In the early hours of June 17, 1972, security guard Frank Wills entered a brief note in the logbook of the Watergate office complex describing actions that would change history: “1:47 AM Found tape on doors; call police.”
The Watergate scandal that followed triggered fiery Senate hearings, wild conspiracy theories, and many books dedicated to both fact and fiction.
SPYSCAPE selected our top pick of Watergate thrillers from the fly-on-the-wall accounts of Washington, D.C. insiders to the investigative journalists who brought down Richard Nixon’s government.
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (1978)
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon concentrates on the events of Nixon's presidency and the months leading up to his unprecedented 1974 resignation. The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress but that wasn’t enough to quiet him.
The Haldeman Diaries (1984) by H.R. Haldeman
The diaries of Nixon's late Chief of Staff H.R. ‘Bob’ Haldeman are at the heart of The Haldeman Diaries, offering a meticulously detailed, behind-the-scenes account of his years at the White House. In 1973, Haldeman was sentenced to 18 months for perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice for his role in the Watergate cover-up.
A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story (1974) by James W. McCord
The enigmatic Watergate burglar and ex-CIA officer James McCord addresses several questions in A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story, including what he believed Nixon knew and when. McCord, head of security for Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, was sentenced to up to five years in prison but cooperated with prosecutors and served four months.
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In the early hours of June 17, 1972, security guard Frank Wills entered a brief note in the logbook of the Watergate office complex describing actions that would change history: “1:47 AM Found tape on doors; call police.”
The Watergate scandal that followed triggered fiery Senate hearings, wild conspiracy theories, and many books dedicated to both fact and fiction.
SPYSCAPE selected our top pick of Watergate thrillers from the fly-on-the-wall accounts of Washington, D.C. insiders to the investigative journalists who brought down Richard Nixon’s government.
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (1978)
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon concentrates on the events of Nixon's presidency and the months leading up to his unprecedented 1974 resignation. The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress but that wasn’t enough to quiet him.
The Haldeman Diaries (1984) by H.R. Haldeman
The diaries of Nixon's late Chief of Staff H.R. ‘Bob’ Haldeman are at the heart of The Haldeman Diaries, offering a meticulously detailed, behind-the-scenes account of his years at the White House. In 1973, Haldeman was sentenced to 18 months for perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice for his role in the Watergate cover-up.
A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story (1974) by James W. McCord
The enigmatic Watergate burglar and ex-CIA officer James McCord addresses several questions in A Piece of Tape: The Watergate Story, including what he believed Nixon knew and when. McCord, head of security for Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, was sentenced to up to five years in prison but cooperated with prosecutors and served four months.
FBI agent George Gordon Battle Liddy was a lawyer and key figure in Watergate as the chief operative among the White House ‘plumbers’ during the Nixon administration. He was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping and spent more than four years in prison. His book, Will: The Autobiography, was turned into a Hollywood movie.
In the Shadow of the White House (2017) by Jo Haldeman
Behind every great man (or, in this case, imprisoned man) stands a woman. Jo Haldeman shares her story as the wife of Nixon’s Chief of Staff, offering a window into trips on Air Force One, weekends at Camp David, and the journey from the highlights of her husband's career to his conviction and imprisonment. In the Shadow of the White House is not to be missed.
Personal History (1997) by Katharine Graham
Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham’s Pultizer-winning book recalls the most dramatic moments of her stewardship of the Post - the Pentagon Papers and Watergate - with acuity and humor.
All the President’s Men (1974) - Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
All the President's Men, written by the two Washington Post journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in, details the scandal and resignations of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and the revelation of the Oval Office tapes by Alexander Butterfield. A film adaptation starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman was released in 1976. Other notable books by the journalists include The Final Days and The Secret Man.
Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man (1970) by Garry Wills
Wills’ Nixon book was published about a year after the president’s inauguration, so it is not a comprehensive historical account. That said, Wills is a Nobel Prize-winning author, journalist, and former professor of history. His insights into the mind of the soon-to-be impeached president in Nixon Agonistes is well worth the read.
Watergate: A New History (2021) by Garrett Graff
From the New York Times bestselling author, Watergate: A New History is a definitive, narrative history of the scandal, through the politicians, investigators, journalists, and informants who made it one of the most influential political events of our modern era.
Blind Ambition (1977) by John W. Dean
As Nixon’s former counsel, John W. Dean was a primary player in the government and, ultimately, a key witness in the investigations that ended the Nixon presidency. His incredible memoir details the deceptions, machinations, and operations of the Nixon White House. Kirkus Reviews called Blind Ambition ‘the flip side of All the President’s Men’. A New York Times bestseller.
The Watergate Girl (2020) by Jill Wine-Banks
As the only female lawyer to prosecute White House officials, Jill Wine-Banks offers an insider’s view of her trial by fire as a 30-year-old Watergate prosecutor in The Watergate Girl. Wine-Banks recounts how her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and her office garbage was rifled through as the revelations about the US political scandal unfolded in court.
Chief Counsel by Samuel Dash
Famous for his televised interrogations, Samuel Dash headed the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate probe. In Chief Counsel, he recalls investigating the 1972 break-in and bugging of the Democratic Party's national HQ, an inquiry that led to the president's resignation in August 1974.
The Great Cover-up (1974) by Barry Sussman
The Great Cover-upis written by The Washington Post city news editor who helped break the story. The book reconstructs the Watergate scandal from the failed break-in at the Democratic HQ to President Nixon's resignation through the lens of the newsroom at the heart of it all.
The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon by Stanley I. Kutler
The Wars of Watergate is a comprehensive history of the political explosion that shook America in the ‘70s. It shows how Nixon’s obstruction of justice from the White House capped a pattern of abuse that marked his tenure in office.
King Richard, An American Tragedy (2021) by Michael Dobbs
King Richard is an absorbing portrait of an insecure president who thought of himself as a king. As Nixon told the British journalist David Frost: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
Browse the latest books at our SPYSCAPE New York City HQ
The Coven (1972), written by E. Howard Hunt under the pen name David St. John
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction but in the case of former CIA officer and Watergate ‘plumber’ E. Howard Hunt, both are equally compelling. Hunt wrote The Coven, a fictional tale about a murdered songstress and a handsome senator with presidential ambitions in a sensational novel of Washington intrigue. Hunt also published his Watergate recollections in American Spy in 2007.
The Monkey Handlers (1990) by G. Gordon Liddy
In addition to his biography, G-Man G. Gordon Liddy wrote two fictional thrillers including The Monkey Handlers (1990), about a former member of an elite combat unit and industrial espionage, andOut of Control (1979) involving a CIA rogue pulled back into ‘The Company’ for an incredible mission involving a Soviet spy.
The Company by John Ehrlichman
John Ehrlichman, the Watergate lawyer convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury, wrote a thrilling fictional account of the politics of power in The Company, the basis for the 1977 TV miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors. While the characters are fictional, most are based on real-life political figures and journalists such as columnist Jack Anderson.
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