Description
Book SynopsisThe second edition of Watergate: A Brief History with Documents presents a collection of relevant historic documents from Nixon''s acceptance speech at the 1968 Republican National Convention to his 1974 pardon.
- Includes transcripts of recently-released Watergate tapes that reveal Nixon''s thoughts and reactions to events as they unfolded, and that deal with the identity of the anonymous source known as ''Deep Throat''.
- Uses the crisis to explain how American politics and law work and provides an indication of the way the country may handle future crises
- Provides brief summaries of what happened to various Watergate participants
- Covers the entire span of time from Nixon''s 1968 acceptance speech at the RNC until his pardon in 1974
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
The Cast of Characters viii
Introduction 1
Watergate: A Brief History 5
I Richard Nixon: At Work and in His Own Words 9
Acceptance Speech: 1968 9
The Personality of the President 10
The Man on Top 12
II The White House Horrors 19
Plumbers and Enemies 19
III The Watergate Break-In 31
The Burglary 31
The Role of the President’s Campaign Committee 34
What Did the White House Know? 36
The White House Reacts: Private and Public Comment 37
IV Cover-Up! The White House Responds 41
The “Smoking Gun”: Using the CIA 41
The Money Trail 47
“Stonewalling” and Perjury 59
V The Conspiracy Unravels: Judge Sirica, the Ellsberg Case, the Senate, and the Special Prosecutor 75
Fatal White House Leaks 75
Sirica and McCord 76
Defections: Dean and Magruder 79
The Ellsberg Case 82
Nixon Responds 87
The President and His Men: Taped Conversations, February–April 1973 90
Haldeman and Ehrlichman Resign 109
The Special Prosecutor 111
The Special Prosecutor: Nixon’s Reaction 114
The Special Prosecutor Takes Over 117
Senate Select Committee: John Dean 117
Senate Select Committee: Ehrlichman and Haldeman 122
Senate Select Committee: Revelation of the Tapes 131
VI The Tapes and the Saturday Night Massacre 135
The Battle for the Tapes 135
The President Retreats 145
October: The Cruelest Month 148
The Saturday Night Massacre 155
The President Succumbs 156
The New Special Prosecutor 158
The 18½-Minute Tape Gap 163
VII The Final Agony: Impeachment, Resignation, Pardon 167
Nixon Embattled 167
The Impeachment Inquiry 176
U.S. v. Nixon 190
Resignation 198
The Pardon 203
Appendix 207
Watergate Special Prosecution Force Criminal Actions Final Report, 1975 207
Bibliographical Note 219
