41. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:435; Richard M. Nixon, No More Vietnams (New York, 1985). See Chapter XXII, infra.
42. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:535–36; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1973 (Washington, 1974), 906.
43. Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 255; James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (paperback ed., New York, 1961), 91; Time, November 12, 1973; Hedley Donovan, Roosevelt to Reagan (New York, 1985), 127.
44. NYT, December 13, 20, 1973.
45. O’Neill, Man of the House, 249–52; Petersen Interview, August 23, 1985.
46. Zeifman Interview, February 5, 1986; Cates Interview, February 6, 1988; Franklin Polk to Edward Hutchinson, October 26, November 20, 1973, Hutchinson MS, FL, offered a Republican view of Cates’s appointment; O’Neill, Man of the House, 256.
47. “Impeachment” File, Dixon MS, Washington University Library; additional Dixon materials are in the files of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice; J. Woodford Howard, Jr., to Author, June 29, 1987. On January 15, 1974, Howard met with Dixon, who reported that he and his staff had been working on the problem.
48. Coincidentally, as Congress moved into the impeachment inquiry, two scholarly works appeared to question the received wisdom on the Johnson and Chase trials. See Michael Les Benedict, The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson (New York, 1973); Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems (Cambridge, 1973). Berger justified the Chase impeachment, believing he deserved conviction, but curiously repeated the traditional accounts condemning Johnson’s trial.
XVII: “FIGHT”: TAPES AND INDICTMENTS: JANUARY–MAY 1974
1. Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (paperback ed., New York, 1979), 2:537–40.
2. PPPUS:RN, 1974, “State of the Union Address” (January 30, 1974), 47–55; NYT, February 1, 1974. Twelve years later, Senator Mansfield stated that he would “let my public statements stand.” Mansfield to Author, March 8, 1986. Leon Jaworski, Oral History Memoir, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, 2:551.
3. Vladimir N. Pregelj (Foreman) to Richard Nixon, January 30, 1974; St. Clair to Pregelj, January 31, 1974, Jaworski MS, Texas Collection, Baylor University; Pregelj Interview, February 10, 1988.
4. St. Clair Interview, April 10, 1987; NYT, January 5, 1974.
5. Jessica Mitford, The Trial of Dr. Spock (New York, 1979), 77; Nixon, Memoirs, 2:563; Leon Jaworski, The Right and the Power (New York, 1976), 84; St. Clair Interview, April 10, 1987; Liebman Interview, June 14, 1988.
6. Bull Interview, May 7, 1987; Kelley to Jaworski, March 13, 1974, Jaworski MS, Baylor University; James Doyle, Not Above the Law (New York, 1977), 341–43; Jerry Jones to Haig, June 24, 1974, SSF, Box 157, NP.
7. Garment Interviews, May 29, 1985, April 12, 1988; Bull Interview, May 7, 1987; Dent Interview, September 24, 1986; Mrs. J. Fred Buzhardt Interview, September 25, 1986; Lichenstein Interviews, February 7, July 16, 1986; “Chronology,” December 12, 1973, Garment MS, LC; Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:572–73; Executive Privilege, Secrecy in Government, Freedom of Information, Hearings, Subcommittees … of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, 93 Cong., 1 Sess. (April 10, 1973), 2.
8. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:535–36.
9. Samuel Dash, Chief Counsel (New York, 1976), 256–57; PPPUS:RN, 1974, 5–7; Sam Ervin, The Whole Truth (New York, 1980), 222.
10. Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:555; Jaworski, “Observations on the ‘Memoirs’ of Richard Nixon,” undated typescript, Jaworski Papers; Mitchell Interview, February 9, 1988.
11. Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:483; “Memorandum,” Jaworski to Watergate File, January 15, 1974, Jaworski MS.
12. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:544–45; Jaworski to St. Clair, January 9, 22, February 1, 27, March 12, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, February 4, 27, 1974, Jaworski MS; Jaworski, The Right and the Power, 87–94; Richard Ben-Veniste and George Frampton, Stonewall: The Real Story of the Watergate Prosecution (New York, 1977), 216–17; Doyle, Not Above the Law, 314.
13. Undated memoranda, regarding February and May meetings with Haig, Jaworski MS.
14. PPPUS:RN, 1974, Press Conference, February 25, 1974, 109; NYT, January 30, 1974.
15. NYT, February 27, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, February 4, 1974, Jaworski MS; PPPUS:RN, 1974, March 6, 1974, 229–40; Ben-Veniste and Frampton, Stonewall, 264; Jaworski to St. Clair, April 11, 1974, Jaworski MS.
16. NYT, March 20, 1974; PPPUS:RN, 1974, 295.
17. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:566–67; St. Clair to Doar, April 9, 1974; Rodino to Nixon, April 11, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Geller to the Files, Haig Interview, July 3, 1975, Bluebook Investigation, WGSPF Records, National Archives.
18. PPPUS:RN, 1974, 389–97; Jaworski, Oral History Memoir, 2:482.
19. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (April-June 1974), 6:460; Congressional Record, 93 Cong., 2 Sess. (April 30, 1974), 12270ff.
20. NYT, May 2 (Safire), 4, 29 (Graham), 1974; WSJ, May 6, 1974; WP, May 2, 1974 (Alsop); Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1974; Detroit News, May 17, 1974; Joseph Spear, Presidents and the Press (Cambridge, 1984), 206–07, 211, 213; Gladys Engel Lang and Kurt Lang, The Battle for Public Opinion: The President, the Press, and the Polls During Watergate (New York, 1983), 123–26; Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1975 (Graham).
21. TT (Drafts), April 14, April 17, 1973, NPF, Boxes 170, 171, NP; Jimmy Breslin, How the Good Guys Finally Won (paperback ed., New York, 1975), 143; Dixon Interview, January 24, 1985.
22. George Allen to Nixon, May 10, 1974; Woods to Nixon, May 13, 1974, NPF, Box 8, NP; Luce to Nixon, May 22, 1974, NPF, Box 19, NP.
23. Bull Interview, May 7, 1987; NYT, May 10, 1974; Laird Interview, June 27, 1985; Roanoke Times, July 27, 1975; Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Pat Nixon: The Untold Story (New York, 1986), 409.
24. Nixon to Rodino, May 22, 1974; Rodino to Nixon, May 30, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL.
25. Julie Eisenhower to Nixon, May 15, 1974, NPF, Box 8, NP.
26. Keene Interview, August 14, 1985; Phillips Interview, August 23, 1985; Philip Crane, The Conservative Mandate (Washington, 1968); “The Leaders Change Sides,” Battle Line (April 1972), 1–2; Human Events, December 29, 1973, February 23, March 9, 1974. See Charles A. Moser, Promise and Hope: The Ashbrook Presidential Campaign of 1972 (Washington, D.C., 1985), for an account of Ashbrook’s revolt and a keen insight into the conservatives’ suspicions of Nixon.
27. Conservative Digest, June/July 1985, 22; Jim Hougan, Secret Agenda (New York, 1984), 75, 63ff; Elmo Zumwalt, On Watch (New York, 1976), xiv; Phillips Interview, August 23, 1985; Human Events, March 30, April 27, May 25, 1974; National Review, May 10, 24, 1974.
28. Playboy (May 1974); Doris Kearns in New York Times Book Review, June 9, 1974; Richard Rovere, New Yorker, June 17, 1974, 107–08.
29. Paul L. Friedman to Earl Silbert, June 7, 1973; Silbert Diary; Silbert to Cox, June 7, 1973, Jaworski Papers, Texas Collection, Baylor University. William Rehnquist and John Mitchell decided in 1969 that Justice Abe Fortas could be indicted without waiting for impeachment proceedings. Robert Shogan, A Question of Judgment: The Fortas Case and the Struggle for the Supreme Court (Indianapolis, 1972), 232–33.
30. Ruth to Jaworski, January 2, 1974; Jaworski to Ruth, January 8, 1974; Ruth to Jaworski, January 14, 1974, Jaworski MS.
31. Weinberg to Lacovara, December 26, 1973, Lacovara to Jaworski, January 21, 1974, February 15, 1974, Nixon File #11, WGSPF Records, NA; Feldbaum, Frampton, Goldman, and Rient to Jaworski, February 12, 1974, Nixon File #8, ibid.; Ben-Veniste to Jaworski, February 23, 1974, Litigative Memoranda, ibid.; Doyle to Barker, March 11, 1974, Nixon File #6a, ibid.; Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:607–12, 623–31; Jaworski, The Right and the Power, 176–90. See U.S. v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 220 (1882).
32. “Confidential” Memorandum, February 12, 1974, Jaworski MS.
33. Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:622–23, 3:729; John Sirica, To Set the Record Straight (New York, 1979), 140; Ben-Veniste and Frampton, Stonewall, 70–71; Time, January 28, 1974, 12; Pregelj Interview, February
10, 1988; WP, December 5, 1974; Geller Interview, May 26, 1988.
34. “Jury Materials,” Box 13, Jaworski MS; Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:623–32, 3:726, 728, 6:1075, 1078–1143; Pregelj Interview, February 10, 1988; Jaworski, The Right and the Power, 99–102; Ben-Veniste and Frampton, Stonewall, 211–53; Doyle, Not Above the Law, 289–309.
35. PPPUS:RN, 1974, Press Conference, February 25, 1974, 201–02, 204–09; NYT, February 27, 1974.
36. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:574–77, 630; Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:651–52; Geller to Files, Haig Interview, July 3, 1975, WGSPF Records, NA; St. Clair Interview, April 10, 1987. Sirica announced that Nixon was an unindicted co-conspirator on June 7, a day after St. Clair had given the news to reporters.
37. “Lamentations of a Prosecutor,” n.d., Jaworski MS; Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:569–71, 3:709–13; Watergate Task Force, “Prosecutive Report,” February 7, 1974 (draft), Nixon File #4, WGSPF Records, NA.
38. Earl Hankamer, et al. to Jaworski, March 26, 1974, Jaworski to Hankamer, March 26, 1974, Jaworski MS.
39. Walter Ehrlich, Presidential Impeachment (St. Louis, 1974), 130–34.
40. Silberman to the File, April 30, 1974, Special Prosecutor’s Files, “Sensitive Investigations,” WGSPF Records, NA.
41. The documents relating to the various stages of U.S. v. Nixon conveniently are collected in Leon Friedman (ed.), United States v. Nixon (New York, 1974). Sirica’s opinion is at 162–68. St. Clair’s argument is from later unsealed portions of the transcript, filed with U.S. v. Mitchell materials in the WGSPF Records, NA.
42. Friedman (ed.), United States v. Nixon, 169–87.
43. Jaworski Oral History Memoir, 2:656; Jaworski to Eastland, May 20, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, May 17, 1974; Saxbe and Bork to Jaworski, June 5, 1974; Jaworski to Saxbe, June 12, 1974, Jaworski MS; Bork Interview, June 17, 1987.
44. Jaworski to St. Clair, May 24, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, May 31, 1974; Jaworski to St. Clair, June 3, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, June 13, 1974; Jaworski to St. Clair, June 14, 1974; St. Clair to Jaworski, June 20, 1974, Jaworski MS; St. Clair Interview, April 10, 1987.
45. Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (New York, 1979), 290–93; James Kilpatrick Interview, Washington Star, May 14, 1974; Whitehead Interview, May 25, 1988.
XVIII: “WELL, AL, THERE GOES THE PRESIDENCY.” THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: JUNE–JULY 1974
1. NYT, April 8, 1973; Executive Privilege, Hearings, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, U.S. Senate, 93 Cong., 1 Sess. (April 10, 1973), 45, 51–52, 81; [Hamilton Fish], “Interview,” Hudson Valley Magazine, November 1974, 19; Thornton Interview, June 13, 1975.
2. Erwin C. Hargrove and Michael Nelson, Presidents, Politics, and Policy (Baltimore, 1984), 35.
3. Clayton Roberts, The Growth of Responsible Government in Stuart England (Cambridge, 1966), 435, 23–28, et passim; Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems (Cambridge, 1973), 1–6; Walter Ehrlich, Presidential Impeachment: An American Dilemma (St. Louis, 1974).
4. Berger, Impeachment, 59–62.
5. Jonathan Elliot (ed.), Debates on the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia, 1901), 3:165.
6. Max Farrand (ed.), The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (New Haven, CT, 1911), 2:64–69 (July 20, 1787), 551–52 (September 8, 1787).
7. Elliot, Debates on the Federal Constitution, 4:126 (Iredell); 3:498 (Madison).
8. Jefferson to Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819, Merrill Peterson (ed.), Thomas Jefferson: Writings (New York, 1983), 1426; Berger, Impeachment, 224–51, offers a substantial case against Chase and against the Senate’s interpretation of the indictability issue. Leonard W. Levy has eloquently described the emergence of a “new libertarianism” in numerous works, most recently in his Emergence of a Free Press (New York, 1985), 282–350. Finally, see Richard E. Ellis, The Jeffersonian Crisis: Courts and Politics in the Young Republic (New York, 1971) for the best account of the Chase affair in the larger context of maintaining political accountability of the judiciary.
9. Michael Les Benedict, The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson (New York, 1973), is a revisionist account of the Johnson impeachment, effectively neutralizing the traditional denunciations of the proceedings. Berger, Impeachment, 252–96, adhered to the latter.
10. Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment, Report, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 93 Cong., 1 Sess. (February 1974); PPPUS:RN, 1974, Press Conference, February 25, 1974, 202; ibid., March 6, 1974, 236; “An Analysis … of Presidential Impeachment,” by the Special Counsel to the President, Brief on Behalf of the President, Hearings, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 93 Cong., 2 Sess. (July 18, 1974), 60, 102–03; Sam Ervin, The Whole Truth (New York, 1980), 265; HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 1:299.
11. Congressional Record, 93 Cong., 1 Sess. (July 31, 1973), H7049–51.
12. Cohen Interview, June 17, 1975; Hutchinson to Mrs. Robert Beckwith, November 9, 1973, Hutchinson MS, FL; Thomas O’Neill, Man of the House: The Life and Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O’Neill, with William Novak (New York, 1987), 248–49.
13. NYT, March 2, 1974; C. K. Beahm to Hutchinson, February 26, 1974; Hutchinson to Gerber, January 28, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL.
14. O’Neill, Man of the House, 251–52, 255–56; Jimmy Breslin, How the Good Guys Finally Won (New York, 1975); Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975; Polk Interview, December 18, 1986; Robert McClory, “Memoirs,” 45 (unpublished transcript, courtesy of the author); Hutchinson to Gerber, January 28, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL.
15. Work of the Impeachment Inquiry Staff as of February 5, 1974, Report, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 93 Cong., 2 Sess. (February 1974); Renata Adler, “Searching for the Real Nixon Scandal,” Atlantic, December 1976, 78; Polk Interview, December 18, 1986; Dixon Interview, November 29, 1985; Ziefman Interview, February 5, 1986; Edwards Interview, July 15, 1986; Cates Interview, February 6, 1988.
16. Butler Interview, Roanoke Times, July 27, 1975; Adler, “Searching for the Real Nixon Scandal,” 79; Fish Interview, June 26, 1975; Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975; Dixon Interview, January 24, November 20, 1985. Father Don Shea, who worked with the committee Republicans, provided me with copies of the 1975 interviews of the House members.
17. David Dennis to Republican Members of the Committee, March 18, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Polk Interview, December 18, 1986; Dixon Interview, January 24, 1985, November 20, 1985; Zeifman Interview, February 5, 1986; Cates Interview, February 6, 1988.
18. Jerome Zeifman, “Chickens and Eagles: The Politics of Their Impeachment of Richard Nixon,” unpublished speech, Lynch MS, courtesy of Mr. Steven Lynch; Edwards Interview, July 15, 1986; Cates Interview, February 6, 1988.
19. Jaworski Oral History Memoir, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, 2:559–60, 561.
20. Fish Interview, June 25, 1975; Cohen Interview, June 17, 1975; Butler Interview, June 19, 1975; Railsback Interview, June 11, 1975; Thornton Interview, June 13, 1975; Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975.
21. NYT, January 8, 1974; Washington Star, January 15, 1974; Wiggins Interview, February 5, 1985; Railsback Interview, June 11, 1975; Garrison to Hutchinson, March 21, 1974, April 9, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Polk Interview, December 18, 1986; Mooney Interview, July 14, 1986; Jack Anderson column, WP, February 26, 1974; Garrison to Inquiry Staff, February 26, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL.
22. Cohen Interview, June 17, 1975; Fish Interview, June 25, 1975; Butler Interview, June 19, 1975; Butler Interview, Roanoke Times, July 27, 1975; Railsback Interview, June 11, 1975; Wiggins Interview, February 5, 1985; Polk Interview, December 18, 1986; Mooney Interview, July 14, 1986; Garrison to Hutchinson, February 21, 1974, Hogan to Hutchinson, May 6, 1974, McClory to Hutchinson, July 19, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1975.
23. HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 1:81–83, 86–88, 93–100, 119–24.
24.
HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 1:171–72, 299–302; 2:774; 3:1653–65.
25. HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 1:191–96, 209–13, 227–47.
26. Taped speech, March 29, 1974, White House Communication Agency, NP, NA.
27. Executive Privilege, Hearings (April 10, 1973), 47; St. Clair to Rodino, April 9, 1974, Rodino to Nixon, April 11, 1974, Nixon to Rodino, May 22, 1974, Rodino to Nixon, May 30, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Nixon to House Judiciary Committee, June 10, 1974, PPPUS:RN 1974, 475–81.
28. HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 1:414–21, 438–58, 545–49.
29. HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 2:844–45, 905–12, 915–20, 939–45; Froehlich to Rodino, May 20, 1974; McClory to Hutchinson, May 31, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL; Detroit Free Press, March 14, 1974; Gerald R. Ford, A Time to Heal (New York, 1979), 121.
30. Cates to Author, November 29, 1988; Fish Interview, June 25, 1975; Cohen Interview, June 17, 1975; Butler Interview, June 19, 1975; Railsback Interview, June 11, 1975; Thornton Interview, June 13, 1975; Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975.
31. Polk to Hutchinson, May 20, 1974; McClory to Hutchinson, May 31, 1974, Hutchinson MS, FL.
32. Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (paperback ed., New York, 1979), 2:586–87, 588–98; Henry Kissinger, Years of Upheaval (Boston, 1982), 1118–23.
33. Nixon, Memoirs, 2:600–05.
34. Canceled speech, July 3, 1974, NPF, Box 94, NP; Nixon, Memoirs, 2:606, 620–21, 628–29. See Chapter XXII, infra.
35. Cohen Interview, June 17, 1975; Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975; Butler Interview, June 19, 1975; Butler Interview, Roanoke Times, July 27, 1975; HJC, Impeachment Inquiry, 3:1731–35, 1864–75; Cates Interview, March 7, 1986.
36. Los Angeles Times, June 28, 1974; Nelson Interview, August 22, 1985; WP, June 29, 1974; Flowers Interview, June [17], 1975; Thornton Interview, June 13, 1975.
37. HJC, Testimony of Witnesses, 1:69–80, 230–44, 262.
38. HJC, Testimony of Witnesses, 2:135.
39. HJC, Testimony of Witnesses, 2:256–64, 284, 328–29; 3:275–87.
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