The Nixon Defense

What He Knew and When He Knew It

By: John W. Dean

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Based on Nixon’s overlooked recordings, New York Times bestselling author John W. Dean connects the dots between what we’ve come to believe about Watergate and what actually happened

Watergate forever changed American politics, and in light of the revelations about the NSA’s widespread surveillance program, the scandal has taken on new significance. Yet remarkably, four decades after Nixon was forced to resign, no one has told the full story of his involvement in Watergate.

In The Nixon Defense, former White House Counsel John W. Dean, one of the last major surviving figures of Watergate, draws on his own transcripts of almost a thousand conversations, a wealth of Nixon’s secretly recorded information, and more than 150,000 pages of documents in the National Archives and the Nixon Library to provide the definitive answer to the question: What did President
Nixon know and when did he know it?

Through narrative and contemporaneous dialogue, Dean connects dots that have never been connected, including revealing how and why the Watergate break-in occurred, what was on the mysterious 18 1/2 minute gap in Nixon’s recorded conversations, and more.

In what will stand as the most authoritative account of one of America’s worst political scandals, The Nixon Defense shows how the disastrous mistakes of Watergate could have been avoided and offers a cautionary tale for our own time.

Critic reviews

“Mr. Dean’s book will remind people of why Nixon deserves so unflattering a historical reputation . . . It should also serve as a renewed cautionary tale about elevating politicians with questionable character to high office . . . Dean’s resolve to reconstruct this dismal tale of high crimes and misdemeanors is commendable . . . . In addition to creating a definitive historical record of how the Watergate scandal unfolded, The Nixon Defense resolves some major unsettled questions.”

—Robert Dallek, The New York Times

“Dean, as always the model of precision and doggedness, has performed yeoman service . . . even for someone who has covered Watergate for 42 years, from the morning of the burglary through the investigations, confessions, denials, hearings, trials, books and attempts at historical revisionism, Dean’s book has an authoritative ring.”

—Bob Woodward, The Washington Post

“A prodiguous effort.”

—New York Daily News

“Dean shapes those conversations into a readable, dense narrative.”

—Los Angeles Times

“The most intimate, detailed, complex and nuanced portrait of a President and his courtiers that we have ever seen in print . . . Dean is scrupulously fair, but Nixon is undone by his own words. To read them is to be a fly on the wall in the palace court of the Nixon White House, to observe history close up as we have never seen it before . . . the closest we will ever come to knowing the real Richard Nixon. It is a fascinating and very important piece of history, and the stuff of great drama.”

—Huffington Post

Compelling, Disturbing, Important

Would you listen to The Nixon Defense again? Why?

Probably not--I have so many books to listen to that I do not listen more than once. However, if I was to listen to a book again this would be the book because it is so compelling.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably Martha Mitchell. While she was a minor part of this story, I was reminded of how badly she was treated and how lost she was in this political mess. Everyone else in the story is pretty despicable so I cannot say "favorite".

Which scene was your favorite?

I was shocked to hear that Nixon and his people were fairly certain, BEFORE his reelection (but right after the break in) that Felt was the person leaking information to the news media (("Deep Throat"). They left him alone because they were afraid he might do more damage. Also, his overall role was fairly minimal in the scheme of things.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is one of the most important books I have ever "read". I was continually shocked by what I heard from the tapes. As bad as we thought it was, it was a lot worse. The callousness, the ability to lie so easily, and the shifting of blame to others was unbelievable. Also, it was the coverup, not the thwarted break in, that was so important.

Any additional comments?

This book is important and needs to be read by every citizen. Dean's transcription and his linking together the meaning of the tapes in terms of the bigger picture was compelling. Every part of this book was thought-provoking (and anger-provoking!). This is the only book about any aspect of Watergate that needs to be read to understand exactly what happened and why it happened (and how they got away with it for so long).

Nice Try

I would not recommend this book unless the listener had a broad overview of the Watergate Saga. Without a broad overview, the listener is likely to be overwhelmed by the details. I lived through the sorry saga and thus had a framework for placing the details in perspective.

I believe that John Dean has performed a valuable service by transcribing the tapes. I hope that his efforts are rewarded by interested readers. I first learned of the book through an NPR interview of the author.

Best analysis of Tapes

Very interesting analysis for anyone still obsessed by Watergate. Lots of detail. It can be a little hard to follow if you listen in the car and have short trips or multiple stops. But that's the price for detail. Narration strong and helpful.

Very well done!

John Dean wrote a well researched account and the speaker did a fine job reading.

OMG

As a kid I watched these hearings but I had no idea how truly evil many of these people were until now. Straight forward telling of a horrific time in our history. Wow!