Watergate: The Hidden History : Nixon, the Mafia, and the CIA

827 Pages·2012·8.24 MB·English

WATERGATE
THE HIDDEN HISTORY
WATERGATE
THE HIDDEN HISTORY

NIXON, THE MAFIA, AND THE CIA

LAMAR WALDRON

COUNTERPOINT
BERKELEY
Copyright © 2012 Lamar Waldron.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
ISBN: 978-1-61902-082-5
Cover Design by John Yates
Counterpoint
1919 Fifth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
www.counterpointpress.com
Distributed by Publishers Group West
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to the following authors, journalists,
and investigators. In the 1970s, they uncovered crucial evidence
about Watergate and related matters—and decades later, they’re
still waiting for some of the most important files to be declassified.
William Turner
Anthony Summers
Peter Dale Scott
Dick Russell
Peter Noyes
Dan Moldea
Gaeton Fonzi
Contents
PART I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2 Richard Nixon Runs for Congress
Chapter 3 Nixon: Congress, the Senate, and the Race for Vice President
Chapter 4 Vice President Richard Nixon: The First Five Years
Chapter 5 Nixon, the Mafia, and the CIA vs. Fidel Castro
Chapter 6 Nixon, Hunt, and the CIA-Mafia Plots to Kill Fidel
Chapter 7 August–October 1960: Nixon and the CIA-Mafia Plots to Kill Castro
Chapter 8 September–November 1960: Nixon’s First Mafia Bribe for Hoffa, and
the Election
PART II
Chapter 9 November 1960–Early April 1961: The CIA Hides Its Mafia Plots
from JFK
Chapter 10 April 1960: The Real Reasons “the Bay of Pigs Thing” Failed
Chapter 11 Spring 1961–Fall 1962: Bay of Pigs Aftermath to the Cuban Missile
Crisis
Chapter 12 Late 1962: “You Won’t Have Nixon to Kick Around Anymore”
Chapter 13 January–June 1963: Nixon, JFK, and Cuban Operations
Chapter 14 Summer and Early Fall 1963: Nixon, Hunt, and JFK’s Cuban Coup
Plan
Chapter 15 September–November 1963: Nixon and JFK Go to Dallas
Chapter 16 November 22, 1963: Dallas, Washington, New York, Tampa, New
Orleans
Chapter 17 Late November and Early December 1963: National Security Cover-
Ups .
Chapter 18 December 1963–Mid-1966: Nixon in New York, Helms Is Promoted,
Hunt Prospers, Barker Is Fired
PART III
Chapter 19 1966: Nixon & Rebozo, Helms & Hunt
Chapter 20 January–March 1967: Jack Anderson, Rosselli, and Helms
Chapter 21 Spring–Fall 1967: Another Helms Cover-Up and Nixon Decides to
Run
Chapter 22 1968: Tragedy for America, Triumph for Nixon
Chapter 23 1969, Nixon’s First Year in Office: Leaks, Electronic Surveillance,
and “Dirty Tricks”
Chapter 24 1970: Nixon’s Covert Actions Involving Vietnam, Cuba, and Chile
Chapter 25 January–July 1971: The Road to Watergate
Chapter 26 Summer and Fall 1971: Nixon, Hunt, Barker, and the First Burglary
Chapter 27 Nixon, the Mafia, Hoffa, the CIA, and Castro in 1971: Echoes of
September 1960
Chapter 28 The 1972 Campaign: Why Nixon Ordered the Watergate Break-Ins
Chapter 29 Nixon, the CIA-Mafia Plots, and Break-Ins: From the Chilean
Embassy to Watergate
Chapter 30 Mid-May to Mid-June 1972: The First Three Watergate Burglary
Attempts
Chapter 31 June 16 to Late June 1972: Another Watergate Burglary, Nixon, and
“the Bay of Pigs Thing”
Chapter 32 Late June 1972 to December 1972: The Cover-Up Holds and
Reelection
Chapter 33 January to Early May 1973: Nixon’s Pinnacle and the Gathering
Storm
Chapter 34 May 1973 to August 1974: Nixon, Rosselli, and Resignation
Epilogue Late 1974 to 1979: Nixon Golfs with Mobsters, Investigations
Continue, and Rosselli Is Murdered
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Notes
PART I
CHAPTER 1
“I ordered that they use any means necessary, including illegal means . . .”
President Richard Nixon to Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, 5-23-73

Almost forty years after the Watergate arrests on June 17, 1972, three myths
about it are still pervasive. First, that the scandal only concerned “a third-rate
burglary” of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), at
the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Second, that the “cover-up was
worse than the crime.” And finally, that two reporters—Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein of The Washington Post—“brought down” President Richard M.
Nixon.
Not one of these is true.
The three myths of Watergate have been demonstrably false for decades.
President Nixon had his spokesman minimize the scandal’s importance by
calling it “a third-rate burglary,” and Nixon was initially successful: Watergate
was not a factor in—or even widely reported during—the fall 1972 Presidential
campaign between President Nixon and Democratic candidate George
McGovern. Richard Nixon was reelected in a landslide.
What’s wrong with the “third-rate burglary” claim? To begin with, even the
singular term “burglary” is misleading, since Congressional and Justice
Department investigations showed that four burglaries were actually attempted at
the Watergate. Additionally, in the weeks before the final Watergate breakin,
Nixon’s Watergate operatives committed several other burglaries. Their targets
ranged from Democratic offices (including those of McGovern, Gary Hart, and
Sargent Shriver) to journalists to the Chilean embassy in Washington.
Was the “the cover-up” worse than “the crime?” No—that’s another
completely inaccurate myth, since Nixon’s own words prove that there wasn’t
just one “crime.” From February 1971 to July 1973, Nixon secretly recorded his
conversations at the Oval Office, and his other offices away from the White
House. Only a handful of his closest aides knew about the taping system, and
Nixon never intended for the tapes to become public. On those tapes, many
released only in recent years, Nixon discussed many dozens of serious felonies,