Samuel Dash | |
---|---|
Born | February 27, 1925 Camden, New Jersey |
Died | May 29, 2004 Washington, D.C. |
(aged 79)
Nationality | American |
Other names | Sam Dash |
Alma mater |
Temple University (B.A., 1947) Harvard Law School (J.D., 1950) |
Occupation | lawyer |
Known for | chief counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate scandal |
Spouse(s) | Sara Dash (1947-his death) |
Children | Judi Dash (daughter) Rachel Dash (daughter) |
Parent(s) | Joseph and Ida Dash |
Samuel Dash (February 27, 1925 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer who was chief counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate scandal. Dash became famous for his televised interrogations during the hearings held by the United States Congress on the Watergate incident.
Dash was born in Camden, New Jersey, to Joseph and Ida Dash (originally Dashevsky), Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union. His family later moved to Philadelphia.
He graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia and went on to study at Temple University. He interrupted his studies when at the age of 18, with the United States engaged in fighting World War II, Dash enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served as a bombardier navigator, flying missions over Italy. After the war, he finished his undergraduate degree at Temple University in 1947. Dash then studied at Harvard Law School where he gained his degree in 1950.
In 1955 he became a district attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but he later went into private practice.
Dash became a law professor at Georgetown University, where he was working when he was requested to assist United States Senator Sam Ervin, head of the Senate Committee charged to investigate the possible involvement of President Richard Nixon in an attempted break in, and its subsequent cover up, of offices used by the Democratic Party at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. He was given a leave of absence by the university to take on this position.