The real Watergate scandal : collusion, conspiracy, and the plot that brought Nixon down

Format:

Book

Title:

The real Watergate scandal : collusion, conspiracy, and the plot that brought Nixon down

Author:

Shepard, Geoffrey Carroll, 1944-

ISBN:

9781621573289

Publication:

Washington, DC : Regnery Publishing, 2015.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 354 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Contents:

Part I: A basic Watergate background. Identifying the real wrongdoing ; Understanding Watergate ; What went wrong -- Part II: Collusion. The secret meetings between judges and Watergate prosecutors -- Part III: Getting Nixon "at all cost". Staffing the Nixon impeachment -- Part IV: Denying due process to the Watergate defendants. A fair and impartial trial judge ; Evenhanded, nonpartisan prosecutors ; An untainted and unbiased jury ; The automatic right to an appeal -- Part V: The view from here. So what?

Summary:

"Research has uncovered shocking violations of ethical and legal standards by the "good guys"--including Judge John Sirica, Archibald Cox, and Leon Jaworski. Documents that the Watergate Special Prosecution Force was an avenging army drawn from the ranks of Nixon's most partisan foes. They had the good fortune to work with judges who shared their animus... Shows that the "smoking gun" conversation, which he himself was the first to transcribe, was taken out of context and completely misunderstood ... Crimes were committed, and an attempt was made to cover them up. But by trampling on the defendants' right to due process...denied the American people the assurance that justice was done."-- from jacket.

Personal Subject:

Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994.

Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994. (OCoLC)fst00031384

Subject(s):

Watergate Affair, 1972-1974.

Conspiracies -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

United States -- Politics and government -- 1969-1974.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Politics and government -- 1969-1974.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Silver Falls Library	973.924 SHEPARD	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

*Inspiration for the Major Off-Broadway Show, Trial on the Potomac .*

"It's the biggest Watergate bombshell to hit since the Nixon tapes in 1973--with implications at once historic and relevant today." --JAMES ROSEN , national bestselling author and legendary journalist

THESE JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS WERE DETERMINED TO GET NIXON "AT ALL COSTS."

"The system worked"--Carl Bernstein's famous assessment of Watergate--turns out to be completely wrong. Powerful new evidence reveals that in the prosecution of the most consequential scandal in American history, virtually nothing in the justice system worked as it should.

The roles of heroes and villains in Watergate were assigned before Marine One carried Richard Nixon into exile on August 9, 1974. But Geoff Shepard's patient and persistent research has uncovered shocking violations of ethical and legal standards by the "good guys"--including Judge John Sirica, Archibald Cox, and Leon Jaworski.

The Watergate prosecutors' own files reveal their collusion with the federal judges who tried their cases and heard their appeals--professional misconduct so extensive that the pretense of a fair trial is now impossible to maintain.

Shepard documents that the Watergate Special Prosecution Force was an avenging army drawn from the ranks of Nixon's most ardent partisan foes. They had the good fortune to work with judges who shared their animus or who quickly developed a taste for the media adulation showered on those who lent their power to the anti-Nixon cause.

In the end, Nixon's fall was the result of the "smoking gun" tape recording in which he appeared to order a cover-up of the Watergate burglary. Yet in a stunning revision of the historical record, Shepard shows that that conversation, which he himself was the first to transcribe, was taken out of context and completely misunderstood--an interpretation with which Nixon's nemesis John Dean concurs.

Crimes were committed, and an attempt was made to cover them up. But by trampling on the defendants' right to due process, the Watergate prosecutors and judges denied the American people the assurance that justice was done and destroyed the historical reputation of an exceptionally accomplished president and administration. This book will challenge everything you think you know about the Watergate scandal.

Author Notes

GEOFF SHEPARD joined the Nixon administration as a White House Fellow directly out of Harvard Law School and became a senior member of the Domestic Council staff. Later, as Deputy Defense Counsel, he had a front-row seat for the political drama that toppled a president and sent his closest aids to prison.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

Shepard was a young White House staffer in the Nixon administration when the smoking gun tape was revealed, implicating the president in the Watergate scandal. In this follow-up to The Secret Plot to Make Ted Kennedy President (2008), which detailed how political opposition was used to drive Nixon from office, Shepard charges federal judges and prosecutors with deliberately misusing the law to topple the president. Arguing that the tapes were misinterpreted, Shepard draws on documents from the National Archives to imply that Judge John Sirica and special prosecutors Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski were part of a political opposition so set on unseating Nixon that they subverted the law. Shepard charges the judge and prosecutors with meeting secretly to strategize how best to remove Nixon from office. Shepard, who has been active in preserving and publicizing the policy legacy of the Nixon administration, argues that had Nixon not been driven from office, he would have been recognized as one of the nation's greatest presidents.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2015 Booklist

Introduction	p. ix
Part I A Basic Watergate Background
Chapter 1 Identifying the Real Wrongdoing	p. 1
Chapter 2 Understanding Watergate	p. 9
Chapter 3 What Went Wrong	p. 27
Part II Collusion
Chapter 4 The Secret Meetings between Judges and Watergate Prosecutors	p. 49
Part III Getting Nikon "At All Cost"
Chapter 5 Staffing the Nixon Impeachment	p. 67
Part IV Denying Due Process to the Watergate Defendants
Chapter 6 A Fair and Impartial Trial Judge	p. 103
Chapter 7 Evenhanded, Nonpartisan Prosecutors	p. 141
Chapter 8 An Untainted and Unbiased Jury	p. 183
Chapter 9 The Automatic Right to an Appeal	p. 199
Part V The View from Here
Chapter 10 So What?	p. 231
List of Appendixes	p. 243
Acknowledgments	p. 317
Notes	p. 319
Annotated Bibliography	p. 335
Index	p. 347

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

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