This volume brings together a distinguished group of scholars, journalists, and former Nixon Administration officials to examine the Watergate controversy and its legacy. Particular attention is paid to Nixon's misuse of government power for political ends, his administration's obsession with secrecy and the control of information, and the impeachment proceedings in Congress. This is the second in a trilogy of titles based on the Hofstra Presidential Conference on Richard M. Nixon (the first, Richard M. Nixon: Politician, President, Administrator [Greenwood, 1991], was also edited by Friedman and Levantrosser). Watergate and Afterward includes a final assessment of the Nixon Presidency by a group of biographers who have written extensively about the man and his politics, as well as appraisals of Nixon's accomplishments and failures by both administration figures and outside historians. Special effort was made throughout to incorporate opposing points of view on the various issues under discussion, making this one of the most comprehensive and balanced assessments of the Watergate scandal and its aftermath available in print.The book begins with essays that describe the political reactions to Watergate and Nixon's attempt to remove the first special prosecutor on the case. In the discussion section that follows, new insight into what the break-in was supposed to accomplish is provided by Reverend Jeb Stuart Magruder, speaking for the first time in a public forum. Subsequent papers discuss the different efforts by the Nixon Administration to uncover information about political opponents, the politicization of the Justice Department, the constitutional confrontation in the Supreme Court over the Nixon tapes, and the Pentagon Papers case. Discussants include Charles Colson, who was in the White House at the time, Tom Brokaw of NBC, and Ron Ziegler and Gerald Warren of the White House press office. Finally, the impeachment proceedings are reexamined in chapters that explore the specific charges against the president and the political coalitions that formed in Congress around them. Ideal as supplemental reading for courses on the presidency and modern American politics, Watergate and Afterward is an important contribution to our understanding of this critical period in postwar history.

This volume examines the Watergate controversy and its legacy, focusing particular attention on Nixon's alleged misuse of government power for political ends, his administration's obsession with secrecy and the control of information, and the impeachment proceedings.

Watergate and the Abuse of Presidential PowerWatergate Re-ExaminedWatergate and the Nixon Presidency: A Comparative Ideological Analysis by David R. SimonPresident Nixon's Dismissal of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox: An Analysis of the Constitutionality and Legality of an Exercise of Presidential Removal Power by Nancy KassopDiscussants: Stanley I. Kutler, J. Anthony Lukas, Reverend Jeb Stuart Magruder, Earl J. SilbertPolitics and the Governmental ProcessInformation, Dissent, and Political Power: Watergate Revisited by Alan F. WestinRichard M. Nixon and the Politicization of Justice by Michael A. GenoveseDiscussants: Moderator: Monroe H. Freedman, Charles W. Colson, John ShattuckSeparation of PowersUnited States v. Nixon Reexamined: The United States Supreme Court's Self-Imposed "Duty" to Come to Judgment on the Question of Executive Privilege by Howard BallDiscussant: Philip LacovaraThe Protest MovementDiscussants: Tom Hayden, David J. Garrow, Sanford GottliebSecrecy, the Government, and the MediaSecrecy and Democracy: The Unresolved Legacy of the Pentagon Papers by John KincaidPresident Nixon's Conception of Executive Privilege: Defining the Scope and Limits of Executive Branch Secrecy by Mark J. RozellDiscussants: Moderator: Victor Navasky, Tom Brokaw, Howard Simons, Gerald L. Warren, Ronald L. ZieglerResponse: John KincaidImpeachment ProceedingsThe Nixon Impeachment and Abuse of Presidential Power by Dagmar S. HamiltonDomestic Legislative Coalitions and Impeachment by Terry SullivanDiscussants: John Doar, Elizabeth Holtzman, and Judge Charles E. WigginsReexamining NixonNixon Biographers; Discussants: Moderator: Louis W. Koenig; Stephen E. Ambrose, Roger Morris, Herbert S. Parmet, Raymond K. Price, Jr.Researching the Nixon Presidency: Documents and EvidenceThe Status of the Nixon Presidential Materials by James J. HastingsDiscussants: Joan Hoff-Wilson, Harry P. Jeffrey, Mark R. WeissThe Evolution of the Nixon LegacyModerator: Fred I. Greenstein; Richard Nixon Reconsidered: The Conservative as Liberal? by Barry D. RiccioRichard Nixon and the Idea of Rehabilitation by Sherri CavanDiscussants: H. R. Haldeman, Robert H. Finch, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.Program of ConferenceIndex