Wars of Watergate: Difference between revisions
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== Book One == | |||
=== Chapter 1 === | |||
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[In the 1964 campaign,] Johnson had a veritable monopoly on the peace corner. Speaking in Eufaula, Oklahoma, on September 25, he could not resist gilding the lily: "There are those that say you ought to go North and drop bombs, to try to wipe out supply lines, and they think that would escalate the war. We don't want our American boys to do the fighting for Asian boys. We don't want to get involved... with 700 million people and get tied down in a land war in Asia." In the meantime, Barry Goldwater was the candidate who reputedly wanted to "lob one into the men's room in the Kremlin." | |||
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In retrospect, Johnson complained that "that bitch of a war" took him away from "the woman I really loved" - his Great Society. The war ruptured the nation, sparking unprecedented anger and resistance to government policies. | |||
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Clark Clifford, one of the few men Johnson held in awe, warned in July 1965 that the war was futile. "I don't believe we can win in South Vietnam," he said. "If we send in 100,000 more men, the North Vietnamese will meet us. If North Vietnam runs out of men, the Chinese will send in volunteers. Russia and China don't intend for us to win the war." Clifford urged that we get out "honorably." Otherwise, he warned, "I can't see anything but catastrophe for my country." | |||
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"There will be some Nervous Nellies and some who will become frustrated and break ranks under the strain," the President remarked. There would be those who would "turn on their leaders and on their country and on our fighting men. There will be times of trial and tensions in the days ahead that will exact the best that is in all of us." | |||
Johnson's patriotic homilies were inadequate. George Washington, at Valley Forge in 1778, warned that whoever built upon patriotism as a sufficient basis for conducting a long and bloody war "will find themselves deceived in the end." Such a war, Washington insisted, could never be sustained by patriotism alone. "It must be aided by a prospect of Interest or some reward. For a time, it may, of itself push Men to action; ...but it will not endure unassisted by Interest." Nevertheless, Johnson and his advisers "wrapped themselves in the flag," decrying the "Nervous Nellies" who opposed the war. Deception and self-delusion alike pervaded the Johnson Administration's conduct of the war. | |||
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Revision as of 08:15, 13 March 2011
Chapter Summaries
Book One: Of Time And The Man: Discord, Disorder, and Richard Nixon
Chapter 1: Breaking Faith: The 1960s
Chapter 2: Making Many Nixons: 1913-1965
Chapter 3: "Bring Us Together": 1965-1968
Book Two: First Term, First Wars
Chapter 4: "The Man On Top"
Chapter 5: "I want it done, whatever the cost." Enemies, Plumbers, Taps, and Spies
Chapter 6: The Politics of Deadlock: Nixon and Congress
Chapter 7: Media Wars
Book Three: The Watergate War: Origins and Retreat, June 1972-April 1973
Chapter 8: "We should come up with... imaginative dirty tricks." The Watergate Break-in
Chapter 9: "What really hurts is if you try to cover it up." Watergate and the Campaign of 1972
Chapter 10: "The cover-up is the main ingredient." A Blackmailer, a Senator, and a Judge: November 1972-March 1973
Chapter 11: "We have a cancer within, close to the Presidency." Covering Up the Cover-Up: January-March 1973
Chapter 12: "We have to prick the Goddam boil and take the heat." Cutting Loose: April 1973
Book Four: The Watergate War: Disarray and Disgrace, May 1973-August 1974
Chapter 13: New Enemies. The Special Prosecutor and the Senate Committee: May 1973
Chapter 14: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" The Senate Committee: Summer 1973
Chapter 15: "Let Others Wallow in Watergate." Agnew, the Tapes, and the Saturday Night Massacre: August-October 1973
Chapter 16: "Sinister Forces." Ford, Jaworski, Tape Gaps, and Taxes: November-December 1973
Chapter 17: "Fight." Tapes and Indictments: January-May 1974
Chapter 18: "Well, Al, there goes the Presidency." The House Judiciary Committee: June-July 1974
Chapter 19: Judgment Days. The Supreme Court and the Judiciary Committee: July 1974
Chapter 20: "I hereby resign." August 1974
Book Five: The Impact and Meaning of Watergate
Chapter 21: The "burden I shall bear for every day." The Pardon: September 1974
Chapter 22: In the Shadow of Watergate
Chapter 23: Richard Nixon, Watergate, and History
Quotes
Book One
Chapter 1
[In the 1964 campaign,] Johnson had a veritable monopoly on the peace corner. Speaking in Eufaula, Oklahoma, on September 25, he could not resist gilding the lily: "There are those that say you ought to go North and drop bombs, to try to wipe out supply lines, and they think that would escalate the war. We don't want our American boys to do the fighting for Asian boys. We don't want to get involved... with 700 million people and get tied down in a land war in Asia." In the meantime, Barry Goldwater was the candidate who reputedly wanted to "lob one into the men's room in the Kremlin."
In retrospect, Johnson complained that "that bitch of a war" took him away from "the woman I really loved" - his Great Society. The war ruptured the nation, sparking unprecedented anger and resistance to government policies.
Clark Clifford, one of the few men Johnson held in awe, warned in July 1965 that the war was futile. "I don't believe we can win in South Vietnam," he said. "If we send in 100,000 more men, the North Vietnamese will meet us. If North Vietnam runs out of men, the Chinese will send in volunteers. Russia and China don't intend for us to win the war." Clifford urged that we get out "honorably." Otherwise, he warned, "I can't see anything but catastrophe for my country."
"There will be some Nervous Nellies and some who will become frustrated and break ranks under the strain," the President remarked. There would be those who would "turn on their leaders and on their country and on our fighting men. There will be times of trial and tensions in the days ahead that will exact the best that is in all of us." Johnson's patriotic homilies were inadequate. George Washington, at Valley Forge in 1778, warned that whoever built upon patriotism as a sufficient basis for conducting a long and bloody war "will find themselves deceived in the end." Such a war, Washington insisted, could never be sustained by patriotism alone. "It must be aided by a prospect of Interest or some reward. For a time, it may, of itself push Men to action; ...but it will not endure unassisted by Interest." Nevertheless, Johnson and his advisers "wrapped themselves in the flag," decrying the "Nervous Nellies" who opposed the war. Deception and self-delusion alike pervaded the Johnson Administration's conduct of the war.