Nixon’s Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom

[John Simkin]

Has anyone read Nixon’s Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

[Scott Kaiser]

Has anyone read Nixon’s Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

I wouldn't go that far as to say, Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". What assassinations are they talking about? Nixon did help in creating an assassination squad that I'm sure took orders from their handlers, it all works through a channel, and by 1968 Nixon kicked out the thirty remaining CIA assets and kept them from infiltrating into Cuba, Nixon never really liked the Cuban people, so could Nixon have said he would have done things differently had he won against Kennedy in the 1960 elections when it came to the Bay of Pigs and US military? I'm sure he did to save his own skin, however, it would have been easier to pass the buck so to say to Kennedy, then eliminate Robert Kennedy so Nixon would win his presidential election term as he sought to run against RFK. Nixon may have wanted someone assassinated and pass on certain information, but one is never to close to any operation to get caught.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Scott Kaiser

[Douglas Caddy]

Has anyone read Nixon’s Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=18764

[Douglas Caddy]

‘Nixon’s Darkest Secrets’ by Don Fulsom

Former journalist’s harsh criticism is largely based on insinuation and allegation

By James Rosen | Boston Globe Correspondent

February 29, 2012

Photo: Richard Nixon in March of 1973. Journalist Don Fulsom’s new book, “Nixon’s Darkest Secrets,’’ attacks the 37th president on all fronts.

‘I never quite got over Richard Nixon,’’ writes Don Fulsom, a former United Press International Washington bureau chief, at the beginning of “Nixon’s Darkest Secrets: The Inside Story of America’s Most Troubled President.’’ This is one of the few indisputable assertions in what is otherwise, and easily, the most virulently hateful book about the 37th president ever written - and the worst. The latter distinction is no mere by-product of the former, but earned in its own right, by virtue of the author’s stunted and smarmy prose, and research that is at once highly selective and woefully sloppy.

There is no confirmed villainy or allegation of it, no unsubstantiated rumor or outright falsehood, no scrap of data damaging to Nixon, who resigned the presidency in 1974 and died two decades later, that Fulsom does not stoop to collect in this exhausting catalog. It hardly requires that one be an apologist for Nixon to be take aback by the unrelentingly negative - and often shamefully insinuative - tone of this book.

Fulsom begins by telling us that it was he, not Woodward and Bernstein, who first discovered that the Watergate burglars were working for the Nixon reelection campaign, a feat for which Fulsom never received due credit. From there we are treated, in bite-size chapters, to various Bad Nixons: Nixon the wife-beater; Nixon the racist; Nixon the homophobe, who was also Nixon the secret gay lover of longtime friend Charles “Bebe’’ Rebozo; Nixon the mastermind of assassinations; Nixon the mob puppet; Nixon the Teamster puppet; Nixon the puppet of Howard Hughes; and so on.

NIXON’S DARKEST SECRETS: The Inside Story of America’s Most Troubled president

Author: Don Fulsom

Publisher: Thomas Dunne

Number of pages: 292 pp.

Book price: $25.99, illustrated

Attempting to document all this, Fulsom selectively cites a broad array of articles, books, tapes, and documents; but none of the papers or tapes appears to have been released pursuant to his own requests, and anyone well acquainted with the massive literature of the Nixon presidency will see - there is no other word for it - the trickery at work. One tip-off is Fulsom’s heavy reliance, in virtually every paragraph, on slippery phraseology that allows him to imply connections between people or to float sinister allegations without substantiating evidence: “Mob-linked,’’ “Mob ties,’’ “associate,’’ “organized crime connections,’’ “heavily involved with,’’ “a number of shady financial entanglements,’’ “reportedly,’’ “reputedly.’’

People and events parade by without definition or context. And in Fulsom’s footnotes, all sources are equally valid: Seymour Hersh and Stanley Kutler = Anthony Summers = Kitty Kelley = a “psycho-historian’’ who never met Nixon = the Oakland Tribune = Hollywoodnews.com. Only a handful of original interviews appear to have been conducted for this book, all with fellow reporters, one of whom provided a blurb, and all to substantiate a claim that Nixon and Rebozo once held hands.

One could go on and on. Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower, the only one to traffic so unapologetically in “widespread rumors,’’ and the only one to start off sentences with phrases such as “I’ll bet. . .’’

Even peripheral asides, such as the author’s assertions that Nixon “knew [Watergate conspirator E. Howard] Hunt’s background intimately,’’ or that “Dean’s photographic memory of events was totally confirmed’’ by the release of Nixon’s tapes, warrant correction. On the Watergate tapes, Nixon spoke in only the vaguest terms about Hunt and his background; the president evidenced enormous difficulty keeping the various players in the scandal, most of them a generation his junior, straight in his own mind. And Fulsom appears unaware of the Watergate special prosecutors’ own judgments regarding the celebrated recall of Dean, about whom they drafted, in March 1974, a memorandum titled: “Material Discrepancies Between the Senate Select Committee Testimony of John Dean and the Tapes of Dean’s Meetings With the President.’’

Absent from “Nixon’s Darkest Secrets’’ is Nixon, the man - and the Nixon presidency. Readers will find here no nuanced consideration of a human soul, “troubled’’ or otherwise (more so than Kennedy? Or Lyndon Johnson? Or Lincoln?); no diplomatic opening to China or rescue of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War; no creation of the Environmental Protection Agency or desegregation of the Southern school system. Four decades after Watergate first burst into the front pages, it would appear Nixon’s darkest secret was that he was nowhere near as bad as his most virulent detractors allege. No one ever is.

James Rosen, chief Washington correspondent for Fox News and author of “The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate,’’ can be reached at james.rosen@foxnews.com.

[Rodney Rivers]

Has anyone read Nixon’s Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

Have not read it yet but he was on C2C a few weeks ago. I think I posted some links to the audio in another thread. I'll try to find those. Basically he does get into the JFK assassination in the 2nd part of the show. But he also has a wacky theory that Nixon may have been a homosexual. So take it for what it's worth.

Found it :

Fulsom Interview Part 1 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcpd5M6pKA

Fulsom Interview Part 2 - Heavily JFK related :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9K3Ffc8lI8

Edited February 29, 2012 by Rodney Rivers

[Guest Robert Morrow]

I don't think it is a "wacky" theory at all that Richard Nixon and Bebe Rebozo were in a homosexual relationship. Richard and Pat Nixon had the clammiest cold fish, non-affection marriage of all time.

Bebe Rebozo was a former male flight attendant who never consumated his first marriage of 4 years. One's gaydar should be going off on both of those facts, especially the second one.

The author cites and example of Nixon and Rebozo holding hands under the table. That's gay. I have lots of male friends and I have never held hands under the table with ANY of them.

Nixon and Rebozo were just too chum, chum chummy.

Often when men who have crummy marriages have close male friends; they go out and cruise for girls together. No evidence of that with Nixon and Rebozo; just a lot of close, personal time together - almost as if they were ... lovers.

I think they had some sort of gay relationship going. I did not think that until I read excerpts of this book.

I am very familiar with married Republican high profile political figures who are bisexual or homosexual: Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and George Herbert Walker Bush (Franklin Scandal homosexual pedophile ring) are 2 examples. Then there is the case of George W. Bush and Victor Ashe, his roommate from Yale. I think they were gay lovers (source Leola McConnell).

Edited March 1, 2012 by Robert Morrow

[Scott Kaiser]

I don't it is a "wacky" theory at all that Richard Nixon and Bebe Rebozo were in a homosexual relationship. Richard and Pat Nixon had the clammiest cold fish, non-affection marriage of all time.

Bebe Rebozo was a former male flight attendant who never consumated his first marriage of 4 years. One's gaydar should be going off on both of those facts, especially the second one.

The author cites and example of Nixon and Rebozo holding hands under the table. That's gay. I have lots of male friends and I have never held hands under the table with ANY of them.

Nixon and Rebozo were just too chum, chum chummy.

Often when men who have crummy marriages have close male friends; they go out and cruise for girls together. No evidence of that with Nixon and Rebozo; just a lot of close, personal time together - almost as if they were ... lovers.

I think they had some sort of gay relationship going. I did not think that until I read excerpts of this book.

I am very familiar with married Republican high profile political figures who are bisexual or homosexual: Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and George Herbert Walker Bush (Franklin Scandal homosexual pedophile ring) are 2 examples. Then there is the case of George W. Bush and Victor Ashe, his roommate from Yale. I think they were gay lovers (source Leola McConnell).

What the hell is this world coming to? And to think I thought Gov. Perry was a good Gov. for TX. I'm sure he was one of them who voted for the "Don't ask Don't tell" act. <Just saying>

[Kathleen Collins]

Has anyone read Nixon's Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

I wouldn't go that far as to say, Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". What assassinations are they talking about? Nixon did help in creating an assassination squad that I'm sure took orders from their handlers, it all works through a channel, and by 1968 Nixon kicked out the thirty remaining CIA assets and kept them from infiltrating into Cuba, Nixon never really liked the Cuban people, so could Nixon have said he would have done things differently had he won against Kennedy in the 1960 elections when it came to the Bay of Pigs and US military? I'm sure he did to save his own skin, however, it would have been easier to pass the buck so to say to Kennedy, then eliminate Robert Kennedy so Nixon would win his presidential election term as he sought to run against RFK. Nixon may have wanted someone assassinated and pass on certain information, but one is never to close to any operation to get caught.

I don't believe that Nixon was eager for the Kennedy assassination. I think a contract of sorts was made out the night before. The assassination was already planned. Clint Murchison Jr held a meeting at his Dallas home. Hoover was there, as was Tolson, Nixon, and lastly, Johnson. I think everyone in that room was against Kennedy, except, cruelly, Richard Nixon. There was nothing for him to do but say nothing. He himself could be in danger. I think if anyone broke that contract they were performing suicide. Nixon's wife, daughters and Checkers would all be in trouble.

Now the reason I say this is because a photo exists of Nixon in an airport (Dallas or Idlewild?) on 11-22-63. He either knows that Kennedy's dead or he expects to hear so. I'm sure he had a few drinks. He looks like he's crying. He and Kennedy had run against each other in 1960. Now one knew about the death of another and could not stop it. IMHO, I don't think Nixon was a part of the assassination. He just had no choice.

His Moon Walk Hoax in 1969, I believe, was a secret gesture toward the dead John Kennedy who wanted a man on the moon in "this decade."

If Nixon disliked Cubans, why did he hang out with Bebe Rebozo? I thought he was Cuban.

Kathy C

[Rodney Rivers]

Has anyone read Nixon's Darkest Secrets by Don Fulsom? According to James Rosen in today's Boston Globe, Fulsom says Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". He also states that "Fulsom is the only chronicler of the Nixon presidency (1969-74) to spend more time on Lee Harvey Oswald than on Dwight D. Eisenhower".

I wouldn't go that far as to say, Nixon was the "mastermind of assassinations". What assassinations are they talking about? Nixon did help in creating an assassination squad that I'm sure took orders from their handlers, it all works through a channel, and by 1968 Nixon kicked out the thirty remaining CIA assets and kept them from infiltrating into Cuba, Nixon never really liked the Cuban people, so could Nixon have said he would have done things differently had he won against Kennedy in the 1960 elections when it came to the Bay of Pigs and US military? I'm sure he did to save his own skin, however, it would have been easier to pass the buck so to say to Kennedy, then eliminate Robert Kennedy so Nixon would win his presidential election term as he sought to run against RFK. Nixon may have wanted someone assassinated and pass on certain information, but one is never to close to any operation to get caught.

I don't believe that Nixon was eager for the Kennedy assassination. I think a contract of sorts was made out the night before. The assassination was already planned. Clint Murchison Jr held a meeting at his Dallas home. Hoover was there, as was Tolson, Nixon, and lastly, Johnson. I think everyone in that room was against Kennedy, except, cruelly, Richard Nixon. There was nothing for him to do but say nothing. He himself could be in danger. I think if anyone broke that contract they were performing suicide. Nixon's wife, daughters and Checkers would all be in trouble.

Now the reason I say this is because a photo exists of Nixon in an airport (Dallas or Idlewild?) on 11-22-63. He either knows that Kennedy's dead or he expects to hear so. I'm sure he had a few drinks. He looks like he's crying. He and Kennedy had run against each other in 1960. Now one knew about the death of another and could not stop it. IMHO, I don't think Nixon was a part of the assassination. He just had no choice.

His Moon Walk Hoax in 1969, I believe, was a secret gesture toward the dead John Kennedy who wanted a man on the moon in "this decade."

If Nixon disliked Cubans, why did he hang out with Bebe Rebozo? I thought he was Cuban.

Kathy C

I think you're right that the writing was on the wall with JFK in that meeting. But having someone from the previous administration like Nixon, who I will assume must have been in charge of some kind of secret operation or division within the government that was passed onto JFK's admin (like the Bay of Pigs), tells me that there must have been some kind of giant mess up JFK did that involved national security relating to the previous admin. Something they still have not told us about and may never.

Nixon was just there to get the down low on what was going to happen to take care of this mistake. I don't think Nixon was that low to agree or plan to kill JFK out of spite. He knew the election was stolen but he was no angel himself from what I've read when it comes to cheating votes.

Not sure what you mean by moon hoax, I think we did go there in 69.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Rodney Rivers

[John Dolva]

He wasn't called tricky for nothing. Apart from the obvious historical events that led to that moniker he was part of the importation of nazis for resettlement to boost republican votes apart from other likely sympathies. Either way he was unprincipled through and through. (Ewald Peters comes to mind, threre is too little known about him) from early on till his demise on many many matters. I find the notion of him being somehow excusable for whatever participation direct or by omission somewhat daft.