Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes

More than 20 years after the Watergate scandal that brought down his presidency, the character of Richard M. Nixon continues to fascinate us. Many books have been written about Nixon, and about Watergate, but perhaps none sheds so revealing a light on the late president as Stanley I. Kutler's Abuse of Power. In the years following Watergate, as Nixon fought to rebuild his reputation from the ruins of his shattered presidency, he fought fiercely to suppress publication of most of the secret tapes that led to his downfall. During his lifetime, only about 60 hours of the almost 4,000 that exist were ever made public, and even after his death his estate continued to obstruct further releases. Then, in 1996, Kutler, along with the advocacy group Public Citizen, won a landmark decision to release the tapes.

Among other things, Abuse of Power definitively answers the question of whether Nixon was directly involved in raising hush money (he was) and suggests a reason for the burglary attempt at the Watergate Hotel (financial documents that might have linked the Democratic Party chairman to Howard Hughes). The tapes also reveal the vindictive and bigoted side to Nixon's personality, particularly as he discusses "killing" the Washington Post, and blames rich Jews for Billy Graham's tax problems. Abuse of Power only covers an additional 201 hours of tape of the near 4,000 that remain unreleased. It seems that the final chapter on Watergate has yet to be written.