Nixon Was a Worse Foul Ball Than We Ever Thought

Watergate alone was bad, but I'd argue it's legacy is far, far, far worse. I don't think political discourse would be as bad as it is now if it hadn't been for Nixon's personal demons overtaking him and nearly bring down the country as a result.

Watergate, at bottom, was a successful attempt to rig Nixon's 1972 re-election by tampering with the opposition party in the primaries. The seeds of it began as soon as he took office, but Nixon's paranoia that he wouldn't be re-elected was the catalyst.

Ed Muskie, the Democrats' strongest candidate in 1972, was the focus. George McGovern, an honorable man to be sure but basically a one-issue candidate (Vietnam), was the man Nixon's boys wanted for he would be the easiest for him to beat.

Contrary to widespread belief, it was NOT clear Nixon would be re-elected, so rigging the election was paramount.

Woodward and Bernstein talk about Nixon's "five wars." One and the key one, in my view, was the "war" on the Democrats:

On Oct. 10, 1972, we wrote a story in The Post outlining the extensive sabotage and spying operations of the Nixon campaign and White House, particularly against Muskie, and stating that the Watergate burglary was not an isolated event. The story said that at least 50 operatives had been involved in the espionage and sabotage, many of them under the direction of a young California lawyer named Donald Segretti; several days later, we reported that Segretti had been hired by Dwight Chapin, Nixon’s appointments secretary. (The Senate Watergate committee later found more than 50 saboteurs, including 22 who were paid by Segretti.) Herbert Kalmbach, Nixon’s personal attorney, paid Segretti more than $43,000 from leftover campaign funds for these activities. Throughout the operation, Segretti was contacted regularly by Howard Hunt.

The Senate investigation provided more detail about the effectiveness of the covert efforts against Muskie, who in 1971 and early 1972 was considered by the White House to be the Democrat most capable of beating Nixon. The president’s campaign paid Muskie’s chauffeur, a campaign volunteer named Elmer Wyatt, $1,000 a month to photograph internal memos, position papers, schedules and strategy documents, and deliver copies to Mitchell and Nixon’s campaign staff.

Other sabotage directed at Muskie included bogus news releases and allegations of sexual improprieties against other Democratic candidates — produced on counterfeit Muskie stationery. A favored dirty trick that caused havoc at campaign stops involved sweeping up the shoes that Muskie aides left in hotel hallways to be polished, and then depositing them in a dumpster.