The semi-literate scrawl on Page 48 of a foolscap ledger reads simply “1:47am Call police found tape on Doore”. It is now preserved as a crucial historical document in America’s National Archives, alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

But the man who penned it, Frank Wills, died September 27, 2000 in Augusta Georgia, of an inoperable brain tumor, and in deepest poverty at the age of 52.

Frank Wills was a young security guard on duty at the Watergate complex on the evening of June 17, 1972. It was the alertness of Wills that led to the apprehension and arrest of the Watergate burglars.

This is a picture of his log book:

Frank Wills Logbook June 1972 Watergate Hotel break-in

Said Wills, after a brief moment in the spotlight of fame, “I was treated like a criminal myself. I got nothing for what I did and I completely lost my faith in the political system.”

In 1973, he left GSS due to their unwillingness to provide paid vacations. He had trouble finding full-time employment after that. In the Washington Post he was quoted as saying… “I don’t know if they are being told not to hire me or if they are just afraid to hire me.” By the late 70’s, he had moved in with his ailing mother.

In 1983 Wills was sentenced to a year in prison for shoplifting – a pair of sneakers.

On the 25th anniversary of the break-in (1997) Wills was bitter.

In a Boston Globe interview, he said: “I put my life on the line. If it wasn’t for me, Woodward and Bernstein would not have known anything about Watergate. This wasn’t finding a dollar under a couch somewhere.”

Bob Woodward said, “He’s the only one in Watergate who did his job perfectly.”

He died in obscurity, with not many knowing nor caring that it was he who brought down a corrupted President of the United States.
***

Detail of Wills report