Synopses & Reviews
A veteran White House reporter reveals our 37th president was even more sinister and haunted than we knew.
Richard Nixon left the White House in 1974 as our most disgraced president, but the American people never knew the full extent of his demons, deceptions, paranoia, prejudices, hatreds, and chicanery.
Calling on his work in covering Nixon, scores of interviews with members of Congress, White House staffers, and others close to our nations thirty-seventh president, and invaluable, newly declassified documents and recordings, veteran journalist Don Fulsom sheds new light on “Tricky Dick.” The authors revelations include:
- That the future president sabotaged the 1968 peace talks for political gain
- By the time Nixon became president in 1969, he had linked to the mob for more than two decades and, as president, had a close connection with New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello, the most powerful Mafioso in the nation
- The president had a drinking problem and top aides referred to him as "Our Drunk"
- Nixon had a misogynist streak and was abusive toward first lady Pat Nixon
- The intimate and possibly homosexual nature of Nixon's relationship with confidante Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a banker with mob ties
- Testimony alleging that the president had ordered the killing of White House reporter Jack Anderson
Fulsoms examination of these and other startling aspects of Nixons personal and political dimensions paint an unflinching portrait of a leader who was once the most powerful man in the world. Nixons Darkest Secrets provides a chilling final chapter in literature on our most troubled president.
Review
“When Richard Nixon boarded Air Force One on August 9, 1974 to return to San Clemente in disgrace over Watergate, I felt an immense sense of joy. After reading Don Fulsom's carefully reported account of Nixon's Darkest Secrets, I'm left with a profound sense of dread that someone so mobbed up, vindictive and downright treasonous could have been elected president of the United States. More than anything, the book makes me wonder how the mainstream media was able to let Nixon skate so long when Watergate itself was really nothing compared to his far more insidious crimes.”—J. Patrick O'Connor, author of The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal and Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and the Framing of Kevin Cooper
"Just when you thought you knew it all, Don Fulsom digs deeper into the mire of the Nixon presidency in NIXON'S DARKEST SECRETS, a book which bristles with revelations about the most disgraced American leader in history. He offers evidence of how Nixon sabotaged peace talks for political gain in 1968, how closely he was connected to the Mafia, his alcoholism and his abuse of his long suffering wife, Pat Nixon."—Muriel Dobbin, author and former White House correspondent
"Don Fulsom, the first reporter to link the Watergate burglars to President Nixon's reelection campaign, has spent more than three decades unlocking the secrets of the the Nixon Administration's roles in a breathtaking array of crimes and cover-ups. His new revelations about President Nixon's ties to powerful mobsters and their stooges in politics, business and labor have been particularly disturbing and are now fully chronicled. Fulson's excellent new book, Nixon's Darkest Secrets, puts an end to the urban legend that President Nixon was run out of office in the wake of nothing more than 'a third-rate burglary.'"—Dan E. Moldea, author of The Hoffa Wars
"All those wonderful times with President Richard M. Nixon come flooding back with Don Fulsom's lovely litany of chiseling, payoffs, 2nd rate burglaries and, yes, public hand-holding with a boozy Bebe Rebozo. If you covered Nixon as I did from beginning to bitter end, no day was complete with a Fulsom question for the uptight press secretary Ronald Ziegler. On every presidential trip, Fulsom was first aboard the White House press plane so he could paste up a smiling picture of Nixon over his seat. And, Nixon did smile on reporters with an endless supply of page one astounders. There are some I missed but fortunately Fulsom recounts the best ones in this book that will delight and inform those once entertained by The Trick."—Patrick J. Sloyan, Pulitzer-prize winning Washington reporter
"The Nixon papers and tapes that continue to flow are gifts that keep on giving. Veteran reporter Don Fulsom skillfully wraps them into a neat and easy-to-read package."—Richard Benedetto, retired White House correspondent, USA Today
"Nixon's Darkest Secrets again reveals how this most secretive of presidents ironically left a vast paper and tape trail that reveals the history he tried so hard to suppress. Don Fulsom, a White House reporter in Nixon's presidency, nicely fulfills the complementary roles of contemporary observer with that of a historian. He has opened our eyes to countless examples of Richard Nixon's weird, incomprehensible, and sometimes apparently criminal doings in the Oval Office. No one can write on Nixon's personality without taking proper measure of Fulsom's work."—Stanley Kutler, author of The Wars of Watergate
“Don Fulsom has written a fascinating look at President Richard Nixon. There is much to be learned from his shrewd analysis. Highly, highly recommended!”—Douglas Brinkley, bestselling author and renowned U.S. historian
Synopsis
A veteran White House reporter reveals our 37th president was even more sinister and haunted than we knew.
While Richard Nixon left the White House as our most disgraced president, the American people never knew the full extent of his demons, paranoia, prejudices, hatreds, and chicanery. Calling on his work in covering Nixon in the White House, as well as scores of interviews with TK and invaluable, newly declassified documents and recordings, author Don Fulsom sheds new light on “Tricky Dick” by revealing:
*Nixon was in bed with the mob
*Proof that the future president sabotaged the 1968 peace talks—and thus committed treason—for political gain.
*The presidnet was physically abusive towards Pat Nixon and also a White House Reporter
*Nixon had a drinking problem that led top aides to refer to him as "Our Drunk"
*The homosexual nature of his friendship with Bebe Rebozo
*Testimony that Nixon might have ordered the killing of a White House Reporter Jack Anderson
Fulsom provocatively evokes our most unscrupulous and devious president, whose darkest maneuvers are only now coming to light.
Synopsis
A veteran White House reporter reveals our 37th president was even more sinister and haunted than we knew.
While Richard Nixon resigned from the White House as our most disgraced president, the American people never knew the full extent of his demons, paranoia, prejudices, hatreds, and chicanery. Calling on his work in covering Nixon in the White House, as well as scores of interviews and invaluable, newly declassified documents and recordings, reporter Don Fulsom sheds new light on “Tricky Dick” by revealing his violent streaks, paranoia, mob ties, and even treasonous activity in exchange for political gain. Nixons Darkest Secrets reveals that the Watergate scandal was only half the story, and sheds new light on our most devious president.
About the Author
DON FULSOM is a longtime White House reporter and former United Press International Washington bureau chief who has covered presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is an adjunct professor at American University in Washington D.C., where he teaches “Watergate: A Constitutional Crisis.”