The Wars of Watergate is an examination of a
president and an event that profoundly, lastingly eroded public trust in both
the Executive branch specifically and the US Government in general. It was the
culmination of a decade of challenge to traditional authorities, as well as the
undeniable proof that suspicion of those authorities was warranted. While
Watergate stands alone as a worthy subject of study, a most readers during the
Trump presidential era who choose to learn about this period are doing so with
attention to their own era. Watergate provides comparative background
information on the process of investigating or dissolving a purportedly corrupt
presidency.
Stanley Kutler organized his book as a historically
evidential, rather than a politically partisan, assessment of an affair. He
begins with the formative information of Nixon’s life and career from his
childhood, to his first years in the Senate, through his bids for the
presidency and his first term. Only then does he recount the crisis itself. The
historical continuity does not end there; this writer provides extensive
post-Watergate analysis of its impact up to the end of the 20th Century.
There is a meticulousness to this study which readers will
find alternately gratifying and frustrating. Frustrating, for example, is Kutler’s
depiction of the House Judiciary Committee. He evaluates not only each of the
congressional members (which is useful), but even some of Majority Special
Counsel John Doar’s staff, who are nothing more than office functionaries.
While trudging through such compulsive sections, one should keep in mind that a
historian must consider more than simply informing their audience. More
important, especially for one writing about fairly recent event, is to create as
complete a historical record as possible. Who knows what bits of information
will aid future historians in their research? However, Kutler’s thoroughness
pays-off for a reader when he presents White House interactions among Nixon and
his staff. He has carefully perused the White House Transcripts, offering
extensive excerpts. Here, the inner
workings of an administration steeped in constitutional violations and cover-up
is a fascinating glimpse into a once hidden history.
There is little chance that non-fiction bibliophiles,
reading The Wars of Watergate while living through the crises of Trump’s
administration, could ignore the important similarities between Trump and
Nixon. Both lied with frequency and ease. Both attacked the news media for
exposing their indiscretions. But more significantly, both failed The Two Part
History Test: To paraphrase Mark Shields, Lesson One of Washington scandals is
that the cover-up, not the initial crime, causes presidents the most legal
trouble. Lesson Two is that they always forget Lesson One. For Nixon, the
break-ins at DNC headquarters and Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office were crimes;
but neither was as great a violation of the Constitution as the Obstruction of
Justice charge with which he was eventually hounded out of office. For Trump,
the picture may be slightly different. If it is true that he personally
colluded with an enemy foreign power attempting to undermine our democratic
elective process, that’s more serious than a simple break-in. However, it is
unlikely that US citizens will ever have the truth there. What we do have is a
bold, repeated, unapologetic admission that the President fired an FBI Director
who would not stop an investigation against him. In an interview with Lester
Holt, Trump claimed that “he
had been planning to fire Comey even before he received Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein's recommendation to do so.”^^ In a May 2017 meeting with Russian
officials, Trump stated "I just fired the head of the FBI...I faced great
pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."^^^ Both Trump’s and Nixon’s
inability to absorb Lessons One and Two caused them to commit Obstruction of
Justice. Our best hope, for maintaining the integrity of our Constitution, is
that Trump’s presidency follows the same course as Nixon’s. But that is far
from certain. During our troubled period, Kutler’s careful examination can be a
useful, calm source of information regarding the anatomy of administrations
that break the law and how justice is subsequently pursued.
Kutler,
Stanley I. The Wars of Watergate. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990.
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