John Dean, the White House lawyer who blew open the Watergate scandal in 1973, and has gone on to write books on the abuses of the Bush Presidency, as well as a presidential biography of Warren G. Harding, is speaking tonight at the Nixon Presidential Library in California, despite widespread protests that he is not fit to speak at the Nixon Library because of his turncoat behavior toward President Nixon.
The Library’s director, however, has argued that Dean’s perspective is part of the story of Watergate, and that we cannot have a sanitized view of Watergate, and therefore, a new, more objective exhibit about Watergate is being readied for later this summer at the library. A large crowd is expected to attend tonight’s event, and it is certain that it will be a big news story.
I agree with Timothy Naftali, the director of the library, that we cannot afford to promote a whitewash of the Nixon record, and that blemishes and all, the American people and scholars are entitled to hear all sides of the controversy of Watergate, 37 years after the events that brought down Richard Nixon. The old saying is that "The truth shall set you free"! Therefore, this appearance by John Dean is a contribution to a greater understanding of our history.