Which of these men is not like the others: Chance, the Gardener? Forrest Gump? Gordon Walter? The answer: Gordon Walter. You have to read THE WATERGATE MEMOIRS OF GORDON WALTER to learn about him because his story hasn’t been made into a movie...yet.
Gordon Walter met Richard Nixon while they served together in the Navy in World War II. Walter was one of Lt. Nixon’s few friends, if not the only one, and their relationship lasted, sporadically, for decades. Often many years would pass without any contact. Then Nixon would call Walter because he needed someone to talk to or he needed Walter’s expertise to resolve a problem.
Walter was there during most of the most memorable times of Nixon’s career and served as an advisor and assistant in many situations. For several reasons, he did his work so secretly that most people never knew about him. But he knew about them and about Richard Nixon. He tells all.
In his memoirs, Walter writes about who Nixon was and how he became the man he was. Near the beginning, he tells how when teaching Nixon how to play poker on board the ship, Walter told him how to bluff, to keep secrets. He analyzes why Nixon did not relate to many people on a personal level. “He was the only person I ever met who liked to lie around in his bunk with his tie on and uniform jacket buttoned.” “He could not relate to defeat and did not take it as hard as the next man because he refused to accept that it had happened.”
He explains the facts behind Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers. How Nixon got the evidence. South America. Who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg. Watergate. Why did the Plumbers break into the Democrat Headquarters at the Watergate. When should the press stop pursuing a story. Spiro Agnew. Both of their opinion of unions. Gordon Liddy. George McGovern. Albania and China. The eighteen and a half minute gap in the tape. These are stories you have never heard before.
We read some famous lines, e.g., “Let me make this perfectly clear.” “That would be wrong,” but in a different context.
THE WATERGATE MEMOIRS OF GORDON WALTER also relates how patriotism can be interpreted in different ways by different people, something very timely today. One of my favorite quotes is still relevant: “Why is it that someone who knows nothing can talk for hours about it while a thinker is often at a loss for words?”
After Nixon’s resignation, Walter wrote a manuscript about Nixon’s government career. He showed it to Alaric Thistle but “was struck by a milk truck early one morning and killed” before he could get it published. Thistle decided to finish the job.
Very well written, the book offers not only insight into Richard Nixon’s personality and actions,, but does so in an original, often humorous manner. The humor starts very early and is often rather subtle. Examples: “What’s your name, sailor?” “Flewellynn.” “How do you spell it?” “F as in photographer....” “Since he was magnanimous enough to excuse me for things I hadn’t done, I felt the least I could do would be to excuse him for things he had.”
I had to keep reminding myself that THE WATERGATE MEMOIRS OF GORDON WALTER is a satiric novel. ( )