The Nixon Defense

What He Knew and When He Knew It

By: John W. Dean

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Based on Nixon’s overlooked recordings, New York Times best-selling author John W. Dean connects the dots between what we’ve come to believe about Watergate and what actually happened Watergate forever changed American politics, and in light of the revelations about the NSA’s widespread surveillance program, the scandal has taken on new significance. Yet remarkably, four decades after Nixon was forced to resign, no one has told the full story of his involvement in Watergate.

In The Nixon Defense, former White House Counsel John W. Dean, one of the last major surviving figures of Watergate, draws on his own transcripts of almost a thousand conversations, a wealth of Nixon’s secretly recorded information, and more than 150,000 pages of documents in the National Archives and the Nixon Library to provide the definitive answer to the question: What did President Nixon know and when did he know it?

Through narrative and contemporaneous dialogue, Dean connects dots that have never been connected, including revealing how and why the Watergate break-in occurred, what was on the mysterious 18 1/2 minute gap in Nixon’s recorded conversations, and more. In what will stand as the most authoritative account of one of America’s worst political scandals, The Nixon Defense shows how the disastrous mistakes of Watergate could have been avoided and offers a cautionary tale for our own time.

©2014 John W. Dean (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Mr. Dean’s book will remind people of why Nixon deserves so unflattering a historical reputation.... It should also serve as a renewed cautionary tale about elevating politicians with questionable character to high office.... Dean’s resolve to reconstruct this dismal tale of high crimes and misdemeanors is commendable.... In addition to creating a definitive historical record of how the Watergate scandal unfolded, The Nixon Defense resolves some major unsettled questions.” (Robert Dallek, The New York Times)

“Dean, as always the model of precision and doggedness, has performed yeoman service...even for someone who has covered Watergate for 42 years, from the morning of the burglary through the investigations, confessions, denials, hearings, trials, books and attempts at historical revisionism, Dean’s book has an authoritative ring.” (Bob Woodward, The Washington Post)

“The most intimate, detailed, complex and nuanced portrait of a president and his courtiers that we have ever seen in print.... Dean is scrupulously fair, but Nixon is undone by his own words. To read them is to be a fly on the wall in the palace court of the Nixon White House, to observe history close up as we have never seen it before...the closest we will ever come to knowing the real Richard Nixon. It is a fascinating and very important piece of history, and the stuff of great drama.” (Huffington Post)

Compelling, Disturbing, Important

Would you listen to The Nixon Defense again? Why?

Probably not--I have so many books to listen to that I do not listen more than once. However, if I was to listen to a book again this would be the book because it is so compelling.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably Martha Mitchell. While she was a minor part of this story, I was reminded of how badly she was treated and how lost she was in this political mess. Everyone else in the story is pretty despicable so I cannot say "favorite".

Which scene was your favorite?

I was shocked to hear that Nixon and his people were fairly certain, BEFORE his reelection (but right after the break in) that Felt was the person leaking information to the news media (("Deep Throat"). They left him alone because they were afraid he might do more damage. Also, his overall role was fairly minimal in the scheme of things.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is one of the most important books I have ever "read". I was continually shocked by what I heard from the tapes. As bad as we thought it was, it was a lot worse. The callousness, the ability to lie so easily, and the shifting of blame to others was unbelievable. Also, it was the coverup, not the thwarted break in, that was so important.

Any additional comments?

This book is important and needs to be read by every citizen. Dean's transcription and his linking together the meaning of the tapes in terms of the bigger picture was compelling. Every part of this book was thought-provoking (and anger-provoking!). This is the only book about any aspect of Watergate that needs to be read to understand exactly what happened and why it happened (and how they got away with it for so long).

A fascinating Insight

As this is taken from the actual recordings of private conversations between Nixon and his aides it offers a fascinating insight in to not only what they knew and when but what they were thinking and why they acted the way they did.

I do think (as another reviewer pointed out) that you need to know the basic facts of what happened before listening to understand everything. As someone who knew very little about Watergate I did find myself getting confused after a while. At that point I took a break from listening to watch the 1994 BBC/Discovery channel documentary called Watergate which was itself really interesting (there is a wiki page that lists the episodes, and these can be found on youtube).

In hindsight it would have been better to have familiarised myself with the facts before starting the book (instead of part way through).

However that is not a criticism of the book itself which is excellent and I was really sorry when it ended.

Wow terrific book & narration

I've listened to this book three times and it's an incredible slice of history. The narration was spot on. I would highly recommend this book. I've listened to other books regarding Nixon but this one one was truly eye opening.

important work

for those truly interested in Watergate, this is essential. It is a blow-by-blow of everything from the tapes, some of which were not released until very recently.

Nice Try

I would not recommend this book unless the listener had a broad overview of the Watergate Saga. Without a broad overview, the listener is likely to be overwhelmed by the details. I lived through the sorry saga and thus had a framework for placing the details in perspective.

I believe that John Dean has performed a valuable service by transcribing the tapes. I hope that his efforts are rewarded by interested readers. I first learned of the book through an NPR interview of the author.

Best analysis of Tapes

Very interesting analysis for anyone still obsessed by Watergate. Lots of detail. It can be a little hard to follow if you listen in the car and have short trips or multiple stops. But that's the price for detail. Narration strong and helpful.

Very well done!

John Dean wrote a well researched account and the speaker did a fine job reading.

The Watergate buff's ultimate indulgence

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Only if my friend were as immersed in Watergate as I have been.

What did you like best about this story?

The incredible level of detail. And, of course, Joe Barrett's narration.

What does Joe Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

My favorite narrator, and his Nixon is spot on. He was also the narrator for Thomas Mallon's Watergate: A Novel. and did his usual superb job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Who could listen for 22 hours? No, it is better in smaller chunks.

Any additional comments?

To a Watergate aficionado, this book is a diamond mine!

A good deep dive

If you are interested in the minutiae of Watergate, this book will do it for you. Full of the transcripts of actual conversations in Nixon’s offices, but without some of the filler that conversations usually have. It can be a bit dry at times, and I did also sometimes wish I had a hard copy to refer to.

My biggest problem was the narrator. His voice sounded like a bad Nixon impression, so when he did an actual Nixon impression it started to grate on me. And there’s a lot of it, so be aware going in!

Excŕellent addition to Dean Library of Watergate

John W. Dean, whose name is as synonymous with Watergate as is Nixon's, adds an incredible work to one of the most chronicled political scandals of our time. With access to presidential recordings that have long been inaccessible to historians, Dean tells of the fallout of Watergate, who knew and did what and when, 40 years after the "third-rate burglary." Narrator extraordinaire Joe Barrett performs with his usual skill by transforming Dean's work from paper to audio. Overall, I highly recommend this nook to a serious Watergate student or anyone with more than a passing interest in the presidential scandal that defined an era.