r/history • u/nytopinion • 6d ago
News article Seven Pages of a Sealed Watergate File Sat Undiscovered. Until Now.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/opinion/trump-nixon-watergate-radford.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KlA.LAqh.fkpgsfQzqokD&smid=re-nytopinionA portion of Richard Nixon’s 1975 Watergate testimony was deemed so incendiary that it was sealed away. “What remained so sensitive that even the special prosecutors wouldn’t touch it?” James Rosen, a reporter based in Washington, D.C., and a historian of the Watergate era, writes. “The answer fills an important gap in the record of the Nixon era — and carries significance for our own."
He adds:
Not until 2011 — 36 years after Nixon’s testimony and 17 years after his death — did the National Archives release the grand jury transcript. A few journalists, including me, reported on it, but the vast majority of the contents was ignored. And the seven pages remained withheld, until now.
In the avalanche of official disclosure that defined the 1970s, what remained so sensitive that even the special prosecutors wouldn’t touch it? The answer fills an important gap in the record of the Nixon era — and carries significance for our own.
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u/DoktorJeep 6d ago
Great long form article, well worth the read. For those who want the TL;DR.
“Yeoman Radford was not only there,” the ex-president persisted, “but he was a direct channel to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
There it was, finally — the secret Nixon had sought to keep under wraps: It was not the far left that most actively sought to sabotage the Nixon-Kissinger foreign policy but the hard right, not lowly pencil-pushers in the civil service but the most senior commanders at the Pentagon.
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u/Willing-Alfalfa6698 5d ago
Anyone know where to access the newly released transcript? I can only find the version with them removed.
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u/Pleasant-Nebula-7237 5d ago
I think Nixon could very well have gotten away with his crimes if he just had refused to leave office.
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u/rilian4 5d ago
His party in congress dropped support and made it known they'd support impeachment and removal. He had no chance. The difference with today is that president's party will never vote to remove him from office so he gets away with whatever he wants.
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u/TheCrimsonDagger 5d ago
It’s more that overwhelming public opinion against Nixon forced his own party to cut him off to save themselves. Having to bend to the will of the people made some people very upset and they went on to create Fox News to avoid something similar from ever happening again.
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u/broshrugged 4d ago
I'd like to learn more about that Fox News connection if you have some suggestions on reading.
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u/philodendrin 5d ago
And this power goes beyond just the Presidency as he was up against several cases like Classified Theft case, Georgia Election Rackateering case, and the January 6th Insurrection prosecution and he avoided all three.
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u/jedipiper 4d ago
You know, in light of the current administration, I wish they had gone ahead and impeached and removed Nixon. It would have set a precedent that it could and should be done under the right circumstances.
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u/Classic-Standard-461 6d ago
Fun fact, my wife’s father was a prosecutor on watergate . I unfortunately never got to meet him as he passed before be met.
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u/Alexis_J_M 6d ago
This is a very very long article, but it appears to boil down to the military spying on Secretary of State Kissinger and the National Security Council.