Key Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy dies at 90

G. Gordon Liddy, the Richard Nixon associate who organized the Watergate break-in and later refused to testify at the congressional hearings on the matter, died Tuesday at his daughter's home in Virginia. He was 90.

Over the course of his life, George Gordon Liddy served in the Marines, unsuccessfully ran for Congress, and worked as an FBI agent and prosecutor, but he gained notoriety as a Nixon operative. He was first assigned to discredit Daniel Ellsberg after he leaked the Pentagon Papers, and went on to coordinate the 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The scandal led to Nixon's resignation.

Liddy didn't regret the break-in, saying, "I was serving the president of the United States and I would do Watergate again — but with a much better crew." Liddy, who also didn't testify at his criminal trial, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but had his sentence commuted, and ultimately served only 52 months.

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After his stint in prison, Liddy became an actor, specializing in playing villains, and hosted a syndicated right-wing radio talk show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show. His wife of 53 years, Frances, died in 2010, and he is survived by five children and 12 grandchildren.