When H.R. Haldeman died, he left behind a chronicle of the four years he was Chief of Staff for President Nixon. His diaries offer a fascinating portrait of the major events of this era, including the Cambodia bombings, the Kent State killings, the fall of Spiro Agnew, the Watergate scandal and new insights on Richard Nixon. 8-page photo insert.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
These diaries landed immediately on the best-seller list after their publication (no prepub galleys were available for review). Historians, however, won't extract much beyond daily reminders of Nixon's bark-off persona, especially his habit of airing all options, from the ludicrous to the realistic. Chief of Staff Haldeman was the PR guy, the scheduler, the enforcer (the lord high executioner, Nixon once said) who, though totally trustworthy as a sounding board for his boss, was a nonsubstantive decision maker. Haldeman dramatically tells, for example, of the August 1971 demolition of the world financial system without exhibiting much understanding of the economic ramifications. At bottom, Haldeman's diary is another thimbleful poured into the huge vat of Nixonia; however, the book's juicy quotations (such as those Nightline ran) boost interest dramatically. Gilbert Taylor
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFile
Here is a chilling view of the Nixon administration from one who was at its center. H. R. Haldeman kept a diary of events while he served as Chief of Staff, from Nixon's inauguration to his resignation. Robert Foxworth narrates the entries of the first two years. He captures Haldeman's terse, unemotional writing style with his clear, crisp delivery. Haldeman's own voice, which he began to record in December 1970, chronicles his observations from that point. Although background noises, static and volume fluctuations make it difficult to understand what Haldeman is saying, listening to history from one who helped shape it is worthwhile. Foxworth's frequent interjections to clarify events and provide follow-up information are welcome features. A.A.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exhaustive review of the Nixon Whitehouse...,
This review is from: The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House (Audio Cassette)
As Chief-of-Staff, Bob Haldeman is to be commended for keeping such a detailed review of his White House years even during his "fall from grace" in 1973...That being said, the reader should be ready to be taken on an exhaustive and sometimes hard to follow review of the Nixon Administration. A previous knowledge of the Nixon Presidency and particularly Watergate is essential to get the most from this book. I found myself skipping pages as discussion after discussion about Grand Jury testimony and policy meetings on Watergate flooded the chapters towards the end of this book. I gave it 4 stars because the beginning of the book dealing with the initiation of the Nixon Presidency and the day-to-day observations (pre-Watergate) of an intelligent and observant White House executive far outweigh the "burned-out" and frustrated entries that close the book. The most surprising conclusion that I came away with was that Haldeman seemed to be a warm/accomodating "real" person, not the "Nixon Nazi" that he's been made out to be in other works on Watergate. Good reading
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating Reading,
This review is from: The Haldeman Diaries (Paperback)
It's amazing the amount of time spent on incidental and personality conflicts when the bigger issues were floating around the Nixon administration.However, as a businessman, it is refreshing to know that the office of the CEO of the world's greatest power got (and probably still gets bogged down) in small issues, just like an corporation! A great read. It was hard to put the book down.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Acute Insight,
By amphyrion (New England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Haldeman Diaries (Paperback)
As Conrad Black points out in his biography, Richard Nixon was known as a frequent user of code words: "Peoria" to indicate any American Heartland locale, "Upper Volta" for any third-world place, etc. So it's entirely plausible that Nixon was indeed referring to the JFK assassination in his references to the "Bay Of Pigs thing" as Haldeman says. Fascinating stuff.
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