L. Patrick Gray
| L. Patrick Gray | |
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Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting |
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In office May 3, 1972 – April 27, 1973 |
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| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | J. Edgar Hoover |
| Succeeded by | William Ruckelshaus (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Louis Patrick Gray III July 18, 1916 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | July 6, 2005 (aged 88) Atlantic Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Beatrice Gray |
| Education |
Rice University United States Naval Academy (BA) George Washington University (JD) |
Louis Patrick "Pat" Gray III (July 18, 1916 – July 6, 2005) was Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 2, 1972 to April 27, 1973. During this time, the FBI was in charge of the initial investigation into the burglaries that sparked the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon. Gray was nominated as permanent Director by Nixon on February 15, 1973, but failed to win Senate confirmation. He resigned as acting FBI director on April 27, 1973, after he admitted to destroying documents received on June 28, 1972, 11 days after the Watergate burglary, that had come from convicted Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt's safe, given to him by White House counsel John Dean.
Gray remained publicly silent about the Watergate scandal for 32 years, speaking to the press only once, near the end of his life; this was shortly after Gray's direct subordinate at the FBI, FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt, unexpectedly proclaimed himself to have been the secret source to The Washington Post known as “Deep Throat”.
Gray was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 18, 1916, the eldest son of Louis Patrick Gray, Jr., a Texas railroad worker. He worked three jobs while attending schools in St. Louis and Houston, Texas, graduating from St. Thomas High School in 1932, at the age of 16 (having skipped two grades). Gray initially attended Rice University; however, his true goal was to be admitted to the United States Naval Academy. He was finally admitted to the Naval Academy in 1936 and he immediately dropped out of Rice University in his senior year so he could attend.
At the time, however, Gray could not afford the bus or train fare to Annapolis, so he hired on as an apprentice seaman on a tramp steamer out of Galveston. During the journey to Philadelphia (the closest the steamer could get him to Maryland), Gray taught calculus to the ship's captain, a Bulgarian named Frank Solis, in return for basic lessons in navigation. Once in Philadelphia, Gray hitchhiked to Annapolis.
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