They Said No to Nixon

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

Michael Koncewicz

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780520970960
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"One reason Koncewicz's narrative is so compelling is that it's also a redemption story."— TheWashington 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 Culling from previously unpublished excerpts from the tapes and recently released materials that expose the thirty-seventh president's uncensored views, Michael Koncewicz reveals how Republican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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• They Said No to Nixon
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: “Too Many Nice Guys”—What Brought About Resistance in the Nixon Administration
• 1 “An Independent Son of a Bitch”: Nixon, Johnnie Walters, and the IRS
• 2 “There’s No Basis in Law to Carry Out This Order . . . and We’re Not Going to Do It”: How the OMB Stopped Nixon’s War on MIT
• 3 “Get Him the Hell Out of HEW”: Elliot Richardson’s Quiet Battles with President Nixon
• 4 “He’s Going to Have to Prove He’s the White Knight”: Elliot Richardson and the Saturday Night Massacre
• Conclusion: Nixon’s Culture of Loyalty in the Age of Trump
• Notes
• Sources
• Index