Lessons from history are relevant today, quips the passionate—and perhaps idealistic—Keith Krum. If he succeeds, Washington may soon gain another institution devoted to preserving the past: the Watergate Museum.
“Why now?” I asked Krum, a Watergate resident, attorney with the nonprofit Veterans Consortium, and chairman of the board of the soon-to-be Watergate Museum. After all, the failed break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters occurred in 1972, and the ensuing cover-up led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation two years later.
“At the time, the Watergate complex itself was unique and controversial,” Krum explains. “It was one of the country’s first urban developments to combine residential, office, hotel, and retail space, and its curves and swirls changed Washington’s skyline.” Designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti, it became one of the nation’s most iconic addresses. “The political events of 1972 gave Watergate international fame. Like it or not, today it’s back in the headlines.”
“Young people walk by and say, ‘OMG, that’s the Watergate!’” Krum says. “They know there’s a story there, but many don’t actually know what that story is. Their grandparents watched the hearings on TV, but the details have faded.”
Krum emphasizes that the museum is about more than civics education—it’s also about civility. That’s where the cooperative nature of the Watergate complex becomes part of the lesson. “Anyone who’s lived in a co-op knows you share responsibilities, burdens, and assets,” he says. “You can’t get anything done unless a majority agrees to work together.”
This idea forms the heart of Krum’s civics elevator pitch. “If people learn about a time when government institutions worked together to protect the rule of law, they can see that it can happen again,” he explains. “Politicians were not always as polarized as they are today. There was a time when people believed in government and the law.” Krum hopes the museum can help rekindle that belief.
In addition to the museum’s board—all Watergate residents—the advisory council includes prominent figures from the Watergate era, among them Richard Ben-Veniste, chief of the Watergate Task Force in the Office of the Special Prosecutor (1973–75), and Jill Wine-Banks, assistant Watergate special prosecutor.
The board is working to raise $3.5 million to establish the museum within the Watergate complex. In the meantime, an art exhibit featuring New York artist Laurie Munn’s portraits of key Watergate figures is on view on the lower level through late April.
Munn, now in her late 70s and living in Tarrytown, New York, describes herself as a “serial portrait painter.” She grew up in “Nixonland” in Southern California, where portraits of President Nixon often hung over living room mantels. As an aspiring artist, she was fascinated by both the imagery and the Watergate hearings she watched on television. Over the years, she has painted both presidential and First Lady series.
For her Watergate series, Munn painted one portrait a day, capturing telling expressions and moments: Dick Cheney’s smirk, Martha Mitchell’s carefully orchestrated leaks, Rosemary Woods and the missing 18 minutes, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Senate committee members Howard Baker and Fred Thompson, John and Maureen Dean, and many more. The series—now at 82 portraits—is still a work in progress; former Rep. Tom Railsback, for example, is notably absent.
Munn painted the series between 2008 and 2010 and first exhibited it at the Watergate Gallery in 2012 to mark the 40th anniversary of the break-in. Although she received offers to purchase individual works—including one from John Dean—she declined. “It’s a story,” she says. “I don’t want to break it up.” Instead, she made Dean a poster featuring both him and his wife, Maureen, while keeping the originals.
One of Munn’s favorite portraits is of John Mitchell—ironically, the only one she never finished and the only one not painted in acrylic. Executed in oil on a heavily gessoed surface, she stopped when it felt complete. “It turned out so well that I said, I’m just leaving it like this,” she recalls. Some portraits are smaller than others for a more practical reason: “I didn’t get to the art store to buy a larger canvas.”
Another favorite is her large portrait of Nixon’s personal secretary, Rosemary Woods, who lived in the Watergate. Since Woods famously erased part of a tape, Munn depicted her with her foot on the pedal.
A pop-up show honoring the 40th anniversary of Watergate—and Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee—was held at the Democratic National Committee offices. “I hung all the plumbers’ portraits at the exact spot where they broke in,” Munn says.
She is currently taking a break from another project, The Trump Show, to complete the Watergate series. Choosing her words carefully, she says, “It’s so awful. It’s not the same—but I’m doing some very good portraits of them in their horror mode.”
Watergate is Munn’s second-favorite series. She remembers the complex from her days attending art school in Baltimore. Her favorite project began with a 1965 high school yearbook she found on the street. Years later, she tracked down classmates online, painted all 220 portraits, and organized a reunion. She sees parallels with Watergate: through her research and painting, she met many of the figures she portrayed, including Ben Bradlee, Woodward, Bernstein, Bud Krogh, and John Dean.
Krum also has a personal connection to the artwork. His favorite portrait is of Archibald Cox, his former history professor and mentor at Boston University. He describes Cox as “a riveting storyteller” and “very humble.”
Architectural drawings for the museum were created by Design Lines and incorporate signature elements of the Watergate complex, including its curved form and distinctive balcony “teeth.”
As plans for the Watergate Museum move forward and memorabilia continues to be donated, the project aims to do more than preserve a pivotal chapter in American history. It seeks to remind visitors of the importance of accountability, civic engagement, and trust in institutions. By revisiting a moment when the system ultimately held firm, the museum hopes to inspire a deeper understanding of how democracy can endure—and why its lessons still matter today.
For more information: www.watergatemuseum.org