From Publishers Weekly
Starting with FDR, just about all U.S. presidents have tape-recorded at least some Oval Office conversations. Currently, more than 4,600 hours of White House tapes are known to exist, 4,000 hours' worth recorded by Nixon. Of the total, approximately half the tapes have been declassified, and it is from these that Prados (a fellow of the National Security Archive and author of Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby) presents a sampling. The conversations appear on audio CDs (plus one disk with the American Radioworks program "White House Tapes: The President Calling"), while transcripts and Prados's useful historical prefaces to each conversation appear in the accompanying book. Not all the conversations are of historical moment. On the upside, we have FDR discussing civil rights with A. Philip Randolph and in a confidential huddle with Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn on the eve of WWII. Also worthwhile is JFK meeting with civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and discussing the pros and cons of supporting a coup in South Vietnam with his National Security Council in October of 1963. Excerpts from Lyndon Johnson (touching on the Gulf of Tonkin and other major incidents) and Richard Nixon (including meetings with Billy Graham and H.R. Haldeman) are noteworthy as well. But Harry Truman's distracted phone calls concerning minor ambassadorial appointments seem superfluous, and Ronald Reagan's sections of the CDs and book feature only public remarks-nothing confidential, nothing from the inner sanctum of Reagan's Oval Office. In all, these selections leave one with the clear impression that not everything that happens in the Oval Office is worth eavesdropping on.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up--History buffs will relish the unusual opportunity afforded by these CDs to eavesdrop on secret behind-the-scenes recordings of presidential conversations with a wide array of aides, public figures, and heads of state. Highlighting eight American presidentsâ"Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Reaganâ"the topics of the recordings provide a unique view of seminal political events that changed the course of American and world history, among them the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, the Gulf of Tonkin crisis, the Watergate break-in, and the Iran-Contra affair. The quality of the recordings is surprisingly good, although somewhat variable, given the clandestine way in which they were made. The CDs are accompanied by a book providing written transcripts of the tapes as well as the radio documentary "White House Tapes: The President Calling." History teachers will welcome the chance to incorporate portions of the recordings into their curriculum to expose students to primary source documents.--Cindy Lombardo, Tuscarawas County Public Library, New Philadelphia, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
To listen to the entire archive of surreptitious presidential audio recordings would require more than two years of uninterrupted attention. Here, in much more digestible fashion, are nine hours worth of Oval Office transcripts (and accompanying CDs), which showcase presidential palaver. Editor Prados has concentrated on two main issues, civil rights and Vietnam, although Watergate does get a hearing with the sensational "smoking gun" tape that doomed Richard Nixon when revealed in 1974. Prados' introductions place each selection into historical context. Prados debuts with FDR's meeting union leader A. Philip Randolph, who pressed Roosevelt to allow blacks into the navy; FDR's offer to increase the number of African American bands on navy ships speaks volumes. For JFK's handling of civil rights, Prados provides JFK's discussion with the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington; for LBJ's, the Texan's receipt of news about three murdered civil rights workers. Those interested in political history will find this book irresistible, and its certain popularity may induce libraries to overlook the steep purchase price. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
The President doesn't know the position of the administration so you can't know it.
About the Author
John Prados is a senior fellow of the National Security Archive, where he directs the CIA Documentation Project and the Vietnam Documentation Project and helps in other areas. He writes books on aspects of intelligence, diplomatic, military and national security. His works include Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy, Normandy Crucible, and Islands of Destiny: The Solomons Campaign and the Eclipse of the Rising Sun. His books on the CIA―some of which have been on CIA recommended reading lists―include The Ghosts of Langley: Into the CIA's Heart of Darkness (The New Press), Safe for Democracy, The Family Jewels, William Colby and the CIA, Presidents' Secret Wars, and The Soviet Estimate. He has consulted on historical aspects of film projects and his papers, articles, and reviews have appeared widely. Prados also designs board strategy games.
