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Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes

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This is an incredible read, an essential addition to any Watergate buff's library. The bulk of the book consists of transcripts from conversations Nixon had with his advisors during the Watergate break-in and its aftermath. All of the material is recently released and there's no doubt why the Nixon daughters desperately want this stuff suppressed: it paints their father with a viscerally black brush. We all know Nixon was a paranoid loner, brilliant but erratic, and distrustful of everyone around him except Haldeman and Ehrlichman. These tapes show conclusively that Nixon also demanded total sycophancy from his inner circle, that he was a racist, an habitual liar and someone with a pathological need to deceive.

Bob Haldeman and Alexander Haig come off as complete toadies; worthless "yes men." Ehrlichman comes across better, as does Magruder, but the worst abuse must be heaped on Henry Kissinger, who appears as a quasi-insane boot licker of the highest order. It's incredible to see these men constantly assure Nixon that he was always right, always clever and completely above the law. How wrong they all were.

The most delicious parts are when Nixon speaks himself. He is unintentionally hilarious, as he plots to "get" various reporters, wiretap his enemies and harass anyone who gets in his way. His diatribes on Howard Baker and Sam Erwin are the stuff of classics, you'll be on the floor, laughing. "That senile old b------," Nixon growls about Erwin. "He's half in the bag every waking moment, the miserable a------." This is a grand book, highly entertaining!

Kutler has done a masterful job of presenting these tapes.Nixon was terribly served by his advisors. Haldeman was a meanspirited drone. One surprise was how badly Haldeman's successor, General Aexander Haig,comes across. In his goal to consolidate his own power he spurs Nixon's paranoia and anger. In the end all the president's men ill served their flawed chief. Nixon comes across and a petty, vengeful and neurotic man. Imagine. having your day to day conversations publicly revealed. Posthumus humiliation! Any student of Watergate must read this book.

If you are interested in how Nixon and his staff handled the Watergate issue, then the book Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes by, Stanley Kutler is a great one to read. Kutler does a great job of setting the private conversations up with comments as to what they cover. He also gives some explanations at the beginning of the major areas of the book. I was happy that they did not edit much of the conversations that took place because they serve a good point in the overall book.

What struck me the most about the book was just how desperate Nixon kept getting. I almost started to think that maybe he even believed the lies he was telling. It was so fascinating to see how he would come up with a "cover" story and then keep presenting it to his staff to see if they would replace their understanding of the events with his. What is sad is the amount of denial that Nixon encountered at the end. He was trying so hard to justify his actions; I started to think that he was trying to change reality with his force of will.

Many of the conversations are very revealing and interesting. It makes me wonder, if at times, Nixon forgot he was being taped? I got a good understanding of why Nixon and his family fought so hard to keep the tapes private. In my opinion, these tapes have set back all the work Nixon did after leaving office to rebuild his reputation. It will help you if have read something else to give you some background on the conversations. Hopefully, this will not be the only book on the Watergate scandal that you read. Overall, the book is interesting and well written.

A critic of Kutler claimed that he was "dean-for-life of the Nixon haters" and that Nixon's words had been distorted in this book. Even if there are some transciption errors, this book is essential for anyone interested in Nixon. Short of going to the archives at College Park, MD, this is the only source currently available for this material.

I listened to the cassette tape version of this book, which is a reenactment of the tapes by professional actors. I was kind of hoping to listen to the actual tapes, but this approach turned out to be better than expected.

One thing that kind of bugged me was the continual mispronunciation of Gordon Strachan's name (pronounced "strawn" not "stra-chen"). That kind of boo boo only reminded me that these were actors and not the real people.

If you grew up during the Vietnam era (or not), and cut your teeth on Watergate and the resignation of a president, listen to Abuse of Power as a book on tape. Hear the participants speak for themselves in the privacy of their offices. Kutler's Abuse of Power is based on tapes hitherto suppressed as Nixon, in his lifetime, vigorously sought to repaint his image.

Also recommended to read alongside the tapes: Secrets, A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg, and the Haldeman Diaries. Although flawed by grammatical and spelling errors, the Breaking of a President 1974, compiled by Marvin Miller, is also worth reading because it contains thumbnail personal histories of each of the players in the above volumes, and day-by-day breaking news of that era, with lots of pictures.

If you are interested in how the Nixon and his staff handled the Watergate issue then this is a wonderful look into the private conversations that took place. The author does a good job of setting most of the conversations up with comments as to what the conversation covers. There are also some explanations at the beginnings of the major areas of the book. I would have preferred a little bit more editing out of some of the conversations, but they do serve a point in the overall book.

What struck me the most was just how desperate Nixon kept getting. I almost started to think that maybe he even believed the lies he was telling. It was so fascinating to see how he would formulate a "cover" story and then keep presenting it to staff to see if they would replace their understanding of the events with his. What is sad is the amount of denial that Nixon was sliding into at the end. He was justifying his actions so hard, I started to think that he was trying to change reality with his force of will.

Many of the conversations are very revealing and interesting. I wonder if at times Nixon forgot he was being taped? Why would anyone think that what he was up to would stand the test of time and be thought of as acceptable behavior. You get a good understanding of why Nixon and his family fought so hard to keep the tapes private. In my opinion, these tapes have set back all the work Nixon did after leaving office to rebuild his reputation. My only warring would be that this should not be the first or only book on Watergate that you read. It will help you if have read something else to give you some back ground on the conversations. Overall the book is interesting and a good addition to your Nixon collection.

This is pretty interesting material for Watergate buffs. When Watergate broke the idea that a President cursed and had a private persona shocked the American people. That disappointment is part of what led to Nixon's downfall, regardless of what the Nixon haters want to keep preaching about Nixon's criminality. It has also come to light since those years that, as Nixon Claimed, Presidents before him used their power, the FBI, the IRS, and other agencies to look into and intimidate their opponents. Yes, Johnson and Kennedy did what Nixon did. They just didn't get all of it on tape. Nor did they have the press wanting the get even for Alger Hiss (who really was a Communist agent - see Venona).

For me the most fascinating part of the tapes included in this book is to go in the index and read the segments about Mark Felt, who we now know was Deep Throat for Bob Woodward. It is clear from these transcripts that Nixon and his staff knew that Felt wanted to top job at the FBI, that they didn't trust him, that they knew he leaked to the NY Times and, most amazingly, to the Washington Post. Haldeman makes it explicitly clear on 170 & 171 that he knew from inside the Washington Post that it was Felt leaking to the Post reporters. Facsinating.

Just remember, if you were taped in your private moments, you wouldn't look to the world as you do now. You might not be as dark as Nixon comes across, but then you aren't trying to wield power on a world stage either. I am not a Nixon apologist. Rather, I am taking a broader view of what we have learned since 1975 about our Presidents, the Presidency, and how they used their power while in office. The saying is true about politics and sausage making.

It doesn't seem possible that one could still find conversations that shock and appall coming out of the Nixon White House. Maybe the Nixon Estate should have dumped all the tapes at once and we'd all be over our astonishment at the arrogance and criminality of the Nixon Administration. Kutler has done an excellent job of editing. On a larger scale, he has done a service to the reading public. M. Carlota Baca, Santa Fe

There is only one word to describe many of these conversations....chilling. Nixon's arrogance and ruthlessness were astounding! What a terrible shock it must have been for men like Haige and Kissinger to learn this was all on tape.

That anyone could listen to these tapes and proclaim that Nixon was a good president is unbelievable! Clinton lied about his sex life. That was embarrassing, I agree. Nixon, however, lied about his plans for Vietnam, his tax returns, and that fifth-rate burglary known as Watergate, in other words, a felony! As for those of you complaining that these tapes don't contain a "smoking gun." He destroyed two of the tapes he made after he was ordered by the authorities to turn them over. We'll never know what those tapes contained.

He did all this and Ronald Reagan made him a goodwill ambassador to China! It's terrifying.

This book is a must for any student of American History or the Cold War.

We should all be grateful to Nixon for leaving us this invaluable piece of history.