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Essay Subject: (John Dean). Critical review of presidential aide's memoirs about Watergate scandal.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (John Dean). Critical review of presidential aide's memoirs about Watergate scandal. Paper Introduction: BLIND AMBITION Blind Ambition by John Dean was published in 1976, and it is perhaps the most reliable of the memoirs that came out of the Watergate scandal, which led to President Richard Nixon's resignation from his office in 1974. To summarize Dean's story is to move across the panorama of Watergate to examine the mindset of top government officials, who were so ambitious that they were "blind" to the laws of the Constitution. Dean opens his account when he flies to San Clemente in July, 1970 to be interviewed by Nixon and his chief of staff H.R. Haldeman as the potential successor to John Ehrlichman as counsel to the President. The story ends in December, 1974, after President Nixon had resigned in disgrace, the only president ever to have done so in Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The reader can ask: are these really Dean's opinions, is thisreally his style, or is this the work of a ghostwriter who is shapingDean's thoughts and presenting his side of the story in a clever manner? If this made John Dean a stool pigeon, then he was basically justfighting for his political life. The picture that isenlarged as the book goes on is the fact that, while Nixon gave lip-serviceto loyalty and offered it as the highest example of behavior on his staff,he indeed was not above selling out any subordinate on his team if thatwould create the necessary "scapegoat" needed to get him off the hook. At first Dean wasflattered at the attention that he was getting, but then he came tounderstand that Nixon was actually trying to pin the cover-up on him. In contrast to this was H.R. Dean wants to present himself as a "victim," and so the organizationof the book is such that as much as possible he is portrayed as an innocentwho is drawn into the illegal activities and whose early motivation isloyalty. 4 2). BLIND AMBITION Blind Ambition by John Dean was published in 1976, and it is perhapsthe most reliable of the memoirs that came out of the Watergate scandal,which led to President Richard Nixon's resignation from his office in 1974. He bought into theattitude that poisoned everyone from Nixon right on down to underlings likeJeb Stuart Magruder, deputy campaign director of the Committee to Re-Electthe President, and Charles Colson, special counsel to the President, knownas the White House "hatchet men." Dean's book is a chronicle of the way he was seduced by his blindambition. He goes on tostate that he was able to play the games as a staffer so that he couldtread the fine line between Mitchell and his growing paranoia, andHaldeman's insistence that he come to grips with the fact that Nixon wasthe ultimate boss. A public report with my name attached would associate meeven more with Watergate" (Dean, 1976, p. To summarize Dean's story is to move across the panorama of Watergateto examine the mindset of top government officials, who were so ambitiousthat they were "blind" to the laws of the Constitution. Haldeman,who is revealed to be a man who asked Dean if he could be loyal toPresident Nixon and work for the White House rather than for John Mitchell. Dean's style is open to question, because he wrote this book with thehelp of writer Taylor Branch, who has since gone on to win many awards forhis book Parting the Waters, a definitive look at the Civil Rightsmovement. and at times the I.R.S.were used to gather information that could be used against those who wereeven suspected of "insubordination," when all they were doing wasexpressing their own dissenting political views. He is very good at showing how, even within the WhiteHouse, he was torn between the existing loyalties. The story ends in December, 1974, after President Nixon had resignedin disgrace, the only president ever to have done so in the history of theUnited States. New York: Pocket Books.----------------------- 6 The Chairman's offerwas kind, but I fought immediately to resist it. He offered by far the mostdamning testimony, which came in part from his need for self-preservationand part from his final decision to tell the truth to Sam Ervin, Jr.,Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. The sources for this book make it one of the most interestingaccounts of Watergate. John Dean is good at developing the theme of "blind ambition," and heis accurate in showing how a person in his position could gamble on thestakes that were presented at the time. Accepting his offer wouldbe an admission of weakness " (Dean, 1976, p. By the time that the Watergate hearings appeared on television, Deanhad become one of the special witnesses. At the core of Dean's testimony was his goal of taking some of theheat off of him for decisions made after the Watergate break-in, and thesubsequent cover-up. Dean opens hisaccount when he flies to San Clemente in July, 197 to be interviewed byNixon and his chief of staff H.R. For an example, here is Deancommenting on the Chairman's "grandfatherly tone" when he asked Dean if hewanted to break during a particularly trying moment in the hearings: "The Senator had sensed something was wrong. No summary of this book would be complete without a mention of theway Dean showed how various governmental institutions were used in serviceof the Nixon administration as it fought against its "enemies." It isshocking to realize that the F.B.I., the C.I.A. References Dean, John W. Dean admits that "I wondered how John Mitchell would react. 313). Attorney General John Mitchell is shown to be a man who at heart wasjealous of the White House staff. Dean uses Blind Ambition to reveal how he felt about men like Ervin,who at the time he had viewed as adversaries. As Dean illustrates, Nixon behavedpartially the way he did because in his mind he knew that other Presidentshad gotten away with similar infractions with the law. Dean understood both points of view going into thehearings. One still hasto wonder if, in the post Iran-Contra era, the lessons of Watergateactually made a difference. I wasanxious for the blessing of my mentor, and a bit concerned (Dean, 1976, p.14). The author was at first completely caughtup in the righteous atmosphere of the White House. 164). Blind Ambition. In between are the events that show the unique personality thatWatergate brought out in Dean. Haldeman as the potential successor toJohn Ehrlichman as counsel to the President. It is honorable that Dean was able to finally admit that ambitionwas at the core of his decision to participate in the cover-up. He allowed himself to be convinced that, even when he wasbreaking the law and contributing to the "obstruction of justice" thatultimately led to Nixon's removal, he was doing something patriotic for hiscountry. He was still a Nixon man, yet he also understood that the morehe revealed the lighter his prison term would probably be. III. However, as the Watergate drama escalated, Dean found himself in theposition of being the one who could tell Nixon "the way things were."Mitchell, for all his faults, understood that Nixon was isolating himself,and that this lack of information could be his downfall. However, Dean, Nixon, and the entire White House staff forgot toestimate the ill will that Nixon had engendered with a variety ofcolleagues, everyone from the press (the Washington Post broke the storythat proved his downfall) to Capitol Hill and the Senators who sat on theCommittee and asked the probing questions. (1976). Deanshows this point of view extremely well when he writes about Nixon'sintroduction of "the Dean Report" on August 29, 1972. He admits that he was an eager "companyman" when he got his first breath of hardball politics. All the president's men received punishment in the end, and so it isfitting that Dean concludes his book with the simple declarative sentencethat "everything is different now " (Dean, 1976, p. In describing and evaluating John Dean's point of view, it is veryimportant to remember that both Dean's testimony to the Senate and thewriting of Blind Ambition were constructed to save his political skin andprevent him from doing any more prison time than he would have to. Even at the time Dean is candid in pointing out that "I didn't muchlike the idea. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.