The Thing Is, I Believed Him
I write on a Tuesday morning, 12 hours after the bombshell disclosures of Monday night, and I am close to tears. Grown men ought not to weep. I have been covering politics and politicians for more than 30 years and have seen enough of duplicity to be immune to shock. Nixon's duplicity is almost beyond bearing.
The thing is: I believed him. Millions of other Americans believed him also. When he said, over and over, looking us squarely in the eye, that he had known nothing of the Watergate coverup until March of 1973, we believed him. “Your President is not a crook,” he once said. I believed him. It no longer greatly matters. My President is a liar.
He lied to the people, in his public statements. He lied to his lawyers. He lied to the press. On June 23, 1972, just five days after the Watergate break-in, he himself set in motion the coverup. He himself knew of the Watergate cash. He himself set a pattern of deceit for others to follow.
The President Betrayed Himself
Why did he do it? His conduct is beyond comprehension. In June of 1972, George McGovern's nomination was assured, which is to say that Nixon's own reelection was assured. Given the political situation at that time, there was no way that Nixon's candidacy could have been fatally damaged. If he had told the people the truth at that time — the whole truth, holding nothing back — the Watergate scandal would have been a nine-day wonder. The campaign could have proceeded on course. But he lied.
One gropes amidst the debris. Monday night's disclosures clear up a few points. More than a year ago, when I was among many persons urging the President voluntarily to release the tapes, I said that his refusal would permit an inference that he had something to hide. All right. He had something to hide. A couple of months ago, I suggested to Mr. Nixon that Bob Hadleman, by not keeping him informed, had betrayed him. The President sharply denied it. At least he told the truth about that. Hadleman had indeed kept him informed. Hadleman did not betray him. The President betrayed himself.
The just-disclosed conversation on June 23, 1972 explains another puzzling thing. We foolish believers kept searching through the later conversations of March 1973, looking for expressions of presidential amazement and outrage. We found none. It seemed odd, because we were given to understand that he was only then beginning to comprehend the involvement of such aides as Maurice Stans and John Mitchell. We had been led astray; we had been lied to. No wonder he was not amazed that March! No wonder he was not outraged!
Good Vanishes with the Bad
The lies, the lies, the lies! My President is a liar. I wish he were a crook instead. Three months ago he gave us a stack of transcripts, and he provided a fine false summary to go with them: “Throughout the period of the Watergate affair the raw material of these recorded conversations established that the President…had no knowledge of any coverup prior to March 21, 1973.” The sentence is a devious work of art. He did have knowledge of the coverup: he himself had helped to contrive it.
What a pity, what a pity! Here was a President who got us out of Vietnam, ended the draft, restored a needed conservative balance to the Supreme Court, launched hopeful programs of new federalism, and by his bold overtures to Red China opened new avenues toward world peace. Now the good vanishes in the wreckage of the bad. The swearing-in of Gerald Ford can't come one hour too soon.
(This article originally appeared in the August 30, 1974, issue of National Review and is reprinted with permission from National Review Online.)
