Boston Herald - A new theory about Deep Throat, the most mysterious figure in American political history, has been posted on a media Web site.

Could former President George H.W. Bush be the elusive source who brought down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal by leaking key information to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward?

That's the opinion of Adrian Havill, the author of a 1993 biography ``Deep Truth'' on reporters Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Havill, a Virginia-based writer, previously had concluded the unnamed Watergate source was not one person but a composite. Now, after new research, he posted a note on the Romenesko site of the Poynter Institute (poynter.org) targeting the elder Bush as Woodward's unnamed contact.

Havill said he began to suspect Bush when his president son, who dislikes the press, gave Woodward an unusual seven hours of interviews.

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The elder Bush had motivation to dislike Nixon, who had urged him to leave a safe congressional seat for an assistant Secretary of Treasury position and hinted he would replace Spiro Agnew on the 1972 ticket. Nixon reneged, and Bush ``was given the thankless task of heading the Republican National Committee in 1973,'' Havill said.