The White House Plumbers

The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency

By: Egil “Bud” Krogh, Matthew Krogh

Narrated by: Peter Krogh

Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

NOW A FIVE-PART HBO SERIES, STARRING WOODY HARRELSON AND JUSTIN THEROUX

The true story of The White House Plumbers, a secret unit inside Nixon's White House, and their ill-conceived plans stop the leaking of the Pentagon Papers, and how they led to Watergate and the President's demise.

On July 17, 1971, Egil “Bud” Krogh was summoned to a closed-door meeting by his mentor—and a key confidant of the president—John Ehrlichman. Expecting to discuss the most recent drug control program launched in Vietnam, Krogh was shocked when Ehrlichman handed him a file and the responsibility for the Special Investigations Unit, or SIU, later to be notoriously known as “The Plumbers.”

The Plumbers’ work, according to Nixon, was critical to national security: they were to investigate the leaks of top secret government documents, including the Pentagon Papers, to the press. Driven by blind loyalty, diligence, and dedication, Krogh, along with his co-director, David Young, set out to handle the job, eventually hiring G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, who would lead the break-in to the office of Dr. Fielding, a psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg, the man they suspected was doing the leaking. Krogh had no idea that his decisions would soon lead to one of the most famous conspiracies in presidential history and the demise of the Nixon administration.

The White House Plumbers is Krogh’s account of what really happened behind the closed doors of the Nixon White House, and how a good man can make bad decisions, and the redemptive power of integrity. Including the story of how Krogh served time and later rebuilt his life, The White House Plumbers is gripping, thoughtful, and a cautionary tale of placing loyalty over principle.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2022 Egil “Bud” Krog and Matthew Krogh (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Reflective . . . . A slender but thoughtful memoir by one of the foot soldiers of Watergate." —Kirkus Reviews

"General readers on both sides of the political aisle will welcome this instructional, conscience-stricken account." —Library Journal (starred review)

"A concise and important view of one domino that would topple Richard Nixon’s Presidency . . . a heartfelt mea culpa—soon to be an HBO miniseries—emphasizing that redemption is always possible and integrity not entirely lost, even in the wake of historic scandal." —Booklist

Underwhelming personal catharsis.

I purchased this book because the HBO series piqued my interest in Mr. Krogh's eyewitness account of the events depicted therein. However, instead of describing many of the events in the series, such as Liddy's shredding of cash in front of Mr. Krogh, there was mostly the author's personal struggle with atonement. How HBO could have gotten an entire series from this 4 hour diatribe is beyond me.

A revision of "Integrity"

Mr. Krogh's prior book "Integrity" spent a lot of time focusing on the role of integrity in individuals who are public servants. This book, rewritten in collaboration with his son, gives an in-depth glimpse into the early days of the White House Special Investigations Unit (The Plumbers). It becomes much more personal as Mr. Krogh relates how his latter years were impacted by his commitment to living a life of integrity. I highly recommend this book.