Watergate: Books

With the publication of his magisterial biography of John F. Kennedy, An Unfinished Life, Robert Dallek cemented his reputation as one of the greatest historians of our time. Now, in this epic joint biography, he offers a provocative, groundbreaking portrait of a pair of outsize leaders whose unlikely partnership dominated the world stage and changed the course of history. More than thirty years after working side-by-side in the White House, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger remain two of the most compelling, contradictory, and powerful men in America in the second half of the twentieth century. While their personalities could hardly have seemed more different, they were drawn together by the same magnetic force. Both were largely self-made men, brimming with ambition, driven by their own inner demons, and often ruthless in pursuit of their goals. At the height of their power, the collaboration and rivalry between them led to a sweeping series of policies that would leave a defining mark on the Nixon presidency. Tapping into a wealth of recently declassified archives, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger's tumultuous personal relationship and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach for achievements in foreign affairs. Dallek also brilliantly analyzes their dealings with power brokers at home and abroad--including the nightmare of Vietnam, the unprecedented opening to China, detente with the Soviet Union, the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, the disastrous overthrow of Allende in Chile, and growing tensions between India and Pakistan--while recognizing how both men were continually plotting to distract the American public's attention from the growing scandal of Watergate. With unprecedented detail, Dallek reveals Nixon's erratic behavior during Watergate and the extent to which Kissinger was complicit in trying to help Nixon use national security to prevent his impeachment or resignation. Illuminating, authoritative, revelatory, and utterly engrossing, Nixon and Kissinger provides a startling new picture of the immense power and sway these two men held in changing world history.(Harper Perennial)

"What drove a painfully shy introvert-so self-conscious he preferred telephone calls to meetings-to pursue public office, and how did these same qualities presage his infamous downfall? Beginning with Nixon's painful and awkward stage debut, the narrative is fast-paced and colorful-not another heavy and ponderous presidential biography but a detailed, dramatic, and perceptive character study that carefully examines both the good and bad sides of Richard Nixon." (Random House)

Six Crises is the first book written by Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. This book was published in 1962. It recounts Nixon's recollections of six major political situations that required crisis management on his part. Why did Nixon write this book? Nixon was motivated to write this book in order to enhance his faltering public image which sorely needed enhancement. In 1962 Nixon was at a low point in his life, yet he was planning a political comeback. His efforts were successful because of the intensity of his will and his dogged determination. In just six years he became President of the United States and leader of the free world. Tragically in another six years his character flaws caused him to lose everything. His career started in 1946 when he was elected to the U.S. Congress and to the Senate four years later. President Eisenhower selected him to be Vice President in 1952. In 1960 he was doing well. Then in 1960, he lost the presidential election to John F. Kennedy. This blow seemed to end his public life. The next January, after his Vice Presidential term ended, he returned home to California. He intended to retire from politics and practice law.

The former president shares his personal views of the Watergate scandal, his resignation and pardon, his long political career, and his struggle to return to public life.

After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Richard Nixon's political career was proclaimed dead by everyone. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he lost in California, he would stand taking the oath of office as the 37th President of the United States. How did he resurrect his political career and reunite the Republican Party? In The Greatest Comeback, bestselling author Patrick J. Buchanan-who, beginning in 1966, served as one of two staff members to Nixon and who would become a senior advisor in the White House after 1968-gives a first-hand account of those pivotal years, in which Nixon worked to reverse his political fortunes in a decade marked by civil rights protests, social revolution, The Vietnam War, the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King, riots, and the rise of the New Left. Through excerpts from over 1,000 personal memos from Buchanan to Nixon and back, readers watch first-hand as Nixon pulls the far-flung strands of the Republican party-from the conservative base that backed Barry Goldwater to the liberal wing that backed George Romney and Nelson Rockefeller, not to mention an ascendant Ronald Reagan-into the victorious coalition that won him the White House. (Crown Forum)

The New York Times bestselling dazzling portrait of America on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the tumultuous political and economic times of the 1970s. In January of 1973 Richard Nixon announced the end of the Vietnam War and prepared for a triumphant second term—until televised Watergate hearings revealed his White House as little better than a mafia den. The next president declared upon Nixon’s resignation “our long national nightmare is over”—but then congressional investigators exposed the CIA for assassinating foreign leaders. The collapse of the South Vietnamese government rendered moot the sacrifice of some 58,000 American lives. The economy was in tatters. And as Americans began thinking about their nation in a new way—as one more nation among nations, no more providential than any other—the pundits declared that from now on successful politicians would be the ones who honored this chastened new national mood. Ronald Reagan never got the message. Which was why, when he announced his intention to challenge President Ford for the 1976 Republican nomination, those same pundits dismissed him until, amazingly, it started to look like he just might win. He was inventing the new conservative political culture we know now, in which a vision of patriotism rooted in a sense of American limits was derailed in America’s Bicentennial year by the rise of the smiling politician from Hollywood. Against a backdrop of melodramas from the Arab oil embargo to Patty Hearst to the near-bankruptcy of America's greatest city, The Invisible Bridge asks the question: what does it mean to believe in America? To wave a flag or to reject the glibness of the flag wavers? (Simon & Schuster)

Challenges the accepted history of the fall of Richard Nixon and contains provocative new material based on interviews with G. Gordon Liddy, Spiro Agnew, Bob Woodward, and other key players.(St. Martin's Press)

The author presents startling discoveries that indicate that the American public has been seriously misinformed about the Watergate Scandal and reveals the actual culprits, sexual scandals, and malicious inter-agency spying.
(Random House)

Heidi Rikan was an ex-stripper who, during the Nixon years, was working for the mob in Washington, D.C. White House Call Girl tells how an escort service she ran led to the Watergate break-in, bringing down Tricky Dick Nixon himself. For 40 years the public have only heard the Woodward and Bernstein perspective on Watergate. Finally they can hear (and see) the other version. We've got the photos. What's more, we've got Heidi's little black book. (Feral House)

After being sworn in as president, Richard Nixon told the assembled crowd that "government will listen. ... Those who have been left out, we will try to bring in." But that same day, he obliterated those pledges of greater citizen control of government by signing National Security Decision Memorandum 2, a document that made sweeping changes to the national security power structure. Nixon's signature erased the influence that the departments of State and Defense, as well as the CIA, had over Vietnam and the course of the Cold War. The new structure put Nixon at the center, surrounded by loyal aides and a new national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, who coordinated policy through the National Security Council under Nixon's command. Using years of research and revelations from newly released documents, USA Today reporter Ray Locker upends much of the conventional wisdom about the Nixon administration and its impact and shows how the creation of this secret, unprecedented, extra-constitutional government undermined U.S. policy and values. In doing so, Nixon sowed the seeds of his own destruction by creating a climate of secrecy, paranoia, and reprisal that still affects Washington today. (Lyons Press)

Between John Dean’s efforts to gain immunity from prosecution for his central involvement in the Watergate break-in and plot to cover it up and Ted Kennedy’s efforts to redeem his political career after Chappaquiddick lies the real truth behind the Watergate scandal, alleges Shepard, a former Nixon White House staffer. Drawing on extensive research, Shepard contends that Kennedy used his subcommittee to begin an investigation and funnel information to the committee officially charged with looking into the Watergate scandal. Kennedy insiders were all part of a Camelot conspiracy to bring down President Nixon and harm the Republican Party to such an extent that Kennedy would be primed to win a bid for the presidency in 1976, alleges Shepard. Although Dean has come to be regarded as one of the heroes of the era, Shepard asserts that once Dean, the president’s counsel, decided to aid the investigation, he became the villain, breaching attorney-client privilege and releasing government secrets. All the drama of Watergate is here: Deep Throat, the 18½-minute gap on the Nixon White House tapes, the Senate posturing, and the impeachment inquiry. Shepard is thorough in his research and passionate in his viewpoints but has no compunction about imagining events and motivations when they are not documented and is reluctant to provide facts and let readers come to their own conclusions. Still, Shepard brings back vivid memories of an acrimonious time and raises some interesting questions. --Vanessa Bush

An aging judge about to step down. Aggressive prosecutors friendly with the judge. A disgraced president. A nation that had already made up its mind. The Watergate trials were a legal mess--and now, with the discovery of new documents that reveal shocking misconduct by prosecutors and judges alike, former Nixon staffer Geoff Shepard has a convincing case that the wrongdoing of these history-making trials was actually a bigger scandal than the Watergate scandal itself. (Regency History)

"We appreciate Roger Stone, he is one tough cookie." - President Trump Learn the inside scoop on Watergate, the Ford Pardon, and the 18 ½ minute Gap. Roger Stone, The New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Killed Kennedy--the Case Against LBJ, gives the inside scoop on Nixon''s rise and fall in Watergate in his new book Nixon''s Secrets. Stone charts Nixon''s rise from election to Congress in 1946 to the White House in 1968 after his razor-thin loss to John Kennedy in 1960, his disastrous campaign for Governor of California in 1962 and the greatest comeback in American Presidential history. "Just as the assassination of JFK prevents a balanced analysis of Kennedy and his times, the myth of Watergate prevents a reappraisal of our 37th President." said Stone who''s book on LBJ was the second biggest selling book during the 50th anniversary of Kennedy''s murder. Stone reveals how the Kennedy''s wiretapped Nixon''s hotel room the night before the Nixon-Kennedy debate, and stole Nixon''s medical records from his psychiatrist''s office. Stone lays out how Kennedy running mate Lyndon Johnson stole Texas from JFK through vote fraud while Mayor Richard Daley stole Illinois, and how JFK actually lost the popular vote. Stone looks at the Nixon Presidency: the desegregation of the public schools, the progressive social programs, Nixon''s struggle to end the war in Vietnam, the historic SALT arms reduction agreement with Russia, the saving of Israel in the Six Days War, the opening to China, and the disastrous decision to take America off the Gold standard. "The mainstream media''s interpretation of the facts surrounding the Watergate episode are a fantastic and grotesque distortion of historical truth," said Stone. "Cursory examination of the facts in Watergate will reveal that the actions which caused the fall of Nixon cannot be reduced to the simplistic account summarized by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post." The author outlines how White House Counsel John Dean, planned, pushed and covered-up the Watergate break-in , then sought to avoid responsibility for it. Stone examines the bungled Watergate break-in to determine what exactly Nixon''s agents were looking for and how the CIA infiltrated the burglar team and sabotaged the break-in to gain leverage over Nixon. Find out why Nixon demanded the CIA turn over the records of the Bay of Pigs and Kennedy Assassination. Learn how a cabal of military and intelligence hard-liners spied on and undermined Nixon to stop his pro-peace détente foreign policy, his withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, his arms limitation agreement with the Soviets, and his opening to Red China. Discover how Vice President Spiro Agnew was setup to move him out of the line of presidential succession. Stone makes the compelling case that General Alexander Haig orchestrated Nixon''s removal from office in a coup d''état and brokered the deal for his pardon. Finally the public will learn what is on the 18 ½ minute gap in the White House Tapes. Stone, a Washington Insider for forty years, outlines why FBI Man Mark Felt is not deep throat, why there is no deep throat, and why Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein lie about it even today. Stone reveals how Nixon used the dark secrets he knew to avoid prosecution by blackmailing Gerald Ford for a full, free and unconditional pardon. Nixon''s secret would not only destroy his presidency--it would save him from prison and allow him to launch his final comeback--advising President Bill Clinton on Foreign Affairs despite Hillary''s attempts to block him and her being fired from the 1974 House Impeachment Committee for lying and violating Nixon''s rights. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. (Skyhorse Publishing)

The last untold story of Watergate--by the FBI director who maintained his silence for more than thirty years L.Patrick Gray III was the man caught in the middle of the Watergate scandal. He was a lifelong Republican, but Richard Nixon considered him a threat. Closing in on the conspiracy, Gray became the target of one of Watergate's most shocking acts--Nixon's "smoking gun" attempt to have the CIA stop the FBI investigation. And when the U.S. Senate focused its attention on Gray in April 1973, the White House threw him to the wolves; John Ehrlichman famously advised that he be left to "twist slowly, slowly in the wind." This book is Gray's firsthand account of what really happened during his crucial year as acting director of the FBI, based on a never-before-published first-person account and previously secret documents. He reveals the witches' brew of intrigue and perfidy that permeated Washington, and he tells the unknown story of his complex relationship with his top deputy, Mark Felt, raising disturbing questions about the methods and motives of the man purported to be Deep Throat. Gray's book was completed and expanded by his son, the journalist Ed Gray, who has supplemented the text with revelatory excerpts from documents, tape transcripts, and third-party accounts. Every other major figure has told his story, and now Patrick Gray's unique inside account will change the way we think about the crisis that destroyed the Nixon presidency. (Henry Holt and Co)

The blueprint for Nixon's downfall, based on tapes released from 2010 to 2013, most of which have never been published WhenThe Nixon Tapes: 1971-1972 was published in August of 2014, it jumped immediately onto theNew York Timesbestseller list and captivated media attention for its many revelations.  Douglas Brinkley and Luke Nichter's heroic efforts to transcribe and annotate the highlights of more than 3,700 hours of recorded conversations provided an unprecedented and fascinating window into the inner workings of a momentous presidency.  Now, with a concluding volume to cover the final year of the Nixon taping system, Brinkley and Nichter tell the rest of the story -- once again with revelations on every page, including how Nixon and Kissinger knew privately that the January 1973 Vietnam peace agreement would not hold, even as the ink was still drying how Nixon and Kissinger anticipated the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East Nixon's threat to send a "division" of tanks to kill Native Americans at the Wounded Knee standoff and more . . . With Nixon's dominating 1972 reelection receding into the background and the Watergate scandal looming,The Nixon Tapes: 1973 reveals the inside story of the tragedy that followed the triumph. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)