Richard Gordon Kleindienst served as U.S. attorney general from 1972 to 1973 under President Richard M. Nixon. Kleindienst's brief tenure was marred by his involvement with the Watergate political scandal.

Kleindienst was born on August 5, 1923 in Winslow, Arizona. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and then entered Harvard University. He graduated in 1947 and proceeded to earn a law degree from Harvard in 1950. Kleindienst returned to Arizona and joined a law firm in Phoenix but he was more interested in Republican Party politics. Though he served a term in the Arizona House of Representatives, Kleindienst's talents lay in political organizing. Dissatisfied with the moderate stance of the national Republican Party, he worked closely with Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater to transform it into a more conservative party. During the 1950s and early 1960s, Kleindienst held a variety of state party posts and served on several national...