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Title details for They Said No to Nixon by Michael Koncewicz - Available

They Said No to Nixon

Republicans Who Stood Up to the President's Abuses of Power

by Michael Koncewicz
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"One reason Koncewicz's narrative is so compelling is that it's also a redemption story."—The Washington Post
"Excruciatingly timely."—Kirkus Reviews
In more than three thousand recorded conversations, the Nixon tapes famously exposed a president's sinister views of governance that would eventually lead to his downfall. Despite Richard Nixon's best efforts, his vision of a government where he could use his power to punish his political enemies never came to fruition because members of his own party defied his directives. While many are familiar with the Republicans who turned against Nixon during the final stages of the Watergate saga, They Said No to Nixon uncovers for the first time those within the administration—including Nixon's own appointees—who opposed the White House early on, quietly blocking the president's attacks on the IRS, the Justice Department, and other sectors of the federal government.

Culling from previously unpublished excerpts from the tapes and recently released materials that expose the thirty-seventh president's uncensored views, Michael Koncewicz reveals how Republican party members remained loyal civil servants in the face of Nixon's attempts to expand the imperial presidency.

Delving into the abuses of power surrounding the Watergate era and showing how they were curbed, They Said No to Nixon sheds light on the significant cultural and ideological shifts that occurred within the GOP during the pivotal 1970s. Koncewicz deftly demonstrates how Nixon's administration marked a decisive moment that led to the rise of modern conservatism and today's ruthlessly partisan politics.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 9, 2018

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780520970960

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780520970960
      • File size: 2553 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      September 1, 2018
      In his debut book, professional archivist and Richard Nixon scholar Koncewicz mines vast research material to illuminate Nixon's tenure from a fresh angle: his determination to violate laws for political advantage and the appointees who refused to obey.At times, the author draws convincing, explicit comparisons to the Trump presidency. His first case study focuses on Nixon's plan to use the Internal Revenue Service to illegally audit the tax filings of political enemies and then harass those enemies with findings from the audits. IRS commissioner Johnnie Walters, appointed by Nixon, refused to cooperate. Koncewicz additionally explains how Walters' direct supervisor, Treasury secretary George Shultz, a key member of Nixon's Cabinet, shielded the IRS from the president. Both Walters and Shultz knew they would be facing Nixon's wrath and that they might be fired. But neither man wavered, and the author considers them courageous. Next, Koncewicz focuses on Nixon's order to his freshly created Office of Management and Budget to illegally halt federal subsidies to elite universities. (For most of the chapter, the author narrows the focus to MIT.) Three assistant directors within the OMB--Kenneth Dam, William Morrill, and Paul O'Neill--banded together to resist Nixon's order, and the author skillfully relates their saga. In the final chapters, Koncewicz highlights the best known of the resisters within the Nixon administration: Elliot Richardson, a highly visible appointee who played roles in the State Department, the Defense Department, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare before agreeing to serve as Nixon's attorney general. When Nixon's self-created Watergate scandal led to the appointment of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, a showdown seemed inevitable. When Nixon tried to halt the Watergate investigation via Cox's firing, Richardson refused to dismiss Cox, and that stand led to what has become known as the Saturday Night Massacre.Brief but scholarly in all the right ways--and excruciatingly timely.

      COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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