Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton [Paperback]

William Doyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

Since 1940, almost every president has found some use for recording conversations, covertly or otherwise. William Doyle unearths these tapes from oblivion to present a flesh and blood drama of the presidency in action.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Richard Nixon was not the first president to tape-record conversations inside the Oval Office--that was Franklin Roosevelt. Nor was he the last, although one would think after Nixon's disastrous experience with taping that the succeeding occupants of the White House would have learned better. Since they didn't, we have Inside the Oval Office, "a cockpit voice recorder of the presidency" written and compiled by William Doyle. Doyle combines transcripts of taped Oval Office conversations--from FDR to Bill Clinton--with his assessment of each president's executive abilities. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, for example, John F. Kennedy showed what Doyle calls a pragmatic leadership style: "self-control, a call for multiple opinions, the discipline to think several steps ahead, and the ability to put himself in 'the other guy's shoes.'"

Among the book's highlights: Franklin Roosevelt briefing cabinet members and congressional leaders after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; Dwight Eisenhower talking to the British prime minister during the Suez crisis; John F. Kennedy talking to Mississippi governor Ross Barnett during the fight over integration of the University of Mississippi; Lyndon Johnson meeting with military advisors about U.S. involvement in Vietnam; Richard Nixon talking with Chuck Colson about monitoring Henry Kissinger's calls to the press (and the "smoking gun" tapes in which Nixon discusses the Watergate cover-up with John Dean and H.R. Haldeman); and the transcripts of videotaped meetings held by Ronald Reagan on the Soviet Union. Anyone interested in history and the presidency will no doubt find Inside the Oval Office full of revealing and fascinating material. --Linda Killian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Seven of the 11 U.S. presidents since the Depression have secretly recorded meetings and telephone conversations in the White House. Many of these recordings have been locked away in official archives, lost or forgotten. Doyle, who won a Writer's Guild award for a documentary on the same subject, uses these recordings to present an impressive, illuminating account of how presidents from FDR to Clinton managed the day-to-day operations of "the world's most dangerous office." Combining interviews, meticulous historical research and transcripts of the tapes themselves, Doyle peeks behind the wizard's curtain to show us the nation's chief executives at work: FDR thundering at the "damn Jap" who demanded that the U.S. evacuate Hawaii; Eisenhower sternly prodding the British prime minister to cease hostilities in the Suez; Johnson browbeating a senator into serving on the Warren Commission. We learn what time presidents woke up (in Truman's case, 5:30 a.m.), if they took naps (Reagan, every day) and what time they went to sleep (well past midnight for Johnson). We see them trading quips with the White House press corps and dispatching troops to international hot spots. We also see them digging their own graves, via Johnson and Nixon transcripts on Vietnam and Watergate. Doyle's running commentary on the transcripts provides a plethora of instructive and sometimes disheartening insights into the hidden machinery of the Oval Office. Quoth Bill Clinton: "I get treated like a mule. Whenever I'm at my desk I end up with these lists of people to call. I'm supposed to call every junior congressman about every vote.... I don't have time to think." Reading this book is a little like peering through a keyhole at history.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 365 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568363168
• ISBN-13: 978-1568363165
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,574,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding -- but don't let the title fool you, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside the Oval Office: The Secret White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton (Hardcover)

This is a lot more than a book about oval office tapes; it's about the managment styles of eleven presidents. Doyle does a superb job of contexting, analyzing and contrasting the widely different styles of presidents Roosevelt through Clinton. The tapes alone are fascinating (no, they didn't ALL tape: some just bugged their phones, some dicated a diary, some used a stenographer, and Bush did none of the above), but the real value of the book may be it's insights into eleven variously-successful executive leaders. I highly recommend this book to any business person. Instead of some "expert" giving you a lecture on the latest managment theory, eavesdrop on these eleven men and listen to how they really managed their staffs when the doors were closed. Fascinating reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC book; very well written and researched, July 31, 2006

By 

Vince Palamara "SECRET SERVICE/JFK/STEELERS/M... (South Park/Bethel Park, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton (Paperback)

We can nitpick and split hairs 'til the cows come home about the sub title, etc., but the simple fact is this: this is a great, great book. Very well written and researched and lots of good information on the (management/ administrative) styles of Presidents from FDR to Clinton. Quite a page turner and hard to put down; good photo section, too. This book will make you appreciate the job of the presidency even more, as well as certain specific presidents, in particular (i.e. JFK). Get this one asap!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Facinating content but lacked enough recordings, September 17, 2001

By 

Mark Gates (Alameda, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton (Audio Cassette)

After reading and listening to "Taking Charge," which was about LBJ's secret tapes, I was expecting the audio version of "Inside the Oval Office" to use many more actual recordings. Instead, the reader reads transcripts of conversations. The tapes contain a few actual recordings but very few, about one per president. Inexplicably, it presents no actual recordings of Reagan, Bush or Clinton. This was a disappointment since I knew from listening to "Taking Charge" that actual recordings contain great insights into the men who inhabited the White House. A reader cannot possibly capture the nuances of language used by our 20th century presidents. There is a great difference between hearing a president's actual words and having them read from transcripts. However, the content of the book and audiotapes provide a facinating glimpse inside the oval office.