The Wars of Watergate : The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon

This is the first truly comprehensive history of the political explosion that shook America in the 1970s, and whose aftereffects are still being felt in public life today. Drawing on contemporary documents, personal interviews, memoirs, and a vast quantity of new material, Stanley Kutler shows how President Nixon’s obstruction of justice from the White House capped a pattern of abuse that marked his entire tenure in office. He makes clear how the drama of Watergate is rooted not only in the tumultuous events and social tensions of the 1960s but also in the personality and history of Richard Nixon. Kutler examines Nixon’s confrontations with the institutions he feared and resented—the Congress, the federal agencies, the news media, the Washington establishment—and how they mobilized to topple the President. He considers the arguments of Nixon’s defenders, who insisted that Watergate was a minor affair, and the contention that the President did nothing worse than his predecessors had done. He offers compelling portraits of the President’s men—H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Mitchell, Charles Colson, John Dean; of his adversaries—Judge John Sirica, the U.S. Attorneys, Special Prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski; and of the legislators who would stand in judgment—Sam Ervin and Peter Rodino. In the course of his engrossing narrative, Stanley Kutler illuminates the constitutional crisis brought on by Watergate. He shows how Watergate diminished the moral level of American political life, and illustrates its continuing detrimental impact on the credibility, authority, and prestige of the Presidency in particular and the government in general. His book underlines for the American electorate the significance of Watergate for the future of our political ethics and the maintenance of our constitutional system, as well as for the place of Richard Nixon in American history. A Historical Look At The Watergate Affair Examining Its Political Significance And Its Influence On Richard Nixon's Place In History. Book One Of Time And The Man: Discord, Disorder, And Richard Nixon -- Breaking Faith: The 1960s -- Making Many Nixons: 1913-1965 -- Bring Us Together: 1965-1968 -- Book Two First Term, First Wars -- The Man On Top -- I Want It Done, Whatever The Cost. Enemies, Plumbers, Taps, And Spies -- The Politics Of Deadlock: Nixon And Congress -- Media Wars -- Book Three The Watergate War: Origins And Retreat, June 1972-april 1973 -- We Should Come Up With...imaginative Dirty Tricks. The Watergate Break-in -- What Really Hurts Is If You Try To Cover It Up. Watergate And The Campaign Of 1972 -- The Cover-up Is The Main Ingredient. A Blackmailer, A Senator, And A Judge: November 1972-march 1973 -- We Have A Cancer Within, Close To The Presidency. Covering Up The Cover-up: January-march 1973 -- We Have To Prick The Goddam Boil And Take The Heat. Cutting Loose: April 1973 -- Book Four The Watergate War: Disarray And Disgrace, May 1973-august 1974 -- New Enemies. The Special Prosecutor And The Senate Committee: May 1973 -- What Did The President Know, And When Did He Know It? The Senate Committee: Summer 1973 -- Let Other Wallow In Watergate. Agnew, The Tapes, And The Saturday Night Massacre: August-october 1973 -- Sinister Forces. Ford, Jaworski, Tape Gaps, And Taxes: November-december 1973 -- Fight. Tapes And Indictments: January-may 1974 -- Well, Al, There Goes The Presidency. The House Judiciary Committee: June-july 1974 -- Judgment Days. The Supreme Court And The Judiciary Committee: July 1974 -- I Hereby Resign. August 1974 -- Book Five The Impact And Meaning Of Watergate -- The Burden I Shall Bear For Every Day. The Pardon: September 1974 -- In The Shadow Of Watergate -- Richard Nixon, Watergate, And History. Stanley I. Kutler. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [631]-690) And Index.