THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9406300595
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY BARRETT R. RICHARDSON
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
THE HALDEMAN DIARIES
Inside the Nixon White House
H.R. HALDEMAN
G.P. Putnam's Sons. 698 pp. $27.50.
ONE HAS TO WONDER if the pending publication of H.R. Haldeman's diaries, subtitled Inside the Nixon White House, triggered the stroke that took Richard M. Nixon's life. Nixon's blood pressure certainly would have skyrocketed if he had read Haldeman's detailed descriptions of the former president's pettiness, paranoia and hunger for power.
Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff, does not dwell on the character flaws of his boss in these posthumously published diaries - he died of cancer Nov. 12 - but they emerge in a daily journal that records Nixon's shining moments as well as his nasty ones.
During his employment, Haldeman kept written and taped records of White House goings-on that he marked ``Top Secret'' and placed in a White House safe. After Haldeman was axed by Nixon, the FBI seized his papers. He eventually retrieved them (a right of possession) through litigation, but the court ordered them to remain in the locked custody of the National Archives. A negotiated settlement allowed Haldeman to get copies.
The Watergate material, undoubtedly the most intriguing part of the diaries, begins with an entry for Sunday, June 18, 1972, which reads, in part:
``The big flap over the weekend has been news reported to me last night, then followed up with further information today, that a group of five people had been caught breaking into the Democratic headquarters (at the Watergate). Actually to plant bugs and photograph material. It turns out there was a direct connection (with the Committee to Reelect the President), and Ehrlichman was very concerned about the whole thing.''
In an editor's note, Haldeman writes: ``We never set out to construct a planned, conscious cover-up operation. We reacted to Watergate just as we had to the Pentagon Papers, ITT, and the Laos/Cambodia operations. We were highly sensitive to any negative PR and our natural reaction was to contain or minimize, any potential political damage.''
Haldeman's entries prior to Watergate bear this out. There are repeated references to Nixon's attempts to put a favorable spin on White House-related events and of his fury when negative press or television reports appeared. Nixon was constantly ordering revenge on reporters, columnists, editorial writers or TV commentators who provided negative coverage.
After Los Angeles Times reporter Stuart Loory wrote a story about the cost of the Western White House, Nixon apparently wanted Haldeman ``to move ruthlessly to get him (Loory) removed from the White House.'' TV newsman Chet Huntley also incurred the presidential wrath: ``Important to destroy him for effect on all other commentators,'' Haldeman notes.
The diaries accuse Nixon of having disdain for blacks, contempt for intellectuals and suspicion of Jews, whom he felt controlled the liberal media. According to Haldeman, he was wary of welfare reform that ``forces poor whites into the same position as blacks.'' Consequently, he claims, Nixon wanted to get the Family Assistance Plan killed by Democrats to take the onus off of the White House. When the school desegregation issue came up in 1970, Nixon allegedly wanted the administration to ``take on the integration problem have forced integration too far, too fast.''
Haldeman repeatedly refers to hardball political tactics and ``dirty tricks'' that Nixon allegedly wanted to conduct with the aid of Patrick Buchanan and other staffers. ``As one idea, wants to get a right-wing demagogue into some tough race and have him go on the basis of anti-integration, would get enormous reaction, might even win.'' To discredit Sen. Edward Kennedy, whom Nixon detested, special counsel Chuck Colson ``had a private detective follow Kennedy in Paris and take photos of him with various women. Colson then leaked the photos to members of Congress and the press,'' Haldeman reports.
Haldeman gives priceless accounts of Henry Kissinger flying off the handle in fits of pique, particularly those involving his longstanding rival, Secretary of State William Rogers. Nixon's attempts to rein in Vice President Spiro Agnew and muzzle Martha Mitchell, wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, also are recorded in detail.
Aside from numerous ludicrous incidents and self-serving vignettes involving the president, the diaries contain nuggets of historical significance found nowhere else. The tortuous and ego-driven Kissinger diplomacy aimed at ending the war in Vietnam takes up a goodly portion of the book. Valuable illumination is also cast on Nixon's trips to China and Russia.
The last entry in the diary is on Monday, April, 30, 1973, the day Haldeman resigned, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of Watergate. The man who was a target of criticism for being a stern gatekeeper and the ``lord high executioner'' for Nixon later served a prison term. His legacy now becomes this insider's narrative, which, despite its staccato style, is riveting. MEMO: Barrett Richardson is a retired staff editor who lives in Portsmouth and
teaches English at Tidewater Community College.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
HALDEMAN FAMILY TRUST
H.R. Haldeman's perspective from the inner sanctum of the Nixon
White House provides a fresh view of history.
by CNB