during a period of significant federal activity.

Prior to his cabinet appointment, Krogh had been appointed head of the White House’s “Special Investigation Unit” (SIU), a covert office tasked with investigating leaks of classified information. The unit became popularly known as the “Plumbers,” reflecting its mission to “fix” leaks that threatened national security. Despite a reputation for strict adherence to the law—earning him the nickname “Evil Krogh”—he was placed in charge of this secretive operation.

Krogh’s tenure with the SIU included approval of the September 1971 burglary of Lewis Fielding’s office, where Daniel Ellsberg had stored copies of the Pentagon Papers. The break‑in was carried out by Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. Krogh later refused to authorize a wiretap that would have expanded the unit’s surveillance activities; this refusal led to his dismissal from the SIU.

The Watergate scandal brought Krogh into the national spotlight. On November 30, 1973, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to violate Fielding’s civil rights and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He received a six‑year sentence but served only four and a half months in prison. In 1975, the Washington State Supreme Court disbarred him; his petition for readmission was denied in 1977 but ultimately approved in 1980, allowing him to resume legal practice.

After his release from prison, Krogh authored several works reflecting on ethics and public service. He co‑authored *Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House* with his son Matthew in 2007; the book served as a basis for the HBO limited series *White House Plumbers*. Earlier, he had written *The Day Elvis Met Nixon*, recounting the impromptu meeting between President Nixon and singer Elvis Presley on December 21, 1970—a visit Krogh organized while overseeing narcotics policy matters.

In 1980, following his reinstatement to the bar, Krogh became a partner at the Seattle firm Krogh & Leonard. He provided legal, consulting, and mediation services primarily to energy companies and other clients. Throughout the subsequent decades he remained active in ethics education, serving as a Senior Fellow on Ethics and Leadership at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and as Counselor to the Director at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership. By 2014 he was frequently invited to speak at law schools, bar associations, and judicial forums about his experiences.

Legacy

Krogh’s life illustrates a complex trajectory from respected attorney to central figure in one of American history’s most significant political scandals, followed by a period of reflection and advocacy for ethical conduct. His willingness to admit wrongdoing and cooperate with investigators set an example for accountability within the federal government. The books he authored and the public lectures he delivered contributed to ongoing discussions about the responsibilities of public officials and the importance of integrity in governance.

His involvement in the Watergate era remains a cautionary tale about the limits of executive power, while his later work on ethics underscores the possibility of redemption and constructive engagement after misconduct. Krogh’s death on January 18, 2020, closed a chapter marked by both controversy and a sustained commitment to public service principles.