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Maurice Stans

An Eisenhower official who served as commerce secretary in the first Nixon Cabinet and finance chairman for the Committee for the Re-election of the President, Maurice Stans was indicted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. He was accused of trying to influence the Securities and Exchange Commission to favor a $200,000 donor named Robert Vesco. Both Stans and his co-defendant, the former attorney general John Mitchell, were acquitted of the charges.

Stans's fund-raising efforts for Nixon brought in nearly $60 million for the reelection campaign and ended up financing the Watergate burglaries and political dirty tricks. However, Stans maintained that he had no knowledge of how the money he raised was used.

Stans authored two books about his experiences: "The Terrors of Justice: The Untold Side of Watergate" (1985) and "One of the Presidents' Men: Twenty Years With Eisenhower and Nixon" (1995). Though no longer involved with politics, Stans remained loyal to the former president, raising $27 million for the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

In 1998, Stans died at the age of 90 in Pasedena, Calif.

• Maurice Stans Dies (April 15, 1998)