Nixon: Past & President

[lovemydog]

30. I too am fascinated by Nixon.

I've probably read 25 books on Watergate. I have the first Brinkley tapes book. Will probably get this one. The March 23, 1973 conversation with Haldeman, as you probably know, was the so-called smoking gun - in it he orders that a million dollars be used as hush money to buy people's silence, proof that he orchestrated the cover-up. I've always wondered what was in the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap on one of the tapes. I'd imagine it was incredibly damaging. Among the books I've found most useful is Stanley Cutler's excellent Abuse of Power, which I believe we've discussed here in the past.

I presume the judge that this other book criticizes is John Sirica. I'm interested in what that author has to say because I enjoy alternative theories and hearing what the Nixon Administration folks were thinking. What a crazy time period. And what a shame that such a smart man was so obsessed with his 'enemies.' His plotting and paranoid scheming were just atrocious and his refusal to get out of Vietnam was costly to our nation. Like you, I feel we learn more by reading history than we do by following the day to day gossip that often calls itself news and is really little more than gossip.