The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House [Hardcover]

Hersh does a tremendous service to America. He single-handedly destroys the myth that Nixon and Kissinger were dedicated to the swift end of the Vietnam war. To his credit, Hersh documents the formation of Nixon's secret "Madman" policy and how the President and Kissinger employed this risky strategy to prolong the war.

"The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House," is also a serious study of how certain key cabinet members that opposed the manipulation of foreign policy were quickly isolated and discredited. Hersch interviews key individuals that Kissinger personally recruited to work at the NSC to show how significant contributions to foreign policy was wrestled from the State Department and firmly established in the White House. The early consolidation of power by Nixon and Kissinger set the pattern for a long string of dark policy.

The secret bombing of Cambodia, the crisis in Korea, the SALT talks, the Mideast, Cuba, China, the Berlin settlement are all explored in this text. However, the most damaging information to the reputation of Henry Kissinger is how his secret information to the Nixon campaign during the Johnson administrations peace talks in Paris compromised any chance of reaching an early conclusion to the war. Hersh meticulously researches how Kissinger manipulates his contacts in Paris to circumvent the practice of conflict resolution by Lyndon Johnson. Hersh also explains how Kissinger used this secret information to position himself on Nixon's short list of foreign policy advisors after the defeat of Hubert H. Humprhey in the 1968 presidential elections.

There is little flattery of the 37th President of the United States in this book. If anything Hersch displays the ruthlessness of the Nixon White House and how Henry Kissinger would sacrifice everything to implement a dark policy that cost thousands of lives. In conclusion, this book is a bitter pill for the brave young men and women who answered the nation's call in Vietnam.

The Price of Power reveals much about the Nixon-Kissinger administration that would shock most Americans. Focusing most of its attention on the Vietnam war, this book tells how Nixon/Kissinger basically detatched themselves from the rest of the U.S. government in order to do whatever they wanted throughout the world. It seemed as though Nixon/Kissinger based every decision they made on their future political survival. Hersh does a superb job of bring to light some of the truly darkest moments in U.S. History. He also shows us how Nixon-Kissinger were able to get their policies implemented by eliminating and and all opposition. They created such a strong executive with such little oversight that their leadership resembled that of a dictatorship.

After reading this, I felt ashamed to call myself an American. We strongly supported a president who was an alcoholic racist whose paranoia dictated much of his actions. I never realized just how close we came to using nuclear weapons in Vietnam (and this AFTER Nixon campaigned with his "Peace with Honor" slogan). We are quick to point to several leaders of the 20th century and label them "war criminals." By any definition, Nixon and Kissinger should be included on this list of war criminals. Disagree with me? read Price of Power. If, after doing so, you still disagree with me, you obviously did not read very carefully . . .