Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes
More than 20 years after the Watergate scandal that brought down his  presidency, the character of Richard M. Nixon continues to fascinate us. Many  books have been written about Nixon, and about Watergate, but perhaps none sheds so  revealing a light on the late president as Stanley I. Kutler'sAbuse of  Power. In the years following Watergate, as Nixon fought to rebuild his reputation from  the ruins of his shattered presidency, he fought fiercely to suppress publication of most of  the secret tapes that led to his downfall. During his lifetime, only about 60 hours of the  almost 4,000 that exist were ever made public, and even after his death his estate  continued to obstruct further releases. Then, in 1996, Kutler, along with the advocacy group  Public Citizen, won a landmark decision to release the tapes.Among other things,Abuse of Powerdefinitively answers the question of  whether Nixon was directly involved in raising hush money (he was) and suggests  a reason for the burglary attempt at the Watergate Hotel (financial documents that  might have linked the Democratic Party chairman to Howard Hughes). The tapes also  reveal the vindictive and bigoted side to Nixon's personality, particularly as he discusses  "killing" theWashington Post, and blamesrich Jewsfor  Billy Graham's tax problems.Abuse of Poweronly covers an additional 201 hours  of tape of the near 4,000 that remain unreleased. It seems that the final chapter  on Watergate has yet to be written.