The Arrogance of Power

by Anthony Summers

  Agnew choice: (“Nixon’s decision”) WP, Sept. 25, 1968, cited at Paul Hoffman, Spiro!, New York: Tower, 1971, p. 87; (Agnew origins) ibid., p. 35; NYT, Aug. 10, 1968; Detroit Sunday News, Nov. 11, 1973; (“good word”) NYT, Aug. 10, 1968; (RN admitted) London Sunday Times, Sept. 29; New York, Oct. 28, 1968.

  junta rule:Encarta Encyclopaedia, 1993–98, Microsoft Corp.; Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power, New York: Summit, 1983, p. 136–; Stephen Rousseas, The Death of a Democracy, New York: Grove Press, 1967, p. 103.

  Demetracopoulos: (background) ints. Elias Demetracopoulos, Hearings, House Cttee. on Foreign Affairs, Subcttee. on Europe, 92nd Cong., 1st Sess., statement of Elias Demetracopoulos, July 12, 1971; Howe and Trott, op. cit., p. 414–; (political/journalists’ respect) ibid. pp. 427, 433–.

  junta cash for RN campaign: (Gore) Winter-Berger, op. cit., p. 282–; Howe and Trott, op. cit., pp. 423, 425; Baltimore News-American, July 17, 1975; (Agnew initial position) ibid.; ints. Elias Demetracopoulos; (from here on “ED”), transcript int. of ED by Stanley Kutler, 1987, Kutler Papers; (turnabout) text of remarks of Gov. Spiro Agnew, National Press Club, Sept. 27, 1968; text of ED press conf., Sept. 28, 1968, Cong. Record, Oct. 9, 1968; (“What happened?”) Gore to ED, Sept. 27, 1968, handwritten on Fairfax notepaper, copy supplied by ED; (regime’s $549,000) ints. ED and WP, Nov. 1, 1968, June 15, 1997; Kutler, op. cit., p. 205–; (Tsimas) int. of Tsimas by Stanley Kutler, E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions at University of Wisconsin, reported in his book Wars of Watergate, pp. 205, 651, Kutler letters to ED, Jan. 5, 1987, Kutler Papers; (Tasca) author int. with counsel for House Select Cttee. on Intelligence, supra.; author’s conv. Seymour Hersh and see Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 138; (details withheld) int. ED, and see Hearings, House Cttee. on Foreign Affairs, Subcttee. on Europe, 92nd Cong., 1st Sess., p. 463, last par.; (Demetracopoulos/O’Brien contacts) ints. ED, transcript Stanley Kutler int. of ED, 1985; (O’Brien cite of report) Democratic National Cttee. News Release, Oct. 31, 1968, in ED papers; (LBJ motive) e.g., Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 580.

  Chapter 23

  “How many American soldiers?”: Karnow, op. cit., p. 17.

  Kimmons story: (wives) ints. Charlotte Higgins—first wife, Gabrielle Kimmons, second wife, also Mrs. Hollis Kimmons—mother, Joyce Hagan—employer, and Harry Oldaker—friend; (RN inscription) ints. Gabrielle Kimmons, Mark Vardakis, Gerard Stodolski; article by Ralph Blumenthal, NYT, Feb. 17, 1985; int. Ralph Blumenthal; int. Forbes archivist Robin Tromer; Pen & Quill—magazine of Universal Autograph Collectors Club, Jan/Feb. 1985—original inscription, with associated documents in Forbes Archive, Forbes Gallery, NYC; (RN ’64 visit) NYT, Apr. 2; LAT, Mar. 24, Apr. 2, 3, 4, 5; Pacific Stars & Stripes, Apr. 5, 1964; MEM, p. 257–; (“trip political”) Herbert Parmet to author, June 7, 1999 sending transcript of RN answer and Parmet, Nixon, op. cit., p. 452; (“unfortunate episode”) Appendix, Michael Forrestal to Mc-George Bundy, Subject South Vietnam, May 26, 1964, Southeast Asia Folder, 1961–1964, Vietnam General, FRUS 1964-1968, Vol. 1, Doc. 178, NA; (footnote) ed. John Glennon, Foreign Relations of the United States, Vietnam 1964, Vol. 1, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 1992, p. 389fn.4; (“good deal more”) oral history int. John Michael Dunn, LBJL, pp. I, 24; (Schreck) pp. in draft of unpub. ms supplied to author by (son) Terry Schreck; ints. Terry and (widow) Sandie Schreck, and (former wife) Rose Mary Kelly; (Hughes) int. John Hughes; (Green Berets/SOG) John Plaster, SOG, The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 19; John Prados, The Hidden History of the Vietnam War, Chicago: Ivan Dee, 1995, p. 76–; Sheehan, op. cit., p. 376–; NYT, Apr. 14, 1995; (camps/Cambodia border) Richard Stewart, Dept. of the Army Special Ops. Command to author, undated, 1996, with camp locations at Trang Sup and Loc Ninh; (Fr. Hoa) Saturday Evening Post, May 20, 1961; Life, Mar. 16, 1962; obit. Central Daily News (Taipei), Jan. 20, 1993; Douglas Valentine, The Phoenix Program, New York: Morrow, 1990, p. 37–; int. the late Bernard Yoh; (Lansdale) Valentine, op. cit., p. 25; Cecil Currey, Edward Lansdale, The Unquiet American, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988, p. 218; Sheehan, op. cit., refs.; (Lansdale/RN) e.g., Lansdale to RN, Nov. 20, 1960; Allen Dulles corr. file, Box 228, VP, NA, RN to “Ed,” Sept. 13, Oct. 29, 1965, Lansdale Collection, Box 54, Hoover Institution; David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, New York: Random House, 1969, p. 207; (order to Special Forces) S3 Daily Journal of 5th Special Forces, 0700 Apr. 1–5, 1964, Military Section, NA, (Suitland); (’64 no prisoner exchange) Dept. of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Office, Ref. Doc., U.S. Personnel Missing in Southeast Asia, March 1998; int. John Horn, Dept. of Defense.

  RN/Vietnam ’64–’68: (casualties ’64) Defense Dept. statistics supplied by Center for Military History, Washington D.C.; (’67/’68 casualties) ed. Tucker, op. cit., p. 1093; (Truman-Johnson line) Karnow, op. cit., p. 30; (JFK right) Crowley, Off the Record. op. cit., p. 35/36; (advisers/backup) Karnow, op. cit., p. 270–; (RN urged/RFK “win”) ibid., p. 272; (“nothing less”) NYT, Apr. 4, 1964; (lacked “will”) Reader’s Digest, Aug. 1964; (“win for America”) Parmet, Nixon, op. cit., p. 454; (RN “victory”) transcript, Meet the Press, NBC-TV, Sept. 12, 1965; (“no substitute”) Reader’s Digest, Dec. 1965; (McNamara ’66) Robert McNamara with Brian VanDeMark, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, New York: Times Books, 1995, p. 236–; (de Gaulle urged) NYT, Sep. 2, 1966; (de G./RN then) Sulzberger, op. cit., p. 157–; (De G./RN later) MEM, p. 374 and see Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 110; (“Uncle Elmer”) Bobst, op. cit., p. 270; (“disaster”) Garment, op. cit., p. 86; (“We must stop”) Bobst, op. cit. p. 329; (“idealism”) Garment, op. cit., p. 85; (“more than enough”/swing) Witcover, op. cit., p. 155–; (“World War III”) ibid. p. 137, speech to Nat. Assn. of Manufacturers, Dec. 3, 1965, and commencement address, University of Rochester, June 5, 1966, both in Series 8, Box 26A, Dewey Papers, University of Rochester; (’67 casualties) ed. Tucker, op. cit., p. 1093; (“escalation threatened”) McNamara with VanDeMark, op. cit., p. 269; (Helms) ibid., p. 293, citing Sept. 12, 1967 report; (“other war”) ibid., p. 266, citing May 19, 1967 memo; (“Oh, sure, honest”) Halberstam, The Best and Brightest, op. cit., p. 207—the U.S. official was Edward Lansdale; (“how soon?”) Terry Dietz, Republicans and Vietnam, New York: Greenwood Press, 1986, p. 117, citing NYT; (“massive pressures”) Deborah Shapley, Promise and Power, Boston: Little, Brown, 1993, p. 428; (“most Americans”) McNamara with VanDeMark, op. cit. p. 266; (20,000 march) ibid. p. 303; (limits to protest) RN statement re. Prof. Eugene Genovese of Rutgers University, Oct. 24, 1965, enc. in RN to Tom Dewey, and University of Rochester commencement address, June 5, 1966, both in Series 8, Box 26A, Dewey Papers, University of Rochester; (hawkish doubts) Whalen, op. cit., p. 17; (“flexibility”) ibid., p. 18.

  RN/Vietnam ’68: (“What the hell?”) ibid., p. 26; (“peace with honor”) address by Pres. Nixon, Jan. 23, 1973, Historical Documents, Congressional Quarterly, 1973, p. 117–; AMII, pp. 190, 195, 224; AMIII, pp. 34, 40, 42; MEM, p. 757; Safire, op. cit., pp. 7, 48, 178; (nuclear weapons) Whalen, op. cit., p. 27; (“upsweep”) ibid., p. 29; (“mistake”/no RN reply) ibid., p. 76–; (tougher tactics call) NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, cited in Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1971, p. 399; (“national interest”) SF Chronicle, Jan. 1, 1968; (“last ditch”) Whalen, op. cit., p. 80; (World War III) SF Chronicle, supra.; (“If in November”) LAT, Mar. 6, 1968; Witcover, op. cit., p. 258; Karnow, op. cit., p. 597; MEM, p. 298; (“Nothing lay”) Whalen, op. cit., p. 91; (Halberstam) Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, op. cit., p. 661; (Sheehan) NYT, Apr. 28, 1994; (“substantively”/“stupid war”) Whalen, op. cit., Ch. VIII; (speech drafted) full planned text at ibid., p. 283; (LBJ astonishing) Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 529; (RN would refrain) AMII, p. 149–; (“pragmatic splitting”) Whalen, op. cit., p. 135; (“political stroke”) ibid., p. 144; (“no way to win”) ib
id., p. 137.

  “Madman Theory”: (“I call it . . .”) Haldeman and DiMona, op. cit., pp. 83–; eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 82; (RN claimed “not remember”) Hoff, op. cit., p. 177; (Colson) U.S. News & World Report, May 2, 1994; (“convey to Dobrynin”) Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 305; (“impression . . . ‘crazy’ ”) Garment, op. cit., pp. 174, 176–.

  RN/Hatfield: (“He gave assurances”) Mark Hatfield to Robert Klass, July 16, 1968, JFRP; (Hatfield announced) AP, June 27,(?) 1968; (end war 1st year) Haldeman and DiMona, op. cit, p. 121; (end war 6 months) int. John Rothmann, citing RN in meeting at NY apartment, 1967; (“stop it with victory”) int. by Flora Rheta Schreiber, Good Housekeeping, July 1968; (“in the Democratic process”) Hatfield, cited at Whalen, op. cit., p. 220.

  Vietnam Peace Talks: (LBJ effort) described inter alia in Bundy, op. cit., p. 20; Clark Clifford with Richard Holbrooke, Counsel to the President, New York: Random House, 1991, p. 567–; ed. David Barrett, Lyndon B. Johnson’s Vietnam Papers, College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press, 1997. The author also read extensively in the holdings of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, notably the daily diary, Ted Johnson’s notes of meetings, Boxes 3 & 4, Clark Clifford Papers, Box 6, NSF, Country file Vietnam, “Memos to the President/Bombing Halt Decision,” Vols. 1–14, Boxes 137, 138, NSF, files of Walt Rostow, “Nixon, Richard—Vietnam,” Box 5, “Vietnam: July–Dec. 1968,” Box 115, diary backup, Oct. 31, 1968, Box 114, Nov. 11, 1968, Box 115, office files of Harry McPherson, Box 67, and numerous oral histories all in LBJL. See also “The 1968 Presidential Election & Peace in Vietnam,” article by Kent G. Seig, U.S. State Dept. Historian, in Presidential Studies Quarterly, XXVI. 4, Fall 1996, p. 1062; (Thieu announced) AMII, p. 212; (“not in cards”) Nguyen Tien Hung and Jerald Schecter, The Palace File, New York: Harper & Row, 1986, p. 21; (Humphrey promise re: bombing) Clifford with Holbrooke, op. cit., p. 572fn; (reductions) AMII, p. 197; (“a chance”) Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 21—Hung was the close aide.

  RN and peace initiative: (“country above party”) transcript, RN on CBS Radio, Oct. 28, 1968, available in CO-4664, Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL; (“neither he nore I”) NYT, Nov. 1, 1968; (In private) AMII, p. 207 and see p. 216; (“probably decisive”) Clifford with Holbrooke, op. cit., p. 582; (“no truth at all”) note from Jim Jones, Nov. 3, 1968; Ref. File, “Chennault, Anna,” from folder “South Vietnam & U.S. Policies,” labeled “The ‘X’ Envelope,” LBJL, hereafter referred to as X.

  Anna Chennault/RN: (background) biographical note, Appendix II, World Journal, Taiwan, Apr. 21–26, 1994, ints. Anna Chennault; Catherine Forslund, Woman of Two Worlds: Anna Chennault and Informal Diplomacy in US.–Asian Relations, 1950–1990, Ph.D. dissertation, spring 1997, Washington University at St. Louis; Anna Chennault, The Education of Anna, New York: Times Books, 1980; (Chennault ‘68) WP, Nov. 1, 1968, Jan. 12, 1969; Boston Globe, Jan. 6, 1969; Washingtonian, Sept. 1969; Washington Star, Aug. 20, 1979; (joined Republicans) Chennault, op. cit., p. 163; int. Chennault; (Chennault/RN first contacts) Chennault, op. cit., p. 163–; ints. Chennault—first in 1954, according to World Journal, Taiwan, Apr. 21–26, 1994; (Vietnam contacts) ints. Anna Chennault; Forslund, op. cit., p. 188–; (tough views) Chennault to RN, Mar. 25, Apr. 4, June 24, 1968, Folder 20, Box 124, Robert C. Hill Papers, Hoover Institution; (phone calls ’67) World Journal, supra.; (NY meeting ’67) ibid; Chennault, op. cit., p. 170–; (“RN would like to see”) Dick Allen to DC, July 3, 1968, cited in Safire, op. cit., p. 89; (“victory”) Chennault, op. cit., p. 170; (“if elected”) ibid., p. 175; (met Thieu) Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 19;(“only contact”) ibid. and see Bui Diem with David Channoff, In the Jaws of History, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987, p. 237; ints. Chennault, Bui Diem; (Chennault/Thieu) Chennault, op. cit., p. 187; ints. Chennault; (“better deal”) ints. Chennault; (Thieu messages) int. Chennault; (other messengers) ibid. and Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 23; (Mitchell silent) int. Bui Diem; (changed number) Chennault, op. cit., pp. 174; (Hill, Woods, Hitt) Chennault to RN, June 24, 1968, supra. and re: Hitt background, int. Patricia R. Hitt, Patricia Hitt Oral History, Bancroft Library, University of California; (RN publicly mouthed) e.g., LAT and AP, Oct. 18, 1968—urging support for LBJ so as not “to play politics with peace”; (resentment) MEM, p. 326; (LBJ devoted to peace/too hesitant) e.g., minutes of foreign policy advisers group meeting, Oct. 14, 1968, citing LBJ not wanting it said “one man died who could have been saved by this plan . . . we’ll be scared, but we’ll try it,” Tom Johnson meeting notes, Box 4, LBJL and Clifford with Holbrooke, op. cit., p. 80, citing LBJ as labeling aides “a bunch of duds”; (Agnew briefed) Kent Crane to Agnew, Oct. 15, 16, 1968, Folder 31, Box 125, Robert C. Hill Papers, Hoover Institution; (two days later) Chennault calendar entry re: meeting Bui Diem, 10 A.M. Oct. 18, shared with author by Catherine Forslund; (A few days after) ibid., for 11 A.M. Oct. 25; (“Call from payphone”) Hung and Schecter, op. cit, p. 24; (Bui Diem on messages) Bui Diem, op. cit., p. 244, citing messages Oct. 23 and 27; int./corr. Bui Diem; (Read version) Bundy, op. cit., p. 42, int./corr. Bundy; (NSA Intercepts) ibid. and Powers, op. cit., p. 252; (CIA/Diem) ibid; (device/Thieu) ibid., pp. 235, 252; Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 80; (Thieu overheard) Walt Rostow to president, “Literally Eyes Only,” Nov. 2, 1968, citing intelligence item of Oct. 26, Item 51, NSF files, Box 137, Vol. 4, LBJL; (Oct. 29 meeting) foreign policy group meeting, Oct. 29, 1968; (2:30 A.M.–) Tom Johnson meeting notes, Box 4, LBJL, and see Clifford with Holbrooke, op. cit., p. 586; (LBJ re: RN “conniving”) Oct. 28, 1968 meeting notes, supra., pp. 20, 21; ed. Barrett, op. cit., p. 817– and 3 memos, Walt Rostow to LBJ and 2 memos Eugene Rostow to Walt Rostow, Oct. 29, 1968, and Walt Rostow, memo for the record, May 14, 1973, all in X, LBJL; (“all adds up”) Tom Johnson meeting notes, supra.; (wiretaps/surveillance ordered) memos in “June” folder, FBI HQ 65-62098, released to author, Dec. 1999; (LBJ heavy hint) Forslund, op. cit., p. 221, and see MEM, p. 322—although the latter does not mention LBJ’s hint, a reference to subversive activity by “old China hands”; (panic in RN camp) Lewis Chester, Godfrey Hodgson, Bruce Page, An American Melodrama, London: Andre Deutsch, 1969, p. 727; Godfrey Hodgson to author, Dec. 6, 1996; (Chennault not get through) Chester, et al., op. cit., p. 733; (Chennault/Mitchell call) Chennault, op. cit., p. 190–; (Thieu announced) WP, Nov. 2, 1968—reporting announcement same day Saigon time; (RN underhand way) Witcover, op. cit., p. 438; Bundy, op. cit., p. 34; (Rostow/no hard evidence) Walt Rostow to LBJ, Oct. 29, 1968 (8:50 A.M.) in Vietnam, July–Dec., 1968, Box 6, NSF Rostow Papers, LBJL; (FBI/Sheraton Park call) teletype, director FBI to W. Hse. situation rm., Nov. 1, 1968, X, LBJL—partly conf. by Chennault calendar entry, Oct. 31, 1968, Chennault, op. cit., p. 190–; (Nov. 2 Chennault/Diem call) SAC Washington field office, 3, to director FBI, WFO 105-9894, sent as enciphered teletype to W. Hse. situation rm., FBI 65-62298-204, Nov. 2, 1968, both released to author, 1999.

  Agnew/Albuquerque: Seymour Hersh article, NYT, June 27, 1973; (LBJ ordered checks) Cartha DeLoach to Clyde Tolson, Nov. 19, 1968, re: Nov. 12 order, FBI 65-62098; (Hoover warned Chennault) int. Anna Chennault; (Hoover/DeLoach conspired) Cartha DeLoach, Hoover’s FBI, Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1995, p. 396–; (call to Hitt) Cartha DeLoach to Clyde Tolson, supra.; (Robert Hitt) “Special Inquiry,” Murray Chotiner, Apr. 21, 1969, FBI HQ 161- 6284, and re: cash–E, II, pp. 541, 573, 588–; (paymaster) Wise, Police State, op. cit., pp. 3–, 12; (Pat Hitt) Who’s Who in American Politics, 1995/96, unid. clipping in Theodore White Papers, 1968, Box 32, JFKL, SF Chronicle, Feb. 1, 1975—and see main text supra. re: being named by Chennault; (Rostow to LBJ re: Albuquerque) Rostow to LBJ, “Eyes Only memo,” Nov. 12, 1968, X, LBJL; (Rostow surmised) Nov. 2, 1968, X, LBJL.

  Chennault/S. Vietnam Embassy contacts: (overheard Nov. 7) Special Agent in Charge, WFO to director FBI, 3 messages, Nov. 7, 1968, FBI 65-62098, Serials 226, 228, 256, released to author 1999; (Thieu congratulations) Special Agent in Charge, WFO to director, FBI, Nov. 7, 1968, FBI 65-62098-2
27; (RN in FL) MEM, p. 335; PAT, p. 248.

  LBJ/RN/Humphrey: (LBJ furious) MEM, p. 329; Harry McPherson and James Rowe, Jr., ints., Oral History Collection, LBJL; (late Friday night) Safire, op. cit., p. 93; (on her own) Witcover, op. cit., p. 442; George Christian, The President Steps Down, New York: Macmillan, 1970, p. 93; (“laughter”) Chester, et al., op. cit., p. 734; Godfrey Hodgson to author, Dec. 6, 1996; (“Johnson certain”) Joseph Califano, Jr., The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 328; int. Joseph Califano, Jr.; (“horrendous”), ibid.; (Humphrey told/reaction) int. James Rowe, Jr., supra.; Grant, op. cit., p. 311; McClendon, op. cit., p. 61; Austin American, July 9, 11, 1969; Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 485, Solberg, op. cit., p. 397–; (“What kind of guy?”) Lawrence O’Brien int., Oral History Collection, LBJL; (might “want to consider”) int. Max Kampelman in “Wheeler on America,” Prog. 1, BBC-TV, Feb. 18, 1996; Bundy, op. cit., p. 551n92; (“very well blow”) Cartha DeLoach to Clyde Tolson, Nov. 4, 1968, FBI 65-62098-170, released to author, 1999; (advisers decided) “Eyes Only memo,” Walt Rostow to president, Nov. 4, 1968, NSF Files (item 27A), Vol. 4, Box 137, and int. Harry McPherson, Oral History Collection, LBJL; (“blow whistle” query) “Literally Eyes Only” memo, Walt Rostow to president, Nov. 8, 1968, X, LBJL.

  RN reverses position: (LBJ “actively sought”) Rostow memo for record, May 14, 1973, X, LBJL, and see Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 486n32; (LBJ/Humphrey forecast) Tom Johnson meeting notes, Oct. 29, 1968, Box 4, LBJL—citing LBJ as saying “Nixon will double-cross after Nov. 5,” and ibid., Nov. 20, 1968—citing Humphrey as saying “Nixon will move and fast. He’ll sell them down the river”; (strong word) Dallek, op. cit., p. 597; (“flabbergasted”) int. Anna Chennault; Chennault, op. cit., p.193; (Chennault harried) ibid.; int. Herb Klein; (fended enquiries) Chennault, op. cit., p. 195–; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan 8, 1979; NYT, July 23, 1969; (feared for safety) int. Anna Chennault; (“I’ve certainly paid”) Chennault, op. cit., p. 197–.