Watergate: A New History

by Garrett M. Graff

That weekend, Judge Murray Gurfein rejected the restraining order and allowed the Times to resume publishing, writing, “The security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone. Security also lies in the value of our free institutions. A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.”

Members of Congress and defense secretary James Schlesinger also recalled a worrisome remark from December, when during one of the group meetings in the White House dining room with senators and representatives as part of the “Operation Candor” push, Nixon had blurted out a bizarre answer to a question about fighting Communism. “I can go in my office and pick up a telephone, and in 25 minutes, millions of people will be dead,” the president had said.

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”