Listening to Nixon on tape since 1974.
I guess it's an arguable point, but in my mind what ultimately took down Richard Nixon was the decision by the 37th president not to destroy "the tapes" -- secret recordings, authorized by Nixon, of his White House conversations.
It was these recordings that revealed the extent of the coverup by which he and his aides were involved in the Watergate conspiracy.
Nixon is long gone, but his voice lives on. Today the Nixon Library -- via the National Archives -- released the latest batch of tapes -- more than 150 hours -- recorded in January of February 1973 ... a time period that includes not only Nixon's second inauguration but the early discussions about Watergate.
Here's where to find some good stuff:
Los Angeles Times: Nixon negotiating an end to the Vietnam War.
NPR's Nina Totenberg: Nixon's views on abortion and the Roe decision.
New York Times: More on Nixon and abortion.
For the record, the best Web site on what's on the Nixon tapes is, appropriately, nixontapes.org. It's run by Luke Nichter, an assistant professor of history at Texas A&M, with help from Richard Moss, a government consultant. It is thorough and invaluable.
categories: A Historical Look Back, Behind His Words
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