The Arrogance of Power

by Anthony Summers

  4. See p. 432.

  5. The author has used Kissinger’s dating of this discussion between the secretary and Haig. In his memoirs Haig said their first such conversation took place not at San Clemente but later, on July 31, in Washington. While Kissinger also recalled a discussion that day, he indicated it was the second time the subject was seriously broached. (Haig, op. cit., p. 477; Kissinger, Upheaval, op. cit., pp. 1196–, 1198.)

  6. In her biography of her mother, Julie said Cox was opposed to resignation at the family meeting on August 2. In his memoirs Nixon said his son-in-law remained opposed after that date. Woodward and Bernstein’s account, in Final Days, which the author has used here, is irreconcilable with the Nixon family accounts. Although it is also unattributed—the book has no source notes—the author here relies on a contact with former Senator Griffin, who confirmed the calls from Cox took place, and on conversations with both Woodward and with Bernstein. (MEM, pp. 1060, 1062, 1072; PAT, p. 420; Woodward and Bernstein, Final Days, op. cit., p. viii; Griffin in 2000: research of Rebecca John, for BBC/History Channel.)

  7. Schlesinger told the author he thought the conversation with Laitin took place not on the phone but in his office. Both agreed it took place in the spring, between April and June, 1974.

  8. See p. 463, for the December 1973 Nixon meeting with the Joint Chiefs.

  9. See earlier references to General Cushman. The general served in the marines in World War II, was assigned to the CIA from 1949 to 1951, and to Nixon as vice president from early 1957. Nixon named him deputy director of the CIA in 1969. He remained at the Agency until his appointment as Marine Corps commandant in December 1971. Although witnesses differed on details, it was established that Cushman responded to Howard Hunt’s request for CIA assistance in 1971. The agency provided Hunt and Liddy with false identity papers, disguises, and a miniature camera, all of which they used in the burglary operation against the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. (For a brief summary, see Schoenebaum, ed., op. cit., p. 158–; Wise, Police State, op. cit., p. 250–.)

  10. Toll testified under oath to having seen such orders at a closed session of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs on June 26, 1992. Theodore White, a man with excellent access to sources, wrote that at the time of the resignation “by order of Defense Secretary Schlesinger, all military commands had been warned to accept no direct orders either from the White House or from any source without the counter-signature of the Defense Secretary himself.” Advised of Toll’s statement, Schlesinger told the author he could see how Toll might have seen an order along the lines described in the final days of the presidency—although it would more likely have barred taking orders from “the White House” without checking, rather than specifically from “the president.” There would not, he thought, have been an order to disobey the president, who was, after all, the Commander in Chief. Dr. Schlesinger was surprised, however, by Toll’s claim to have seen earlier, similar orders relating to times when Nixon was allegedly drunk. “On that,” he said, “you would have to ask not people in the military chain of command, but White House personnel.” (Toll testified: Committee Classified Testimony of Barry Toll, U.S. Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs, June 26, 1992, provided to author; “by order”: White, Breach of Faith, op. cit., p. 22–; Schlesinger on Toll: int. James Schlesinger.)

  11. Schlesinger’s actions on the eve of the resignation became public after he discussed them with Pentagon reporters over lunch two weeks later. His comments were “not for attribution” but were only thinly veiled when published. President Ford later wrote in his memoirs that “he had to admonish” Schlesinger for having speculated on such a matter to the press, which he deemed unfair to the armed forces. Alexander Haig said in a 1997 interview that Schlesinger’s action had been “wrong . . . outrageous.” Nixon, for his part, in 1984 dismissed as “incredible” the notion that he might have used U.S. troops to retain power. (Schlesinger comments: WP, and Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 24, 1974; “had to admonish”: Ford, op. cit., p. 332; “outrageous”: int. Alexander Haig; “incredible”: transcript, int. Richard Nixon, “The American Parade,” CBS TV, Apr. 10, 1984.)

  12. Haig stated within weeks of the resignation that he had never worried about possible military intervention. “The danger,” he said, “was from outside forces, that from so much frustration somebody would take events into his own hands and use extraconstitutional means or some distortion of the 25th Amendment.” He later called the end of the presidency “one of the most dangerous periods of American history” and said lawful change was “not a foregone conclusion at the time.” (Time, Sept. 30, 1974; Newsweek, July 16, 1979 and see Woodward and Bernstein, The Final Days, op. cit., p. 425, re: Nixon refusal to be “forced out by some legislative coup.”)

  13. See references to Nixon and Theodore Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” speech at pp. 20, 169.

  A Note on Sources

  * * *

  Where an interview “by the author” is indicated in the text, or as “int.” in the Source Notes, this refers to interviews done either by the author himself, his wife and colleague Robbyn Swan, or one of the research team who worked on the book.

  Recordings of White House conversations (designated in the Source Notes as “WHT”) are often of poor quality. Where the author was concerned that there might be confusion as to what was said, a researcher has monitored tape extracts to check the accuracy of available transcripts.

  The conversion of monetary sums to their equivalent at today’s values has in all cases been made in consultation with Rob Grunewald of the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, which provides such a service.

  Source Notes

  * * *

  See list of abbreviations on pages 609–610.

  Prologue

  Graham/Walker: Int. Ronald Walker.

  death:NYT, Newsday, WP, Apr. 24, 1994.

  RN “specified”:HD, p. 151.

  “instructed”:WP, Apr. 28, 1994.

  “planted”:NYT, Apr. 27, 1994.

  “Air Force One”: BBN wire report, Apr. 26, 1994.

  “42,000”:LAT, Apr. 28, 1994.

  Ford:New Leader, May 9–23, 1994.

  funeral:NYT, LAT, WP, Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 28, 1994.

  Nixonian faithful: (Walker) NYT, Apr. 28, 1994; int. Ron Ziegler; int. Peter Flanigan; int. Len Garment; (Walters) NYT, Apr. 28, 1994.

  poll: Durham (NC) Herald-Sun, May 4, 1994.

  Hiss:Newsday, Apr. 24, 1994.

  Maheu: int. Robert Maheu and Robert Maheu, Next to Hughes, New York: HarperCollins, 1992, pp. 42–, 79–.

  RN denied: In Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Forgein and Military Intelligence, U.S. Sen. Select Cttee. to Study Gov. Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, 94th Cong., 2nd sess., FR, Vol. IV, p. 157–.

  violence: Reported and sourced in later chapters.

  Agnew: (“feared”) Spiro Agnew, Go Quietly . . . Or Else, New York: William Morrow, 1980, p. 190; (never spoke) NYT, Apr. 28, 1994.

  “menacing”:LAT, Apr. 28, 1994.

  “prisoner of war”: int. Sam Dash.

  Saluted:New Republic, May 23, 1994.

  Hunt comment: int. Howard Hunt.

  McCord believes: James McCord, Jr., A Piece of Tape, The Watergate Story: Fact or Fiction, Rockville, MD: Washington Media Services, 1974, p. 259.

  Ehrlichman: (“duped”) Newsweek, Aug. 26, 1974, p. 19; (never spoke) int. John Ehrlichman; (Haldeman/Ehrlichman respect) int. John Ehrlichman in eds. staff at the Miller Center, University of Virginia, The Nixon Presidency: Twenty-two Intimate Perspectives of Richard M. Nixon, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987, p. 139; H. R. Haldeman with Joseph DiMona, The Ends of Power, New York: Times Books, 1978, p. 72.

  “kick-em”:NM, p. 11.

  Dean: (“evil”) NM, p. 334; (lawsuit) Maureen K. Dean and John W. Dean v. St. Martin’s Press, Inc., et al., California Superior Court, Jan. 29, 1992; (book) Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin, Silent Coup, The
Removal of a President, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.

  Kalmbach: (vast sums) NM, p. 109–; (ambassadorships) ibid., p. 134; (present) ibid., p. 360; (phony names) ibid., p. 251 and cf. Bobby Baker, Wheeling and Dealing, New York: Norton, 1978.

  Alzheimer’s: int. Robert King.

  “intentionally”:Newsday, Jan. 13, 1995 and memo, Jan. 10. 1974, Woods files, NA release Feb. 16, 1995.

  Rebozo/hospital: int. Sloan McCrae.

  obstructed: E, FR, pp. 931, 1071.

  Liu: Anthony Summers, Official & Confidential, The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, New York: Putnam, 1993, p. 371–; (sued) LAT, Sept. 18, 1976; (cemetery) int. Marianna Liu.

  Khashoggi: int. Adnan Khashoggi; int. Pierre Salinger; Anthony Sampson, The Arms Bazaar, New York: Viking, 1977, p. 188, WP, June 27, 1976.

  “peacemaker”:LAT, Apr. 28, 1994.

  inaugural: Alexander Haig, Jr., Inner Circles, How America Changed the World, New York: Warner, 1992, p. 181.

  Vietnam: (dead) ed. Spencer Tucker, Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, Chicago: Ivan Dee, 1995, p. 1093; (“peace with honor”) AMIII, citing Public Papers of the Presidents, 1973, p. 55–.

  suspicion 1968: William Bundy, Tangled Web, The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency, New York: Hill & Wang, 1998, p. 35–; (Chennault) ints. Anna Chennault.

  “Pat”: Frank Gannon int. of RN, “The Real Richard Nixon,” Part 2 (videotape), CPM 1374.

  Other memories: reported and sourced in later chapters.

  broke down: Monica Crowley, Nixon in Winter, New York: Random House, 1998, p. 392.

  Hutschnecker: ints. Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker.

  Haldeman: Haldeman with DiMona, op. cit., p. 62.

  small episodes/serious implications: reported and sourced in later chapters.

  Hutschnecker: (urging) FB, p. 332; (concern) Drew Pearson; WP, Nov. 20, 1968.

  Kissinger confided: letter, Fawn Brodie to Henry Kissinger, Jan. 6, 1977, comment can be dated to summer 1968 in int. of Bob Woodward by FB, FBP.

  “Mitty”: Henry Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, Boston: Little, Brown, 1982, p. 1182–.

  Chapter 1

  “He belongs”: FB, p. 54.

  RN Sept. 1919: int. Mary George Skidmore in Renée Schulte, ed., The Young Nixon, An Oral Inquiry, California State University, Fullerton Oral History Program, Richard M. Nixon Project, 1978, p. 78.

  Sears: int. John Sears.

  George: int. Mary George Skidmore in ed. Schulte, op. cit., pp. 78, 81, 84.

  tears/quavering: Pat, p. 427, Stephen M. Bauer, At Ease in the White House, New York: Birch Lane Press, 1991, p. 156.

  farewell:Time, Aug. 19, 1974, p. 15; WP, Aug. 10, 1974.

  bar exam: Richard Gardner, Richard Nixon, The Story of a Fighting Quaker, unpub. ms., Whittier College Library, p. 86; AM1, p. 84.

  oil: int. Dr. Paul Smith, president emeritus of Whittier College and professor of RN, in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 147; FB, p. 30–.

  TB: (Harold) AM1, p. 50; (Arthur) AM1, p. 41 and see detail in this chapter.

  Buzhardt: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Final Days, New York: Avon, 1976, pp. 78, 92; FB, p. 520, n. 17 for chapter 2.

  Hiss:Psychology Today, Oct. 1974, p. 116.

  1968 speech:NYT, Aug. 9, 1968.

  met Pat: (Athletes) Public Papers of the President, 1969–1974, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971–75, citing National Football Foundation speech, Dec. 9, 1969; (RN) Bela Kornitzer, The Real Nixon, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1960, p. 134; MEM, p. 23.

  French: Tad Szulc, The Illusion of Peace, Foreign Policy in the Nixon Years, New York: Viking, 1978, p. 766; (History) MO, p. 123.

  chopsticks: Bruce Oudes, ed., From: The President, Richard Nixon’s Secret Files, New York: Harper & Row, 1989, p. 383.

  Kissinger: Henry Kissinger, White House Years, Boston: Little, Brown, 1979, p. 505.

  candor: Fred Emery, Watergate, The Corruption and Fall of Richard Nixon, New York: Times Books, 1994, p. 414, but see MEM, p. 948.

  “blameless”:AOP, p. 476.

  Scott:NYT, Dec. 10, 1974; James D. Barber, Political Science Quarterly, II. 4, p. 597.

  Goldwater: (“danger”) Watergate, The Secret Story, CBS, June 17, 1992; (losing mind) Robert A. Goldberg, Barry Goldwater, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995, pp. 278–.

  Tricia:Ladies’ Home Journal, March 1974, p. 132.

  Sears: int. John Sears; LAT, Apr. 24, 1994.

  Garment:Burden of Proof, CNN, Feb. 28, 1997; Leonard Garment, Crazy Rhythm, New York: Times Books, 1997, p. 115; int. Leonard Garment.

  “dissembling”:SF Chronicle, Oct. 28, 1982, citing Good Morning America, ABC-TV.

  Kissinger: Kissinger, White House Years, op. cit., p. 1094.

  Ehrlichman: Paul Theroux, Sunrise with Seamonsters, New York: Penguin, 1985, p. 177.

  Kornitzer: (secretary) int. Evlyn Dorn by FB, FBP.

  mother: (oil) Good Housekeeping, June 1960, p. 54–; (photo) Kornitzer, op. cit., p. 90; (“campaign”) LAT, Feb. 25, 1960.

  pies: David Wise, The Politics of Lying, New York:Random House, 1973, p. 328.

  aides struck: John Ehrlichman, Witness to Power, New York: Pocket Books, 1982, p. 147; Kissinger, Upheaval, op. cit., p. 1183.

  “mother taught me”: Crowley, Winter, op. cit., p. 362.

  Hannah origins:MO, p. 24–.

  clannish: ibid., p. 25.

  meets Frank: ibid., p. 36.

  Frank origin: ibid., p. 32.

  “below her station”: int. Dr. Paul Smith in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 151.

  Frank and women: Edwin Hoyt, The Nixons, An American Family, New York: Random House, 1972, p. 183; Jessamyn West, Hide and Seek, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973, p. 239–; FB, p. 39.

  “bad girl”:MO, p. 37; int. Dr. Smith, supra., p. 151.

  kings:JA, p. 11.

  Nixon name: Kornitzer, op. cit., p. 26.

  circumstances: (“hunger”) int. John Lindsay by FB, FBP; (“poor”) Hoyt, op. cit., p. 182; (cornmeal) Joseph Dmohowski, “From a Common Ground, The Quaker Heritage of Jessamyn West and Richard Nixon,” California History, Fall 1994, p. 222; (Alsop) Stewart Alsop, Nixon and Rockefeller, New York: Doubleday, 1960, p. 185; (advance) JA, p. 10; (lemons) MO, p. 65–; (pony) Theodore White, The Making of the President 1960, New York: Atheneum, 1960, p. 302; int. Hugh Sidey in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 306; (RN on train) ibid., Wise, Politics, op. cit., p. 329; (mother and train) Kornitzer, op. cit., p. 49; (tractor/car) MO, p. 55; (Hannah did return) ibid., pp. 57, 67; (well-to-do) ibid., p. 55; ($5,000) ibid., p. 67.

  Whittier house: ibid., p. 71.

  piano: ibid., p. 61; (at three) Legacy, Journal of the Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, Spring 1997, p. 4.

  “psychohistory”: see David Abrahamsen, M.D., FB; Eli S. Chesen, M.D., Bruce Mazlish, Vamik Volkan, et al., and Arthur Woodstone cited in full in bibliography.

  fighter:MEM, pp. 12, 6.

  punishments: (Frank beaten) MO, p. 33; (dodged) ibid., pp. 65, 194; (“mother never”) Barber, op. cit., p. 408; (screams/playmates) MO, p. 64–; (“animal”) Abrahamsen, op. cit., p. 91; (canal) int. Jessamyn West by FBP, FB, p. 40.

  “cruel”: int. Jessamyn West, supra.

  “brusque”:MEM, p. 7.

  Hutschnecker: int. Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker by FB, FBP.

  mother: (“gentlest”) Alsop, op. cit., p. 185; (“kind”) int. Blanche McClure in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 8; (“throttle”) JA, p. 14; (“holy, holy”) int. Helene Drown by FB, FBP; (“cranky”) FB, p. 54; (“steel”) Richard Arena cited at MO, p. 98, but see Abrahamsen, op. cit., p. 89; (paddling) Good Housekeeping, June 1960; (neighbor) int. Mrs. Cecil Pickering in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 21; (switch) MO, p. 62, FB, p. 59–; (Sears) int. John Sears, Richard M. Nixon, A Self-Portrait, 1968 film script, FBP.

  Arthur: (cigarettes) ibid., p. 5, Kornitzer, op. cit., p. 64; (hoping for daughter) ibid., p. 62–; (kiss) ibid., p. 65; JA, p. 25.

  mother: (Bergholz) Gerald
and Deborah Strober, Nixon, An Oral History of His Presidency, New York: HarperCollins, 1994, p. 38; (kissing) JA, p. 15; (“never heard”) Richard Nixon, In the Arena, New York: Pocket Books, 1990, p. 94; (“projected”) JA, p. 15.

  Hutschnecker: int. Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker, Nov. 7, 1976 by FB, FBP.

  Arthur death: (rock) Gardner, op. cit., p. 23; FB, p. 89; Edward Nixon to author, May 8, 1996; int. Donald Nixon, Jr., and other relatives; MO, p. 881 n.84; (certificate) FB, p. 89; (root cause) MEM, p. 10; Nixon, Arena, op. cit., p. 192; (nightmare) MO, p. 43–; (“staring”) FB, p. 90; (cried) MEM, p. 10.

  Harold: Abrahamsen, op. cit., p. 87; MO, p. 87–; (TB) ibid., p. 94–; (raw milk) JA, p. 23; (Richard/Don sick) ibid., pp. 23, 27; (“catastrophic”) RN to Pat Buchanan, Feb. 10, 1971, NP, NA; (sold land) int. Harry Schuyler in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 251.

  tough period:MO, p. 98–, Richard M. Nixon, A Self-Portrait, 1968 film script, FBP, p. 6; (shirts/breath) Good Housekeeping, June 1960; (meat) int. Merle West and see Good Housekeeping, June 1960; (Arizona) MO, p. 94–; (afraid) ibid., p. 96; (carnival) FB, p. 97; (conspired) AM1, p. 44; (wiretap) MO, p. 97.

  Harold death: (“guilt”) Henry Lawton, “Milhous Rising,” Journal of Psychohistory, Spring 1979, p. 533; (“Why?”) Jessamyn West, Double Discovery, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, p. 138; (punishment) MO, p. 44, JA, p. 48; (“God’s decision”) Kornitzer, op. cit., p. 60.

  religion: (two churches) unpub. essay by John Rothmann, JFRP; int. Jane Milhous Beeson in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 62–; (Quaker background) Encyclopedia Brittanica, Charles Henderson, The Nixon Theology, New York: Harper & Row, 1972; MO, pp. 23–, 27; int. Edward Nixon; (“four times”) Nixon, Arena, op. cit., p. 95; (quiet) MO, p. 86; (closet) ibid., p. 31; JA, p. 338; (her life) int. Jane Beeson in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 63; (“firebrand”) Jessamyn West, “Four Years, For What?,” Whittier College Bulletin, May 1954; (cheeks) West, Hide and Seek, op. cit., p. 239–; (“reawakening”) AM1, p. 41; (devotees) NYT, Jan. 26, 1969; (RN rethought) JA, p. 54–; (Trohan) int. Walter Trohan; (Peale) Rothmann unpub. essay, supra.; (“backslider”) Marshall Frady, Billy Graham, Boston: Little, Brown, 1979, p. 446; (Catholicism) int. John Ehrlichman, int. John Ehrlichman in eds. Miller Center, op. cit., p. 135, Colson cited in WP, Apr. 24, 1994, p. C1 and Douglas Hallet article in NYT Magazine, Oct. 20, 1974; (anathema) MO, p. 23; (stopped holding) Marianne Means, Boston Herald-American, Sept. 26, 1973, John Osborne in New York, Apr. 21, 1975; (“guidance”) Michael Medved, The Shadow Presidents, New York: Times Books, 1979, p. 326; (Colson) Charles Colson, Born Again, New York: Bantam, 1977, p. 203; (Lincoln table) SF Chronicle, May 26, 1977; (Korff) int. Baruch Korff and Baruch Korff, The President and I, Providence, RI: Korff Foundation, 1995, p. 74; (“peace”) ibid., p. 167; (“Life of Christ”) UPI, Mar. 19, 1975; MEM, p. 78; (Bible) int. WSPF attorney; (old age) Crowley, Winter, op. cit., p. 339–; (“I believe”) This Week magazine, Sept. 18, 1960; (repudiate) int. Dr. Paul Smith in ed. Schulte, op. cit., p. 177; Henderson, op. cit., p. 32–; FB, p. 62; int. Rev. Eugene Coffin, East Whittier Friends Church by FB, FBP; (RN’s “great trouble”) int. Walter Trohan; (“victim”) int. Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker.