The White House Plumbers
The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
NOW A FIVE-PART HBO SERIES, STARRING WOODY HARRELSON AND JUSTIN THEROUX
The true story of The White House Plumbers, a secret unit inside Nixon's White House, and their ill-conceived plans stop the leaking of the Pentagon Papers, and how they led to Watergate and the President's demise.
On July 17, 1971, Egil “Bud” Krogh was summoned to a closed-door meeting by his mentor—and a key confidant of the president—John Ehrlichman. Expecting to discuss the most recent drug control program launched in Vietnam, Krogh was shocked when Ehrlichman handed him a file and the responsibility for the Special Investigations Unit, or SIU, later to be notoriously known as “The Plumbers.”
The Plumbers’ work, according to Nixon, was critical to national security: they were to investigate the leaks of top secret government documents, including the Pentagon Papers, to the press. Driven by blind loyalty, diligence, and dedication, Krogh, along with his co-director, David Young, set out to handle the job, eventually hiring G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, who would lead the break-in to the office of Dr. Fielding, a psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg, the man they suspected was doing the leaking. Krogh had no idea that his decisions would soon lead to one of the most famous conspiracies in presidential history and the demise of the Nixon administration.
The White House Plumbers is Krogh’s account of what really happened behind the closed doors of the Nixon White House, and how a good man can make bad decisions, and the redemptive power of integrity. Including the story of how Krogh served time and later rebuilt his life, The White House Plumbers is gripping, thoughtful, and a cautionary tale of placing loyalty over principle.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this explosive memoir, a former White House staffer explains how he started a chain of events that destroyed a president. During the Nixon administration, Egil “Bud” Krogh was asked to lead a covert group (the “Plumbers”) tasked with investigating how classified information was being leaked to the public and then figuring out how to plug those leaks. Then an idealistic young lawyer, Krogh and the group was pushed into using increasingly illegal methods, ultimately leading to Nixon’s own resignation. Krogh does a fantastic job of showing us how the dominoes began to topple even before he was pushed to the sidelines just prior to the Watergate break-in. His co-writer—and son—Matthew helps streamline the story to highlight the growing tensions within the administration. Never attempting to justify or condone his own actions, Krogh’s inside look at a president’s downfall is page-turning stuff.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this breezy memoir, the basis for a forthcoming HBO series, Egil "Bud" Krogh, who died in 2020, recounts his role as head of the Nixon administration's Special Investigations Unit, whose members later committed the Watergate break-in. Writing with his son, Matthew, a climate change activist, Krogh recalls vetting cabinet nominees as a member of Nixon's transition team in 1968, "long before I understood the seriousness of the many responsibilities I would be given." After defense contractor Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Krogh's mentor and "surrogate father" John Ehrlichmann tasked him with directing a team, later known as "the Plumbers," to investigate "who was part of the conspiracy." Krogh admits to orchestrating the theft of Ellsberg's psychiatric files, but notes that he was kicked off the Special Investigations Unit before Watergate for refusing to authorize a warrantless wiretap. Ultimately, Krogh suggests that former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy bears much of the responsibility for the break-in. Krogh is an amiable narrator, but he covers well-trod ground here and takes pains to highlight his own naivete. This Watergate history is best suited to completists.
