Watergate Essays

What Was the Smoking Gun Tape? This is a 27 page essay that explores the smoking gun tape of June 24, 1974, how it was totally misunderstood by Nixon’s lawyers, […]

This is a 27 page analysis of John Dean’s 750 page book, The Nixon Defense, What He Knew and When He Knew It. It details the errors, admissions against interest, […]

This is an essay that appeared in Constitution Daily, which is maintained by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. It describes how the 5th Amendment’s guarantee of due process was […]

This essay, appearing in Politico on the fortieth anniversary of the Watergate break—in, explains why three primary beliefs about Watergate are really myths: Exposing myths about Watergate

This essay, carried on Real Clear Politics, was triggered by the disclosure on April 29, 2012, in an article by Jeff Himmelman in New York Magazine [The Red Flag in […]

The White House tapes are something like the Bible, if you will forgive the analogy: by focusing on any one segment, one can “prove” almost anything. But thoughts expressed in […]

The completely re-done Watergate Exhibit was opened at the Nixon Library on April 1, 2011. This is Shepard’s critique of the substantive aspects—and omissions—of that exhibit: Critique of Watergate Exhibit

John Dean’s 1976 book, Blind Ambition, was re-issued in paperback by his agent as a part of the launch of a speaking tour. His invitation to speak at the Richard […]

In response to a question posed by one of the readers of his Frost/Nixon essay, inquiring as to why Richard Nixon evoked such controversy—not only throughout his public life, but […]