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114 ratings, 3.71 average rating, 18 reviews
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published
2004
by Little, Brown & Company
binding
Hardcover, 272 pages
isbn
0681303700
(isbn13: 9780681303706)
description
John Dean knows what happens behind closed doors at the White House. As counsel to President Richard Nixon, he witnessed the malignant influence of ex...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 175)
Read in April, 2004
Dean focused on the Bush/Cheney obsession with secrecy. He says that while Nixon ultimately resorted to a paranoid concern with secrecy, the Bush/Cheney administration started out with an agenda that called for eliminating any light on White House activities. He is also quite adamant in pointing out that this is the most lawless bunch of crooks to ever wield power, worse, by far, than Nixon. He calls for their impeachment for lying to congress and the American people about their rationale for th...more
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This isn't new - it was written in Bush's first term but of all of the books written about the last 8 years, this is one of the best. Dean was the guy in the Nixon administration who blew their cover; he's a lawyer and a man of integrity. He doesn't just cover the egregious excesses of this administration but he goes to the underlying issues and motivations and, believe me, it's scary. GWB's father was in office when the cold war ended (even if he wasn't really responsible for it) and now his so...more
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Read in October, 2007
'Reasonably well put together criticism of the Bush administration. It makes no bones about being biased, but most assertions are well footnoted - and IMO, likely true. Some of the content is now a bit dated as it was written and released prior to the president's re-election in 2004. The author closes his text arguing that "storm clouds" were forming and that he thought it likely we'd see a major [Watergate-sized:] scandal unfold. Looking at the three-ish years since the book was r...more
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recommends it for:
EVERYONE
This book was written by John Dean, who was Nixon's special counselor/advisor in the White House. He knew about the Watergate cover-up and all of the other crap Nixon, Haldeman and Erlichman were doing. Things like breaking into psychiatrist's offices and stealing private patient files, rigging the Democratic primaries with slur campaigns, and sabotaging the 1968 Vietnam peace talks (Kissinger helped out with that.)
And with all that he saw in the Nixon White House he is making the case for...more
And with all that he saw in the Nixon White House he is making the case for...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
citizens
This is the John Dean who was Nixon’s White House lawyer. He has gone on to a career in investment banking, I believe. What’s worth everyone’s attention from Dean is his particular perspective on the effects of secrecy in the executive branch. The title reveals his point of view, but the text is copiously documented and what he writes about is not available anywhere else.
Not an easy read but has essential information for anyone who cares about our country. It is NOT outdated (as of 2007...more
Not an easy read but has essential information for anyone who cares about our country. It is NOT outdated (as of 2007...more
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Read in September, 2007
One of the books in John Dean's trilogy about the Bush (II) administration. When a Goldwater conservative comes out against the Bush regime and takes it apart bit by bit, I am certainly going to sit up and take notice. Dean relates how the Bushies have turned their backs on the roots of conservatism and have used the conservative banner to promote their own agenda.
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
political savy
The secrecy of the present administration is astronomical. We must constantly be on alert regarding our civil liberties. Bush is interested in creating a state that is completely pro corporation and cares nothing about the American public. The contents of this book are well documented.
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Read in April, 2008
in the preface of this book the author says he is asked why Bush is worse than Nixon, and his reply is that "No one died as a result of Nixon's secrecy."
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Read in May, 2008
A lot of things I didn't know (thanks to the overall ignorant mainstream US media) - an informative, chilling must-read.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Sarah
outdated, as it's 3 years old now, but still relevant. Cheney is the real power, as we all know now.
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John W. Dean isn't Woodward & Bernstein. Very poorly written.
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Read in January, 2004
John Dean should know just how bad it can be...
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Read in March, 2008
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