John Dean knows what happens behind closed doors at the White House. As counsel to President Richard Nixon, he witnessed the malignant influence of excessive secrecy and its corruption of good intentions. Now this true insider presents a stunning indictment of George W. Bush's administration. With overwhelming evidence, he shows how the obsessive secrecy and hidden agenda of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have resulted in undemocratic-and dangerous-policies for the nation. Dean reveals, among other facts, even criminal offenses: * How the Bush administration deceived Congress into granting it the authorization to go to war against Iraq-a betrayal that is a breach of faith and a constitutional crime * How Bush issued an executive order that sealed presidential papers indefinitely-a fiat that defies Congress and hides information that the public has a right to know * How the White House ordered the EPA to issue assurances that the air quality around Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks was safe-a cynical, political ploy that ignored the dangerous asbestos levels in the area * How a senior administration official leaked that Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife was a covert CIA agent-an egregious violation of national security that borders on treason.

As the former counsel to President Nixon, Dean was in a position to witness the worst excesses of his administration, widely seen by Americans as having engaged in widespread abuse of power and even criminal activity. In his judgment however, the George W. Bush administration's manipulation of intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq is simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the same sort of secretive and undemocratic actions that justify calling the actions of the Bush-Cheney presidency worse than Watergate, the scandal that brought down Nixon.
Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"[F]ew critics have as effectively put the disparate pieces together, linking them to what Dean says is a broader pattern of secrecy from an administration that does its best to control the flow of information on every subject." Publishers Weekly

Now in paperback--the "New York Times" bestseller by former White House counsel John W. Dean that reveals how the Bush administration has been even more damaging than Nixon at his worst. Includes a post-election chapter written especially for this edition.