Blind Ambition [ペーパーバック]

This book is a well-written book, giving unparalleled glimpses into the Nixon White house and the character of its denizens. Dean, a controversial and not very admirable character, reveals many truths in this book, some really hair-raising to a naive believer in the virtues of government. He also provides many fascinating details, such as the constant rearrangement of offices and furniture in the White House to reflect internal political standings. Though surprisingly candid about his own personal flaws, he does paint himself in a more sympathetic light than is merited. Nevertheless, the overall candor and truth of his reports stands in contrast to those of other eyewitnesses. The controversial and revealing nature of his narrative is marked by the remarkable divergence of opinion seen in reviews of this book; a hard core of Nixon ideologues will hate Dean forever.

In 1970 John Dean was interviewed as the next counsel to the President; a little over four years later he was in jail. He rose, and fell, by being a willing servant. Dean's office was the center of Nixon's intelligence operation (lawyers have client confidentiality). His story was recreated from documents and taped conversations. Dean was working for the Justice Dept. when he was asked about working at the White House by Bud Krogh. John Mitchell advised him that the WH "was not a healthy place" (p.12). (Was this relatively young lawyer recruited to be a future fall guy?) The expenses for the San Clemente complex had been safely buried in inconspicuous budgets (p.16). Dean joined the WH, and soon learned "to keep my mouth shut" (p.23). Dean learned how interior decorating kept political scores (pp.29-30)! He also learned how to move upwards in influence by traveling downward through power plays, corruption, and outright crimes (p.30). Just as he made it to the top, he actually touched bottom.
Dean's education began when he read the "Huston Plan", which removed most legal restraints on wiretaps, mail intercepts, and burglaries. J. Edgar hoover vetoed the plan - the risk was greater than the reward (or turf protection?). More mundane matters are listed on pages 39-40. Page 45 tells of his first liability over a burglary. Page 51 tells how Erlichman won his power struggle against Mitchell. The Dita Beard letter is discussed on pages 53-59. J. Edgar Hoover said it was genuine, another action that infuriated the Nixon WH. The next liability was hiding the Town House Operation (pp.59-62). By May 1972 the ITT scandal ended and Kleindienst was confirmed; it looked like the end of the problems. Chapter 3 tells of the Howard Hughes affair. No mention of the Wallace shooting at all; Wallace's removal from the campaign allowed Nixon to win in a landslide. Dean tells the details of political intelligence for Nixon.
Chapter 4 begins with the burglary at the Watergate. Dean was called for advice, and told to investigate the "plumbers". The most important thing in all this is the friction and conflict among Nixon's men (pp.94-95). When Dean met Liddy they went for a walk outside; was this to avoid bugs (p.96)? If Strachan knew, Haldeman knew, and so did Nixon (p.98). It went up to the top of the chain. Next Strachan came to confess to Dean that he purged Haldeman's files (p.100). Then Sloan called to confess giving "large bundles of cash" to Liddy. Colson disavowed any knowledge or responsibility for Hunt. But Hunt was still on the WH payroll and had an office there (p.103). Page 121 summarizes the problems in defending the Administration, and how Dean hid evidence by turning it over to the FBI (p.122). He then crossed the line into criminal culpability. Dean's personal rapport allowed him access to the warring factions (p.125); but this sucked him into the conspiracy.
Chapter 5 tells of his new powers: one of the top people, meeting many new women (p.127). The Press ignored the scandal. Dean was "stunned" by Nixon's "bold lies" at a press conference (p.128). Dean was dazed by Nixon's claims (p.129). Later he began to suspect being set up as a fall guy (p.131). Note how a few pawns were sacrificed to save the king (p.133). Page 136 tells about assigning a case to an Nixon appointed judge! Dean's description of Nixon on page 138 suggests a personal problem. Page 143 explains Nixon's concern for civil liberties, and campaign contributions. Page 148 tells of the massive purge planned by Nixon; "he'll regret this" (p.149). Did this plan amount to a power grab? Stans explained his fund raising: wealthy targets owed a fixed percentage of their income (p.158). When Dean looks up "obstruction of justice" he realizes they're all guilty (p.168)! Hunt's missing notebooks were destroyed by Pat Gray (p.171). Then they hear from McCord: "it will be a scorched desert" (p.177). Dean destroyed evidence (p.182). Do you see where this is heading? Dean wrote a very readable book.

Dean's book is hard to put down. I've read it twice and enjoyed it both times. What makes it so fascinating is the way in which it is so easy to see how a young ambitious lawyer could find himself in such a situation. Dean implicates himself as well as many others and provides a real feeling for what it must have been like in the White House during those years.

It may seem strange that just after ordering a new copy of "Blind Ambition" by John Dean, today, that I am writing a review.

Actually, I have the paperback edition and have read it several times. I wanted the hardback for the larger print size.

This is an excellent book, not just for taking the reader behind the scenes of Watergate, but for displaying the true personality of Richard Nixon.
The description that Dean gives of Nixon throughout the book corroborates the statements by Bob Haldeman and John Erlichman.

Blind Ambition is a tale of a President obsessed with only one goal - to make sure he got re-elected.
Richard Nixon was a man of insecurity and self-doubt, and these traits were strongly reinforced when Nixon lost the 1962 California governorship to incumbent Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

It was Lawrence O'Brien, who was responsible for leaking about the Howard Hughes loan to Nixon's brother, Donald, that played a part in the 1962 loss of election to Governor.

Now, O'Brien was National Chairman of the Democratic National Party. Nixon worried about what "goods" O'Brien had on him now. Thus, the DNC Headquarters at the Watergate Complex were broken into; a third-rate burglary was turned into a major cover-up along with other crimes and White House horrors.

The discouraging remark to add to the above is, after you read this excellent book, you should try to see the TV-made movie, based on the book. The movie was well done, with Rip Torn playing Nixon, and doing the best job of anyone I have seen.

Unfortunately, no commercial version of the movie was released. It was a 4-part miniseries. Once-and-awhile,
the channels of STARZ shows it. You should record it, if it is shown again, as it is a very good presentation, faithful to the book, and almost non-existant.

Two other outstanding Watergate books, in addition to "Blind Ambition" highly recommened are "Watergate-the corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon" by Fred Emery (a mini-series was also done on that) and "784 Days That Changed America" by Barry Sussman (with another rare television production shown only once by Nancy Dickenson and Television Broadcasting Corp.

This story is quite interesting. When I first read it, during the 1970s, I bought Mr. Dean's version of events hook, line and sinker -- and boy did he suck me in. He postured himself as someone involved way over his head who ended up being, in effect, a victim. I have concluded that some of the presented details are true, and some are not. The presentation, however, is uniformly riveting.
Read additional Watergate material for a broader view and better picture. The lesson here is that you can't always believe the story which appears, at first glance, to be the most convincing.