Here is Barbara Newman’s searing 1992 A&E Investigative Reports documentary, The Key to Watergate, which explores what was really behind the Watergate burglary which led to President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation. It is divided into six segments.
As the 52nd anniversary of the June 17th, 1972 Watergate break-in fast approaches, the momentous events responsible for bringing about the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon remain a deeply shrouded mystery to most Americans. The revelation and confirmation of former FBI deputy director W. Mark Felt as the legendary whistleblower “Deep Throat” in the Watergate Scandal brings them no closer to solving that mystery. This is because most of what they think they know about Watergate is simply wrong.
How the Deep State Took Down Nixon, by Nathan Pinkoski (excerpt)
“In conventional histories, Richard Nixon’s impeachment is remembered as a triumph of good government. Nixon is viewed as a corrupt politician whose unconstitutional schemes threatened the republic, while his opponents are seen as defenders of the Constitution. This narrative, written by journalists, has persisted for nearly five decades—despite the slow accumulation of evidence that tells a very different tale.
“In the early 1980s, Harper’s editor Jim Hougan obtained 30,000 documents through Freedom of Information Act requests. The result was Secret Agenda, one of the most important yet curiously neglected books of the late 20th century. While some of its conclusions are incorrect—Hougan didn’t believe that FBI Associate Director Mark Felt was Deep Throat—his factual claims have been vindicated as more and more Watergate-related documents have been released.
“Nixon had to go.”
“Since the publication of Secret Agenda, books such as Len Colodny’s and Robert Gettlin’s Silent Coup (1991), James Rosen’s The Strong Man (2008), and Geoff Shepard’s The Real Watergate Scandal (2015) and The Nixon Conspiracy (2021) have drawn on declassified documents and unsealed judicial and congressional hearings to help us better understand what really happened. Although these authors disagree about many details, they agree that Nixon was removed from office not because he endangered the constitutional order, but because his bureaucratic and political enemies plotted successfully against him. And while scholars shy away from endorsing some of the more dramatic claims that have been made over the years, the best of them understand Watergate not in terms of the conventional narrative, but as an institutional “conflict” in which Nixon was the most important casualty. Nixon had to go—not because of a bungled break-in, but because he challenged the national-security state.”
Watergate, Yankees, Cowboys, and the Bush Dynasty
After reading Murray Rothbard’s classic “Notes on Watergate” I got out my aging 51-year-old copy of the Kirkpatrick Sale article he praised, “The World Behind Watergate” to again peruse. Murray, as always, is absolutely on-target with his assessment of its importance. There is nothing quite like Sale’s pioneering power elite analysis of the dynamic backstory between the northeastern seaboard “Yankees” and the southwestern Sunbelt “Cowboys.” I have long held that a major contributing reason for the incredible success of the Bush dynasty in American political life has been their remarkable agility to straddle both hegemonic worlds, in both sinister manifestations of the “underworld” of organized crime and the “overworld” of the elite establishment.
It is always comforting and reassuring when one sees their opinions and research reaffirmed and vindicated concerning the Watergate Scandal, beliefs I have had for many decades and on which I have authored many articles.
Most notably is my LRC article cited in Roger Stone’s excellent book, Nixon’s Secrets: The Rise, Fall, and Untold Truth About the President, Watergate, and the Pardon (see pages 439, 440, 492) in the section dealing with the Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Phil Stanford has written what I believe to be the best examination of the real Watergate Scandal story, one which is perfectly compatible with my own take on the coup d’état against Richard Nixon.
I was graciously provided by the publisher, Feral House / Process Media, a pre-publication .pdf copy of Stanford’s book in September 2013. I found its fascinating, connect the dots narrative absolutely compelling. I spent a whole weekend glued to my computer screen until the Sun was coming up, briefly sleeping for naps, and again returning to immerse myself into Stanford’ fast-paced narrative. I purchased an advance copy of the paperback as soon as Amazon was preparing to release it. Phil Stanford is an incomparable master at keeping the reader’s interest fully engaged. White House Call Girl is precise, concise, and written in one of the most enjoyable and readable formats. I have shelves of volumes on Nixon and Watergate. This is the one book, above all others, which I would highly commend to readers. But don’t simply take my word on it. Go to Amazon today and buy this book for yourself.
