I always wanted to interview Richard Nixon, to this day, and forever, a fascinating character, for all the wrong reasons. I was 12 when Nixon resigned. Watergate had me glued to the TV news way back when. It's likely a contributing factor to what I do today. Government and politics are a fascination.
Bob Woodward has a new book. It's called "The last of the President's Men." It revolves around top Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield. Our friends at CBS did a story over the weekend, and the network disclosed it owns the publishing company handling the book.
Butterfield called Nixon "complex." Nixon openly lied to reporters, and he hated White House employees keeping pictures of JFK in their offices.
I think Nixon always interested me because he was a smart man, a foreign policy genius, who did some very stupid things. There's evidence Nixon suffered from several mental health problems, made worse by the constant pressure over Watergate related crimes.
I always wanted to know how and why he got off the track. The 1968 election was a squeaker, but '72 was a landslide. Nixon didn't need the dirty tricks, but paranoia compelled him to wreck his presidency.
It was an American tragedy, and Nixon found the one to blame was in the mirror.
