Dean's Kismet

John Dean almost missed his appointment with history -- and his role as Richard Nixon's chief accuser. TIME learned last week that immediately after the 1972 election, Dean looked into a number of private-employment opportunities. He was making $42,500 at the White House and could have substantially increased that in a corporation or large law firm.

One offer seemed particularly attractive, and Dean told John Ehrlichman that he intended to leave the Administration. Ehrlichman advised strongly against it. Gazing into a spectacularly clouded crystal ball, Ehrlichman impressed Dean with the challenges and satisfactions that awaited him during Nixon's second term. So Dean stayed and participated in the events of the following winter and spring, about which he would later testify in damning detail. His only job these days is as a Government witness.

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