Synopses & Reviews
Just four months after Richard Nixon's resignation,
New York Times reporter Seymour Hersh unearthed a new case of government abuse of power: the CIA had launched a domestic spying program of Orwellian proportions against American dissidents during the Vietnam War. The country's best investigative journalists and members of Congress quickly mobilized to probe a scandal that seemed certain to rock the foundations of this secret government. Subsequent investigations disclosed that the CIA had plotted to kill foreign leaders and that the FBI had harassed civil rights and student groups. Some called the scandal 'son of Watergate.'
Many observers predicted that the investigations would lead to far-reaching changes in the intelligence agencies. Yet, as Kathryn Olmsted shows, neither the media nor Congress pressed for reforms. For all of its post-Watergate zeal, the press hesitated to break its long tradition of deference in national security coverage. Congress, too, was unwilling to challenge the executive branch in national security matters. Reports of the demise of the executive branch were greatly exaggerated, and the result of the 'year of intelligence' was a return to the status quo.
Review
This important book is timely as the future of the CIA is debated in both the scholarly and government communities.
Choice
Review
Perceptive and gracefully written history.
Journal of American History
Review
This is a fascinating study.
Publishers Weekly
Review
Kathryn Olmsted has provided a useful summary of the Frank Church and Otis Pike investigations.
Nation