The Arrogance of Power

by Anthony Summers

  SE Asia conflict in presidency: (casualties final 5 weeks): supplied by U.S. Dept. of Defense Electronic Records; (Holbrooke) int. Richard Holbrooke for BBC/History Channel; (“a man so consumed”) Califano, Triumph & Tragedy, op. cit., p. 328.

  Thieu reaction: (champagne) Newsweek, Nov. 18, 1968, but see U.S. Embassy Saigon to Sec. of State, Nov. 15, 1968, Box 6, Clark Clifford Papers, LBJL; (“We did it”) Chicago Daily News, Nov. 15, 1968; (Thieu felt) Hung and Schecter, op. cit., pp. 483n1, 31, 34; (Thieu would defy) MEM, pp. 584, 690–, 702, 707, and see Clifford with Holbrooke, op. cit., p. 593fn; (at first meeting) Hung and Schecter, op. cit., p. 30; (RN reassured) ibid., p. 34.

  RN in WH: (Cambodia deaths) Cambodian Genocide Project, Yale University, New Haven, CT; (RN bombing N. Vietnam) George Herring, America’s Longest War, New York: Knopf, 1986, p. 250–; Radical History Review, Fall 1994, p. 185, and see Karnow, op. cit., p. 658–; Shawcross, op. cit., pp. 217–, 260; (RN argued) Richard Nixon, No More Vietnams, New York: Touchstone, 1990, p. 277; (contrary case) SF Chronicle, Mar. 4, 1984; Arthur Pearl, Landslide, Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1973, p. 97; George McGovern in Rolling Stone, June 16, 1994; (RN/peace “won”) Nixon, No More Vietnams, op. cit., pp. 206, 277; (“I agree war mistake”) int. Sen. George McGovern in eds. Strober, Nixon, op. cit., p. 171, and McGovern article, Rolling Stone, June 16, 1994—Sen. McGovern was Kissinger’s visitor in early 1969.

  Chapter 24

  “This really is”:NYT, June 23, 1993.

  Election ’68: (Harris poll) TW68, p. 446; (aboard plane) ibid., p. 452–; (Op. Eagle Eye) Garment, op. cit., p. 141 and see Whalen, op. cit., p. 14; (Op. Integrity) Life, Sep. 5, 1969, ed. Miller, Breaking of the President, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 68; int. J. Edgar Nichols; (nervy) MEM, p. 332; (RN election night) TW68, p. 455–; MEM, p. 331; (RN urged Humphrey) ibid., p. 320; Wicker, op. cit., p. 361; (“tell Hubert to quit”) MEM, p. 333; Wicker, op. cit., p. 383; (women isolated) PAT, p. 246; (Pat vomited) ibid.; (voting figures) TW68, p. 462–; (Graham) Graham, op. cit., p. 449–; PAT, p. 247; (Woods weeping) NYT News Service, Nov. 11, 1968; (“bring together”) full text at Adler, op. cit., p. 124; (“verge of victory”) Graham, op. cit., p. 450; (“Victory at Sea”) MEM, p. 335; PAT, p. 248; (pirouette) ibid.; (Air Force One) Safire, op. cit., p. 107; (“Mr. President”) ibid., p. 248; (S. Service) ibid., p. 249; (Searchlight) John Curtin to John Vermilye, (Miami Police Intelligence), Nov. 13, 1968, supplied to author by Gordon Winslow; (Starlight) Walker, op. cit., front matter; (“very strange”) Matthews, op. cit., p. 270.

  Transition: (“Baloney!) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., pp. 122, 135; (Pierre) Carl Brauer, Presidential Transitions, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 131; Stans, Terrors, op. cit., p. 140; (Who’s Who) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 135; Whalen, op. cit., p. 224–; (Ehrlichman/AG?) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p.123; (“no politician”) Smith, Dewey, op. cit., p. 631; (“RN’s right arm”) ed. Schoenebaum, op. cit., p. 444; (“take care”) int. Dwight Chapin in eds. Strober, Nixon, op. cit., p. 295; (RN/Martha) Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 256, Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 9; (alcohol problems) int. Chapin supra.; McClendon, op. cit., p. 63.

  Haldeman: (Ike: “S.O.B.”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 54; (“pluperfect”) ibid.; (quiet) White, Breach, op. cit., p. 92; (“fine guy”) notes of Haldeman int., Nov. 22, 1968, Theodore White Papers, Box 40, JFKL; (accounts) William Shannon, They Could Not Trust the King, New York: Macmillan, 1974, p. 149; Medved, op. cit., p. 307; (“dream”) int. Larry Higby; (“swam too far”) White, Breach, op. cit., p. 92; (Germans/“Nazi”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 55; Lewis Chester, Cal McCrystal, Stephen Aris, and William Shawcross, Watergate, New York: Ballantine, 1973, p. 13; Bernstein and Woodward, Men, op. cit., p. 304; eds. Strober, Nixon, op. cit., p. 55; (dined once) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 65; (“didn’t see as person”) ibid., p. 74; (“never asked”) ibid., p. 72; (“machine”) ibid., p. 74; (“Executioner”) ibid., p. 111.

  friends dumped: (Klein) int. Herb Klein; Brauer, op. cit., p. 135; (Klein decent) e.g., Dickerson, op. cit., p. 153; (“Zig-zag”) NM, p. 391; (Woods moved) NM, p. 461; int. Patricia Hitt, and see Safire, op. cit., p. 113–; (“Go fuck!) Wicker, op. cit., p. 400.

  W.H. young men: (Magruder/Chapin/Huston/Strachan/Colson) NM, pp. 7, 11, 30, 151–, 187–; Magruder, American Life, op. cit., p. 3; (“Judas”) AOP, p. 606; (“viciously”) NM, p. 11; (“please boss”) ibid., p. 280; (“If Nixon told”) int. Tom Huston, 1973, in Harpers, Oct. 1974; (obedience) e.g., int. John Ehrlichman; eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 129, int. John Ehrlichman; Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., pp. 59, 319; and Medved, op. cit., p. 319; Haldeman, op. cit., p. 59–; Safire, op. cit., p. 285, William Doyle, Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton, New York: Kodansha Int., 1999, pp. 171–, 177.

  Cabinet announcement: Klein, op. cit., p. 298, Brauer, op. cit., p. 144; (domestic bore/Moynihan) Wicker, op. cit., p. 421; (“I’ve always thought”) TW68, p. 171; (RN intended) MEM, p. 340.

  Kissinger appointment: (Humphrey/“clown”) Shawcross, op. cit., p. 79; (“hopeless”) Kissinger to Averell Harriman, Aug. 16, 1968, cited at Kent Seig, “The 1968 Presidential Election and Peace in Vietnam, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, Fall 1996 p. 1078n83; (“most dangerous”) WP, Aug. 23, 1972 ; (“not fit”) Marvin Kalb and Bernard Kalb, Kissinger, Boston: Little, Brown, 1974, p. 16; NYT Magazine, Nov. 14, 1971; (“disaster”) Iassacson, op. cit., p. 127; (gentler) Marvin Kalb and Bernard Kalb, op. cit., p.15; (and Brzezinski) Iassacson, op. cit., p. 133; (“shit” files) ibid. and Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 14; (Kissinger leaked) Iassacson, op. cit., p. 129; MEM, p. 340—but see Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 10; (Steinem) Iassacson, op. cit., p. 134; (“Guten Morgen”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 14.

  Hoover at Pierre: (warning) Summers, Official & Confidential, op. cit., p. 370 and sources; (embellished) DeLoach, op. cit., p. 407; (RN raises on WHT) AOP, pp. 75, 92, 147, 168, 175–, 196–, 198, 204, and see Historical Documents, 1973, pub. by Congressional Quarterly, pp. 663, 666, and blind memo, re: Potential Matters for Discussion with Sen. Baker, June 12, 1973, John Dean folder, Wh. Hse. Staff files, NA; (“Little men”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 80, amended in int. H. R. “Bob” Haldeman, 1989.

  Nixon worry re: bugs: (wireman) Wise, Police State, op. cit., pp. 4, 10; (“Let’s get off”) Louis and Yazijian, op. cit., p. 219; (“shh!”) Hillings with Seelye, op. cit., p. 187; (LBJ “obsessed”) Crowley, Off the Record, op. cit., pp. 17, 136; (former presidents’ taping) best reported in Doyle, Inside the Oval Office, op. cit, and re: Ike, see July 16, 1954 cabinet notes, James Hagerty Papers, DDEL; (JFK bedroom phone) Beschloss, Crisis Years, op. cit., p. 346; (LBJ “extensive”) Bill Gulley with Mary Ellen Reese, Breaking Cover, New York: Warner, 1980, pp. 19, 95; (“As any tenant”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 80–; Prologue, XX, Summer 1988, p. 80 and int. Robert Finch in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 266.

  RN state of mind ’68: (“as 1968 came to end”) MEM, p. 361–; (“nervousness”) Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 11; (“I would call”) Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 66; (“between midnight & 3 A.M.”) int. Len Garment, Garment, op. cit., p. 143–.

  RN alcohol/drugs: (“like a Spartan”) Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 25, 1967; (“couldn’t take a drink”) notes of int. Jan. 22, 1969, Nixon folder, Theodore White Papers, Box 40, JFKL; (“pills to ease mind”) int. George Christopher; (“some medication”) int. Edward Nixon for BBC/History Channel.

  Dilantin: (Dreyfus background) Life, Sept. 29, 1967; Jack Dreyfus, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked, New York: Continuum; 1997, Barry Smith and Jack Dreyfus, The Broad Range of Clinical Use of Phenytoin, New York: Dreyfus Medical Foundation, 1992; int. Jack Dreyfus; int. Jack Dreyfus for BBC/History Channel; (Tkach) LAT, Dec. 29, 1973; Nixon, Six Crises, op. cit., p. 326; (compliant doctor?) int. John Ehrlichman; (FDA statu
s of Dilantin) int. Dr. Lawrence McDonald; Physician’s Desk Reference, 1998, p. 2242; (Price) Wicker, op. cit., p. 393; (Korff) int. the late Rabbi Baruch Korff; (Graham) int. Billy Graham in Esquire, Apr. 10, 1979.

  Pearson/Hutschnecker ’68: (contacts) NY Post(?), Nov. 14, 1968; WP, Nov. 14, 20, 23, 1968; UPI, Nov. 14, 1968, reporting Pearson address to National Press Club; Pearson handwritten notes, Box G 281, DPP, reprinted at Hutschnecker, Drive for Power, op. cit., p. 7–, 311; Woodstone, op. cit., p. 4; (“felt we had to be ready”) Klein, op. cit., p. 413, int. Herb Klein; (Klein call) ibid. and Hutschnecker, Drive for Power, op. cit., p. 314; (Ford) Winter-Berger, op. cit., p. 258–; (Klein/Chotiner visits) Klein, op. cit., p. 412–, int. Klein; (Pearson re: “pyschiatric”/“pressure”) WP, Nov. 14, 20, 23, 1968; (“untrue”) WP, Nov. 20, 1968; (RN “depressed”) int. Herb Klein; (Steinem) int. Steinem and see Hutschnecker, Drive for Power, op. cit., p. 8–.

  “attract scandal”: Kleindienst, op. cit., p. 209.

  O’Brien: (Humphrey campaign) Davenport and Eddy, op. cit., p. 132; (Hughes hires) Maheu, op. cit., p. 206–; Drosnin, op. cit., p. 273–; Lawrence O’Brien, No Final Victories, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974, p. 255–; (Castro plots hint) Drew Pearson in SF Chronicle, Mar. 3, 1967—column not run in some papers; (O’Brien knew re: Pappas) see p. 286, “supra.; (O’Brien knew re: Chennault) Lawrence O’Brien oral history int., p. XXVI.13, LBJL; (O’Brien/Edward Kennedy) TW68, p. 449–; O’Brien, op. cit., p. 262.

  Inauguration: (ceremony) MEM, p. 365–; PAT, p. 251; Leon Panetta and Peter Gall, Bring Us Together, New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1971, p. 59; (“Oops!”) WP, Jan. 21, 1969; (Pat outfit) Lady Bird Johnson, A White House Diary, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970, p. 776; (Warren loathed) int. John Rothmann; William Buckley, Jr., in SF Chronicle (?), Mar. 25, 1975; Kohlmeier, op. cit., p. 93; (RN’s voice) Johnson, op. cit., p. 779; (Isaiah) MEM, p. 366; (from RN’s pen) Price, op. cit., p. 48; (protesters) MEM, p. 366; PAT, p. 252; NYT, Jan. 21, 1969; (balls) ibid., WP, Jan. 21, 1969; LAT, Jan. 20, 1969; St. Petersburg [FL] Times, Jan. 21, 1969; (Rebozo) NYT, Jan. 20, 1969; (Khashoggi) NYT, Jan. 21, 1969; int. Adnan Khashoggi; (Hitt) LAT, Jan. 21, 1969; (Lombardo) NYT, Jan. 21, 1969; (turning on lights) PAT, 253–; (exultant) Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 3; (Harlow) Cannon, op. cit., p. 98; (“This is your house”) WP, Jan 22, 1969.

  Chapter 25

  “The office neither elevates”: George Reedy, The Twilight of the Presidency, New York: New American Library, 1970, p. 18.

  “He was obsessed”: int. Robert Finch, in eds. Strober, Nixon, op. cit., p. 80.

  Excess in RN presidency: (no need?) U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 8, 1968; (silk) Kessler, op. cit., p. 55, citing Bill Gulley, and see HD, pp. 29, 30; (bed) Kessler, op. cit., p. 55; Cheshire with Greenya, op. cit., p. 176; (LBJ/RN airplanes) Manchester, Glory and Dream, op. cit., p. 1162; (Air Force One refurbished) Helen Thomas, Front Row at the White House, New York: Scribner, 1999, p. 171; (further $750,000) ibid., p. 173 and see higher figure in Kessler, op. cit., p. 57; (in-laws/aides used) Manchester, Glory and Dream, op. cit., p. 1162; Gulley with Reese, op. cit., p. 189; (Biscayne/San Clemente/$10.5 million) NYT, Dec. 19, 1973; Manchester, Glory and Dream, op. cit., p. 1161; (special features cost) Gulley with Reese, op. cit., p. 189; (C. David pool) ibid., p. 179; (nine offices) David, op. cit., p. 71, citing Fortune, John Herbers, No Thank You, Mr. President, New York: Norton, 1976, p. 64; (household expenses) Manchester, Glory and Dream, op. cit., p. 1162.

  absences:Newsweek, Aug. 24, 1970; Herbers, op. cit., p. 64; (RN word on his work habits) New York, May 10, 1976; Small, op. cit., p. 230; (Butterfield) People, May 19, 1975 and see Kissinger, Renewal, op. cit., p. 70.

  coats:NYT, Dec. 21, 1968.

  Julie bent custom: Edmondson and Cohen, op. cit., p. 157.

  nicknames:Parade magazine, WP, undated, 1967.

  Tricia: (in room/figurines) Edmondson and Cohen, op. cit., pp. 106–, 114; Ehrlichman, op. cit., p. 42; (“Louis XV”) Edmondson and Cohen, op. cit., p. 111; (“tough-and-troubled”) Ehrlichman, op. cit., p. 42; (embassy party) ibid., p. 43; (steward staring) Kessler, op. cit., p. 43; (hassock) Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 323; (“Goody-Two-Shoes”) int. Lou Campbell, former agent with executive protection service; (agents urinating) Rush, op. cit., p. 192, citing former agent Marty Venker; (Tricia/Charles) UPI, Aug. 16, 1979, citing Prince Charles, Cheshire with Greenya, op. cit., p. 117, Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 291; (Cox background) WP, Apr. 19, 1970, NYT, Mar. 17, 1971; (60 Minutes viewers/Rather) Troy, op. cit., p. 193.

  uniforms: (Brussels) Dan Rather with Mickey Herskowitz, The Camera Never Blinks, New York: William Morrow, 1977, p. 221; (India) Dickerson, op. cit., p. 164; (Ruritanian) E. J. Applewhite, Washington Itself, Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1993, p. 88; (“cross between”) Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 283; (RN & caps) Newsweek, Dec. 19, 1977; (dieting) Dickerson, op. cit., p. 164; (Iowa bands) SF Chronicle, May 16, June 18, UPI, Nov. 10, 1980; (Alice Cooper) SF Chronicle, June 18, 1980; (“something more formal”) Magruder, American Life, op. cit., p. 60; (“stupid”) int. Peter Flanigan.

  RN style: (memo four days after) ed. Oudes, op. cit., p. 11; (“He saves everything”) E, 22, p. 10267–; (“Things got regal”) Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 239; (“Problems with signals”) HD, p. 29; (white tie) U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 24, Aug. 11, 1969; (“above salt”) ibid.; (higher chair) Joseph Califano, Jr., Governing America, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981, p. 429; (Sidey) Life, Mar. 10, 1972.

  RN and Royalty: (Windsors) int. Robert K. Gray; HD, p. 146; (Pat “statistics”) int. Jessamyn West by FB, FBP; (jewels) Cheshire with Greenya, op. cit., pp. 87–, 116–, 128–, 174; WP, May 14, 15, 16, Sep. 22, 23, 24, 1974; Paul Michel to Henry Ruth, Hughes-Rebozo closing memo, Oct. 16, 1975, WSPF, NA; Howe and Trott, op. cit., p. 500; Knight News Service, Apr. 4, 1979; ints. Fred Graboske, Donald Nixon, Jr.; (royal lineage) UPI, Apr. 10, 1975; (“I often felt”) Klein, op. cit., p. 323; (RN denied) MEM, p. 771; (“aloof & imperial”) O’Neill and Novak, op. cit., p. 240–; (Burns) int. Arthur Burns in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 160; (“He just doesn’t listen”) Smith, Dewey, op. cit., p. 633; (“like Naploeon”) int. Arnholt Smith, and see San Diego Reader, Mar. 19, 1992; (“regal”) int. Leonard Hall by FB, FBP.

  RN and cabinet: (initial intent) agenda for cabinet mtg., Jan. 22, 1969, Box 40, Theodore White Papers, JFKL; (RN “never intended”) eds. Strober, Nixon, op. cit., p. 88, and see HD, p. 100; (Schlesinger) ibid., p. 89; (“We began to get”) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 130–; (RN “never trusted”) int. Richard Helms by Stanley Kutler, Kutler Collection kindly provided to author; (“Screw the Cabinet”) WHT, April 1971 revealed in court case Justice Dept. v. Nixon Estate, reported in WP, Dec. 27, 1998.

  RN and Congress: (“He simply didn’t want”) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 133 and see Robert Dole in WP, July 29, 1973; (Timmons) cited in Reichley, op. cit., p. 87; (blocking bills, etc.) Smith, Events Leading Up to My Death, op. cit., p. 352; Paul Clancy, Just a Country Lawyer, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1974, p. 252–; Dick Dabney, A Good Man: The Life of Sam Ervin, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1976, p. 250: Thomas Cronin cited in NYT, Apr. 24, 1994; (Phillips) Arthur Pearl, Landslide, Secaucus, NJ: Citadel, 1973, p. 226; (“Divine Right”) NYT, Apr. 3, 1973.

  RN presidency and press: (“that fucking bunch”) Theodore White notes of conv. with RN, Nov. 23, 1968, Box 40, Theodore White papers, LBJL; (“Why don’t we all get”) Wise, Politics of Lying, op. cit., p. 316—the aide was Roy Goodearle; (cutoff NYT, WP, etc.) HD, p. 60; Safire, op. cit., p. 345; (moon rocks) Wise, Politics of Lying, op. cit., p. 315–; (grander quarters) ibid., p. 342, Thomas, Dateline, op. cit., p. 126; (press conferences) Wise, Politics of Lying, op. cit., p. 359; (RN claimed/Agnew) ibid., pp. 336, 339; MEM, p. 411; (Sidey on “non-news”) Wise, Politics of Lying, op. cit., p. 360.

  Vietnam and first presidency: (“Without the V. War”) Haldeman with DiMona, op.
cit., p. 79; (safe) MEM, pp. 336, 369; (“Who knows”) T. White notes of conv. RN, Dec. 2, 1968, supra.; (“Peace cannot”) Nixon address, May 14, 1969, as reprinted by U.S.I.S.; (RN/Thieu meeting) Hung and Schecter, op. cit., pp. 32–, 40; (RN withheld) ibid., p. 41; (tigers) ibid., p. 109; (Vietnamization) ibid., p. 34; MEM, pp. 395; (Critics claimed) e.g., eds. The Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars, The Indochina Story, New York: Pantheon, 1970, pp. 132, 136.

  Cambodia: (bombing) Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 242–; Shawcross, op. cit., p.26–; Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 54–; “Secret Bombing of Cambodia,” Congressional Quarterly, Historical Documents 1973 Washington, D.C., 1974, p. 729–; (impeachment issue) Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 62fn.; Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 249; Bundy, op. cit., p. 471; (RN public lies) transcript RN speeches, NYT, May 15, 1969, May 1, 1970, int. John Rothmann.

  Spy plane: (incident) Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., pp. 247, 313–; Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 69–; MEM, p. 384; (“strong action”) HD, p. 50; (“sweet-ass”) Bryant with Leighton, op. cit., p. 253; (“I’ll turn Right”) WP, Dec. 27, 1998, citing RN/Kissinger call, April 1971.

  Calley: (My Lai event) TW72, p. 58, Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 13, 1969, [Seymour Hersh piece] NYT, May 11, 1998, obit. Ronald Ridenhour, June 5, 1998, obit. Col. Oran Henderson; Mollenhoff, op. cit., p. 74–; David Obst, Too Good to Be Forgotten, New York: John Wiley, 1998, p. 161; Sheehan, op. cit., p. 689; (“abhorent”) RN press statement, Nov. 26, 1969, cited in Daniels letter, WP, Apr. 7, 1971, and see RN press conference in ed. Helen Thomas, The Nixon Presidential Press Conferences, New York: Earl Coleman, 1978, re: RN comments Dec. 8, 1969, p. 70; (spy order) Hersh, Price of Power, op. cit., p. 135; (“rotten Jews”) ibid., citing Alexander Butterfield; (confinement conditions) Sheehan, op. cit., p. 689; Obst, op. cit., p. 172; (life story/Hymm) ibid.; (Daniel Letter) WP, Apr. 7, 1971; int. Aubrey Daniel.