The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate

Watergate exploded when I was in grammar school. For a long time all it meant to me was a prolonged interruption of my usual TV viewing. Over the years I've tried to read a number of books on the scandal to understand just what it was all about. Watergate isn't a user friendly scandal and "follow the money" may have been good advice but it's not exactly a recipe for scintillating reading. I can't claim to have more than a basic grasp on the events and the characters so this is not an expert review.

John Mitchell was one of the more fascinating characters. Unlike everyone else, he didn't write a book telling his "side" of the story. And unlike everyone else, he was married to Martha. I remember Martha's week long appearance on the the Mike Douglas show like it was yesterday. She was, to put it kindly, a loon. The chance to find out about John and Martha was too much to resist.

Rosen presents Mitchell as the ultimate 50s attorney, the man who found the loopholes that made millions for his clients. If you wanted to do anything with bonds in the 50s and 60s you found your way to John Mitchell's office at some point. According to Rosen, Mitchell fell into Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign almost casually, more intrigued by "can it be done" than any deep seated political beliefs. Mitchell's political beliefs are weirdly opague throughout the book. But then alot about Mitchell was and remains opague.

He was, after all, the strong man. The strong silent man who didn't rat, didn't fink out his "friends", didn't whine and didn't tell. Not that it adds up to a particularly laudable person, Mitchell was a product of his times and his experiences. He really was "law and order man" - he thought the law should be obeyed period. He was more pragmatic than dogmatic though and Rosen expends considerable energy telling the story of Mithell's work at the justice department.

Rosen makes the case that it was "the twin pressures of Martha and Nixon that brought" Mitchell down. He raises doubts about Mitchell's role in the Vesco scandal and in Watergate (Rosen points his finger squarely at John Dean) but lists the Chennault discussions and his Kleindienst testimony as "unpunished crimes."

Martha gets a few chapters and she's as loony as I remember. Reading how she was exploited by the press is sad indeed, realizing how willing she was to be exploited is just pathetic. Given a choice between sitting next to racist, drunken, self-absorbed, exhibitionist Martha or hard-drinking, conservative, taciturn John on a long haul flight I'd have to pick Big John. I could go 7 hours without wanting to smack him. Martha, not so much.

This book didn't strike me as a white wash of John Mitchell and the more I read about Mitchell the more I became convinced Mitchell wouldn't have wanted one. He did what he thought needed to be done, if he got caught, he'd fight but he wouldn't turn fink. In these days of plea bargained murders its hard not to have a little respect for that. Rosen seems to be trying for an honest reassessment of John Mitchell's life, career, accomplishments and crimes. I doubt this is the last word, but it is a good start.

This is not a quick read nor is it a popular biography. Rosen details quite a bit of minutiae about Mitchell's justice department and his actions and interactions on the key events. He quotes liberally from trial and other transcripts. This can make for heavy going for some.(Note: the Kindle edition does have photos but the footnotes are not linked and there are no searchable terms.)

One of the best books I've read all year. By taking the focus away from Nixon, an entirely different story emerges. One in which a new tragic figure takes center stage and redefines many of our preconceptions of the Watergate and its cast of characters. A great read.

RLS

The author, James Rosen, has written a painstaking reproduction of the events that occurred during the Watergate hearings and trial. This book is a meticulous and detailed recitation that Mr. Rosen has set forth in this very well-written book.

Mr. Mitchell is deserving of criticism for his role in Watergate and suffered the consequences of a conviction for his activities. The book is not a proclamation of Mr. Mitchell's innocence, but an exposition of his role and raises questions of the complicity of others who were also convicted.

Having served as one of Mr. Mitchell's defense counsel, I found the book to be an accurate recitation of the events of the Watergate affair.

Rosen hits the mark. He avoids the threat of getting bogged down in details and boring the reader, but writes the reader into the book. Rosen's book is a must read if not to experience elegant writing, then to be a part of the chronicling of our time.

I can't remember the last time I've been this addicted to a book. I felt like I was reading a thriller -- couldn't put it down. I've already started casting The Strong Man as a movie in my mind.