company and it's been a great run. >> norton still independent? >> yes and probably so, were doing textbook still and very successfully. >> thank you for your time. >> while she was his assistant to 1990 until his death in 1994, she discussed the book on book notes in 1996. is there a particular moment in your career. [inaudible]

i was usually about five minutes late for our meetings at the residents in the afternoon so he normally expected me to be late. and i was five minutes early this one time in particular. i was walking up the stairs and i heard the television going and i her laughter coming from the television and realized he was watching something that went to amuse. he had his shoes off, and feet

up on the ottoman and he had the remote control in his hand, laughing, and enjoying the show so much. i wanted him to have a few extra minutes where he didn't have to be on and the serious richard nixon he had to be most of the time. i cleared my voice, and cleared the top of the stairs and he looked horrified at watching television and he tried to shut it off with the remote crow and jam his feet into the his shoes and he dropped the remote control. he was red faced and said you caught me watching the tube. he said i don't do it often. but sometimes i like to see what is out there. >> host: when was the last time

you saw him? >> ms. crowley: the friday before he had the stroke. he had the stroke on monday and i saw him friday. >> host: what do you remember? did he know he was in bad shape? >> ms. crowley: the stroke came out of the blue. he ate a good diet and took three mile walks every day, heat or shine, even through the heat. he dreaded the aging process and hated avenuieverything associath mortality and death and so he fought it. i remember nixon being pensive on that last afternoon. we sat out on the deck. normally we had meetings on the library and he insisted in sitting outside because it was nice and warm.

he was quite and i am not a medical person and i don't mean to speculate but there might have been things going on his his body he wasn't aware of. >> host: you have a lot of quotes on the book. let's look at one. this one says the kennedy's were not admirable peach, and this is nixon -- people -- and the legend is jack was charming. bull. he spit on waiters and ignored or screamed at the help. i remember watching bobby while attending a dinner who was the smartest and meanest through his meal on the floor. the kennedy's used to socialize in king and used to treat the

help like crap and were mean. most of the help was cuban and they treated them like they didn't exist. bobby was the worst. he illegally bugged more people and he was a bastard. when did he say that and how often did he talk about the kennedy's like this? >> ms. crowley: kennedy's name came up in conversation probably more than any other president we discussed. i think nixon was fundamentally a good man and couldn't stand to see people in positions of power abusing that power and treating people who were in service positions with disrespect. that decorated on him because nixon came from nothing we have to remember. he came from poverty and through the sheer force of will and brilliance and drive climbed his

way to the pinnacle of power. he never gave up the fact he was brought up to be a good person and couldn't understand the arrogance displayed by the kennedy's. >> host: when did you decide to do the book? >> ms. crowley: several months after nixon passed away. i always carried a notepad when he whenever we speak. he knew i was taking notes but didn't know the extent to come i was reconstructing the convericaticonve conversations. i knew i was granted an endearing view into one of the most controversial presidents of the 19th century.

i i started taking them for my own memory. it was only after he passed away and i began to look through the diaries that i realized the value and totality of what i had. i met with william from the new york times in august of 1994, several months after nixon had passed away and off the cuff mentioned i had all of this material and diaries and he urged he to write the book saying it must be written. >> host: would you have written it if he had not encouraged? you important was his opinion? >> ms. crowley: he knew nixon so well and if felt like i should not have pursued this problem i would not do have done it. >> host: what is your home town? >> ms. crowley: warren, new

jersey. >> host: where did you go to college? >> ms. crowley: upstate new york and dock trat at columbia. i have an ma and m-fill in international relations. >> host: when was the first time you had any contact with richard nixon? >> ms. crowley: actually, i can get into how i originally wrote the letter to him. i was a junior at colegate and majoring in political science. i was taught in a class by a very good conservative teacher who gave me several books to read one was nixon's book impact without war. and i sat down and wrote nixon a

letter dealing with the issues he raised in the book. it was a substance letter and he said that is why it caught his eye. i mailed it, never expected a response but a month later i received a hand written response telling me how much hoe appreciated the letter, how much he appreciated the fact i read the book and invited me to come to discuss american foreign policy with him. in october of 1989, i travelled to his office in new jersey and he gave me two hours of his time and we talked about the state of the world. what surprised me about the initial meeting is he was so generous with his time. >> host: and this county is located where? >> ms. crowley: northeast new jersey. >> host: how far was he driving into new york city?

>> ms. crowley: half an hour. >> host: what was the office like? >> ms. crowley: harry reid -- he had an office in new jersey. i went to visit him there. he had a small staff. four people and two secretary, an administrator assistant and me. >> host: what was your first day? >> ms. crowley: july 3rd, 1990. >> host: how many trips did you take with him? >> ms. crowley: two international trips. i went with him to eastern russia and europe and went with him to asia in europe. >> host: what do you remember about that? >> ms. crowley: nixon was so generous and good to me on the trips. he had me sit in his meetings with the head of state and government leaders. >> host: you are doing a second

book? >> ms. crowley: yes, it will deal with nixon's thoughts on foreign policy, what he thought and did during the end of the cold war which was interesting because nixon was so gratified to see the end of the cold war. he began his political career at the beginning of the cold war and lived to see the end of it. he was so gratified because he thought everything he stood for, all of the anti-communist platforms were vindicated so it was nice to be there. >> we have a short minute video clip from a book note we did with the president when he was here. >> did you write this book? >> yes, i would say those unfortunately who criticize the style, and it justifies criticism generally say it sounds like me.

the reason it sounds like me is after i take all of the -- and i point out the author's note that i had excellent people watching with me, i had the chief editor in the book who made a great contribution and monica crowley who is in my office now and joe marks who were two full-time assistance and a number of others wrote various papers on the subject. but the final product, i had to not just do the editing but get it in my words so it sounded like me. as i often said to people working with me when i would rewrite something i would say the trouble is everybody knows my style so well if i leave it like this it isn't going to sound like this. i think this book sounds like me. for better or for worse. >> host: how much did we see is

like him when the cameras were not on and how much is different? most >> ms. crowley: when i was preparing to meet him for the first time i was prepared to encounter the public picture which is dark, mysterious and that was just a fraction of who he was. what surprised me and delighted me is nixon was so much more than that. the nixon i knew was a brilliant man, a political mastermind. he was generous, and thoughtful in the sense of compassionate. he was warm and whitty. nixon could be funny at times and that never came across and that is a shame. >> host: how did you physically

keep track of the quotes? >> ms. crowley: let me tell you how i proceeded with the note-taking process. i carried a note pad during the conversation and take some notes in shorthand so i had key words and phrases and so forth. and then go back to my desk and reconstruct the papers so i had them on paper while fresh in my mind. and later that night i would go home and reconstruct them in my diaries so i had the conversation with a date and same. a fourth stage occurred at the end of the week when i would go back and review the conversations and i was able to maintain the dialogue that time. >> host: you never thought you would do a book at that time? >> ms. crowley: no, it didn't occur to me to write a book. i was doing it for myself.

>> host: was there a point were you were exsillerated by what you had on paper? >> ms. crowley: yes, every day i thought i had a treasure here. what a great term or phrase here. i was glad i was there to hear it. >> host: this is one on the media. it says the media, and i will not use the language -- you can imagine what that is. you see the way they should have could have clinton's appearance. they are out to save the guy at any cost and prove they were right. they are a lousy bunch. it is wonder we win any race. the deception between the elite media and the poplar media cover him is amazing. the poplar media is calling him an ass. did he normally use that kind of language? >> ms. crowley: yes, and we were

two different generation and different genders so i thought he would queue that out but he didn't. it indicated he trusted me and was able to talk as he normally would. getting back to this idea about the media, nixon always said his problems with the media or disagreement stem from the alger hiss case. he said who he exposed hiss, he exposed the press and the worst thing you can do a a member of the press is prove they are wrong. that is what i did and they never forgave me. >> this is another quote. why the hell isn't she showing leadership? -- he -- who is he talking about? bush? when the blank hits the fan and

he wants advise i am not willing to provide it. this must be clinton. neither reagan or bush did this after my years of advice. i have had. they will find me when they need me but i may not be available. >> ms. crowley: he may have been refer to the bush campaign. >> host: there is a lot of campaigns like that in the books about the different politician and the advice they would seek from him but not acknowledge it publically. >> ms. crowley: that was a problem with the republican presidents. there was a great political problem in dealing with nixon. this was a republican president who was driven from office and they didn't want to publically acknowledge the relationship they had. so bush worked with nixon but

never did publically. they would invite nixon at night so the press couldn't see him entering the white house. and nixon understood that and recognized it, i think it wounded him to a certain extent. >> host: who did he admire the most in history? >> ms. crowley: he admired woodrow wilson because he said even though wilson was too much of an idealist to be an effective president but he was a man of thought and action and that is what nixon considered himself to be. >> there is a quote about ronald reagan and he said he does look great. he told me he exercises on the ranch but he didn't go through the watergate experience. it was rough. reagan had the assassination attempt which was a physical

challenge but mine may have been rougher because it was motional but reagan has a positive outlook and that is half the of the battle. >> ms. crowley: nixon was such a fighter. he started his political career from nothing, worked to the top, and i think he prided himself on the inner strength he had and he was always a fighter and after watergate even he didn't take the punch and retire. he was going to continue to contribute when and where he could and that is what drove in the in the last years of his life and throughout his political career, the need to advance united states interest in the world and promote causes of peace and freedom. >> host: have you talked to his family about this book? >> ms. crowley: i informed the daughters i was writing the book

probably back in march of this year, of 1996. i informed them i was writing the book but haven't heard from them directly. >> host: what do you think they will think? >> ms. crowley: i hope they would be pleased. this is an honest portrayal of what nixon was like in the end years. honesty was the only thing he wanted or expected out of profiles on him. i wanted his to be richard nixon's story not monica crowley's story about nixon. i thought the best way for nixon to influence history was to allow him to speak for himself. >> host: in the new york times review it is written mr. nixon results as a savvy and interested in the foreign policy

but comes across as petty, dindicative, egotistical and we see him trying almost desperately to reshape his public image and riving off about colleagues. what is reaction? >> ms. crowley: that is a reflection of this reader's political bias. this reviewer took the bias' to the table with he or she wrote that piece. and nothing i could say about richard nick n nixon was going to change that. when they read this book, they saw what they wanted to see in it. people can take away from it what they will. i just ask the readers read it with an open mind. it is my hope somebody who reads the book comes away with a

greater sense of accomplishments and regrets. >> host: you have a story in there about the wire tap. and mr. nixon calling you one day for reasons you might explain to us. >> ms. crowley: yes. during the summer of 1992 as the political season was heating up before the election, nixon and i both heard strange clicking sounds on the phone and he said the phone may be tapped. and i said it could be. he said let's try an ex experiment. he said i am going to call you from california at your home and i'm going to tell you i'm going to come out endorsing ross perot. >> host: he thought the bush administration was afraid of

this? >> ms. crowley: both sides might think what is going on. he said i am going to tell you i am endorsing such and keep a straight face and voice and don't lead on. we will set this person up if in fact there are wire taps on my phone. he knew to california, called me, we went through this little episode, and then nothing ever came of it. so either his phones were not tapped or no body thought enough of it to link it. but it was one of his little experiences. >> host: the former "time" magazine journalist, he might still write for them, what was the purpose of his visit? >> ms. crowley: nixon was very adverti disappointed in bush's president for a number of reasons. and he sought out to have the views confirmed or denied by a true student of the presidency. he liked him and respected him

and he was a fair journalist and commentator on his own career and presidency so he look fored a frank assessment. >> host: he hid in the kitchen? >> ms. crowley: nixon was a formal man and knew he was president of the united states and with that came a responsibility to dignity which is why he wore a suit and tie every tay of the week. he arrived for the meeting with nixon early and nixon didn't want him to see him before the appointed hour. he ducked into the mail room and called me over with a whisper and said talk to him in my office i am going to go through the door and go home because he was treating him to lunch at his residents and he had come to the office. i sat down and we had a lovely brief conversation and nixon

exited the door, went home in the limo and was ready to greet him at the residents. >> host: what was going you your head? this is a man everybody knows hiding in the mail room. >> ms. crowley: i could not believe i was a witness and participant in the meeting. i realized maybe there was an image nixon had to protect. he wasn't a casual man and wanted to preserve a measure of decorum with people. ross perot did media in the morning on new york city and was on his way to see nixon, i think an 11 o'clock meeting, i am not quite sure, he ran into the city

longer than anticipated and ran into traffic on the way into new jersey and kept nixon waiting for two hours. nixon paced back and forth and wasn't used to being kept waiting. and he arrived can came booming into the office. and perot came in issuing a ton of questions and him and nixon retreated for private party talk. >> host: here is a quote coming from one of the conversations. this isn't the one. there is one about ross perot. can you believe this guy? he is an egomaniac. a debate with him would be a gd circus. >> ms. crowley: he first believed thatted -- that perot

would make the race colorful and people relate to him. and there is no way he can win the general election but he can spice up the race and make bush and clinton better candidates. and ross perot seemed willing to talk about crucial issues neither of the other two seemed to talk about like deficit reduction. nixon thought he was making a positive contribution there. but disagreed with isolationist strains in his platform. and perot exited the race and jumped back in and this disappointed nixon because he thought he was treating it like a game subject to his own whims and nixon thought the country couldn't afford to have an erratic character as a vice president nominee.

>> host: how did you get random house to buy the book? >> ms. crowley: i worked with evan thomas on the last book and i had a simple outline and asked him if he was will to read it. he was, he liked it and that is how it came to be. >> host: when did you start that process? >> ms. crowley: i thought this book would take the shape of three major parts. nixon in the world, dealing with foreign policy, the end of the cold war and persian gulf war. nixon in america. and nixon on nixon with nixon on the personal side and what he thought about the death of ms. nixon and john connelly and so forth. and as i began writing, i

realized the story would be better told in two parts. and i wanted to take the political material and publish it separate because i think it stood powerfully on its own. >> host: was this a hard thing to do n is? >> ms. crowley: no, the book pretty wrote itself. >> host: the new york wrote a obese on bill clinton and "time" magazine reviewed it and said there is lots more. does that surprise you? >> ms. crowley: no, because whether you like or dislike richard nixon there is no denying he was one of the most powerful and controversial people to ever run the country in the 21st century. there is no ignoring richard nixon and he continues to

fascinate us. >> host: do you worry people in the future wouldn't want you around them because they think a book might come from a relationship? >> ms. crowley: this was a unique experience for me particularly because i was so young. it is something i wanted to do for my own reasons and contribute to nixon's legacy so i am done doing this. >> host: you were 22-26 while working for him? >> ms. crowley: 21-25. >> host: how many brothers and sisters? >> ms. crowley: i have one sister who is two years younger and she is studying political science but american politics. >> host: what is her reaction? >> ms. crowley: she thinks it is terrific. she is on the other side of the political fence. she had the privilege of meeting nixon once. she respected him very much. >> host: what do your parents

do? >> ms. crowley: my mother is a hospital administrator in new jersey and my father is an investor in texas. >> host: what is their reaction? image >> ms. crowley: they are proud and think i portrayed nixon in the right light. >> host: anybody along the way say don't do this? >> ms. crowley: not at all. i have gotten support lieu the whole process. >> host: this is critical bs. they use the ward to justify coweredness. talking about bill clinton. it wasn't glass arrogance because he wasn't rich but in te --

intellectual and he sports the drug taking nation from vietnam. >> ms. crowley: nixon was like the tip of what the counter culture was and i think it is ironic he was president from 1968-1974. nixon really thought the counter culture was such a destructive force in the country. that it turned back traditional values in the country and turned them back to the extent where they could never be recovered or there was a slim chance of them ever being recovered and he thought that was a shame and thought bill clinton represented the worst of the generation. and the things that bothered nixon the most about clinton was were anti-vietnam activities. >> host: this is all about ms. clinton. she has the gift of dazzle, nixon said, after watching her

testimony. this is on health care reform. she knocked them dead and they swooned over her. she takes off the gloves but does it with sickness it makes me want to gag. liberals love nmegovernment. hillary might shed a tear now and then, but she and her crowd all see government as the first resort when it should be the last and here are idiots cheering her on throwing softballs at her but should have thrown them out of her head. >> ms. crowley: she worked with the attorney agency trying to impeach him. so based upon that he perceived or liberal views. he thought bill clinton would be

more likely to compromise than hers. but he had respect for people with intelligence and there is no doubt in his mind is that clinton was smart and believed in the wrong things and that is bigger government. nixon was fair and when ms. clinton did things right and was good and strong he said so. but when he was wrong, which was most of the time, he said no. an illustration of this, and i think it puts it in great light, is when ms. clinton went to testify about the hillary clinton reform package she put together and he was watched it and was dazzled and said she is great. but the package he said was wrong for america. >> host: how many times did bill clinton telephone richard nixon? >> ms. crowley: perhaps once every three or four weeks for

advise about american and foreign policy and how to deal with the congress. >> host: how long did they talk >> ms. crowley: most lasted about 40 minutes. >> host: he seemed to every time he talked to him saying monica coming in i want to share with you what he said. why did he do that? >> ms. crowley: i think he knew i was representative of the future and future generations. when he was talking to me wasn't talking to an audience of one but the history of the ages. he saw he as the future generations and wanted to share it with me so i would indeed record what happened. >> host: how often did he talk to the president and trash him after? >> ms. crowley: almost every time. negative assessments he would issue were almost always followed or balanced by positive

assessments when he thought clinton did something right. madonna >> ms. crowley: how did the meeting come across at the white house? >> ms. crowley: nixon felt him and clinton were two different generations and didn't think clinton would call on him. and if he did, he thought ms. clinton would squash any inclination clinton might had. so he was surprised getting that telephone call and clinton invited him to the white house and that is how it came about. >> host: here is another quote around that meeting. clinton's failure thus far to call on nixon on the stress of the euro. the press of course wants to cut

him slack to protect him. little chelsea and poor hillary, who is such a weak thing. his contempt for the press should want them to go after him not protect him. if i go after him, i will make sure it is covered. >> ms. crowley: that was a couple weeks after the election. nixon wasn't even giving clinton the chance to contact him. but the frustration was there because he sensed clinton would not contact him and nixon would have to force five ways scheie the successor act in ways he would not have operated. >> ms. crowley: is there anything you didn't like about richard nixon? he was a good person. and very good to me.

i think his greatest law is being impatient. he was impatient with himself and those around him and history. he was always trying to nudge history forward so he would have a more favorable rating so his mistakes would be put in context with his accomplishments and ultimately the mistakes would pail in comparison and he would emerge as a great president particularly when his presidency was put up against others. >> you say when he was in the white house and met the president in the family quarters that ms. clinton called him richard? >> ms. crowley: by accident. he was referring to the fact president nixon put together a

health care package and it never came of anything and she started to say to president clinton richard nixon had a great health care reform proposal and said president nixon. >> host: let's look at the quote about politicians in general he has. i want to know if he is talking about hillself. politicians are generally cold, they back winners, when you are down they desert, they are not a nice bunch. >> ms. crowley: i think he knew politics was cynical but he liked to say he had not sucumbed to that. he wrote that write after writing bush a note after loosing the election or prior to the election. he wrote bush a note wishing him well and not to worry aubt monday morning quarterbacks but keep the spirit up. it was a note of political

comra comradety. >> here is what he said about pollsters. all pollsters lie but i had a few great ones. >> ms. crowley: he was unsure about the polling process in america. he described an instance in 1960 when running against jack kennedy and he said they had a poll in october showing him a couple points behind kennedy in october. and they ran another poll a couple days before the election and showed them neck-and-neck and he said they never published poll because they wanted to keep the winning on kennedy's side. and now there are so many independent pollsters they cannot keep the lid on it.

he thought they loaded polls one way or another depending on how the race worked ask didn't trust him. in 1993, we were watching christy whitman running for the governor and she was down 22 points and week out and still won. >> host: he talk to a lot of people every day in his office? >> ms. crowley: not a lot on a daily bases. he had a group of people like henry kissenger and other people he would talk to but didn't spend a lot of time on the telephone. >> host: what was the day like for him near the end? >> ms. crowley: he was an early riser, getting up around 5:30, take a brisk three mile wall,

eat a breakfast and read "the wall street journal," go to the office at nine o'clock, go through his mail and handle schedule things, and then he would usually call me in to talk about whatever was on his mind: foreign policy, american policy. >> host: when is your ph.d finished? >> ms. crowley: i suspect two more years? >> host: what is your dissertation about? >> ms. crowley: i am examining the relationship between the united states, soviet union and the people of china as it evolved during three times of the cold war. >> host: did he teach you anything you will lose in the dissertation? >> ms. crowley: he did. and i was lucky enough to go with him to china and he said

one greatt thing when he steppe out of the cab there and saw the bus bustling going on he said i would like to think i had something to do with this. >> host: who did you meet with on the trip? >> ms. crowley: i got to meet the heads of states. i had the opportunity to meet yell son and they hell their talks in private. i met people in the czech republic and in poland and in asia i met with the japanese prime minister and south korean head of state. >> host: who impressed you the most personally not their political beliefs? >> ms. crowley: the russian prime minister.

he is a forming presence even walking into the room he is a force. he had such an influence in bringing the end of communist to his state. >> host: when does the second book come out? >> ms. crowley: next fall. it will deal with nixon's foreign policy views and his views on that will not get in?

>> ms. crowley: i chose events that most delighted or surprised nixon. it is like writing a screen play. you are not seeing all of the mundane aspects of what is going on but the most important elements. so sure, there are stories not important enough to include. >> host: what are you going to

do with the all of the archived material? >> ms. crowley: they are in a fault and i think they will remain there. >> host: this is a generic wrote. the election of 1960 was probably the greatest election of this kencentury because the candidates were outstanding. himself and jack kennedy. >> ms. crowley: he never said i did this and kennedy did this. he said while the candidates did that in the third person which i thought was interesting. he considered kennedy a challenger and thought he had a constructive relationship with him when they were in the congress together. he did think, though, kennedy had been a reckless president, reckless in his personal life and with the national security. >> ms. crowley: ford pardoned

him. did he talk about that? no. he said he didn't think ford was in the presidency long enough to issue a judgment on ford's presidency. >> host: here is a quote about gerald ford from the book. . poor gerald ford. he was concerned about presidential photos and me signing them. he calls me for that. he's busy making speeches for big money. no one gives me credit for not taking a time for a speech. ford was the first to take money. ike and truman never did. ford is out there accumulating a fortune by selling their experiences in office. i know it is tempting but it is just not right. besides when ford talks does anybody pay attention? >> ms. crowley: that was a

function of the fact ford wasn't in the office long enough to take an impact and a steward of existing policies. he said that gerald ford had every right to spend his retirement making money and playing golf that is jus not what nixon did. >> host: he said eisenhower was warm socially but a hard ass. he didn't endorse me in 1960 until he had to and that was devastating at a the campaign because everybody wants him. i guess he was protecting himself but it wasn't the most loyal thing. >> ms. crowley: i think my waiting so long to endorse nixon really hurt him because he felt like we was a loyal soldier and served him well and nixon felt

indebted to him because eisenhower sent him around the world and so forth. he valued loyalty and was diz apinted disappointed not to have it. >> host: you talk about a call from pat buchanan. how chose were they? >> ms. crowley: when nixon needed red meat to three the conservatives he called on buchanan. he respected him and his unwillingness to compromise on his principles but disagreed with him on everything from his isolationist and constraint like he did with ross perot and on

the social agenda. nixon was pro-choice and thought the government shouldn't be involved in the debate at all. he respected buchanan's unwillingness to compromise he thought that is what would keep him from being elected. >> host: but he came to visit and you played a role. >> ms. crowley: he did. him and his wife came to see nixon early on in the campaign for advice. they were in there 15-20 minutes and i heard nixon's voice coming to ask me to beat the bucann bucanan's -- meet -- and nixon asked me to sit down and turned

to me saying monica, why don't you tell pat what you think he should do? and i thought nixon is not doing this to me. but he was. so i told pat buchanan that i respected him very much for his entry into the race, and for the fact he was unwilling to compromise on his beliefs and respected that he energized the race and forced bush to con front issues he may not otherwise. but i thought buchanan and the republican party would be better served by having him leave the race and i said that even if i thought buchanan had political aspirations in the future he should leave before too much responsibility of bush defeat

was blamed on him. >> host: what was their chemistry? >> ms. crowley: very good. >> host: he told you about johnson showing him the taping scene? >> ms. crowley: that was a great scene. you mean when nixon said it to me? it was shortly after nixon was elected president. usually the outgoing and incoming president meet and they talk once about whatever issues are on the table. but for nixon, he and johnson met several times and he said we had so much to talk about. we had the war in vietnam and the russians and disarmorment but one of the first thing johnson's did was take me up to the family residents, into the president's bedroom and got down on all four, on his hands and

knees, this is the outgoing president of the united states, showing the incoming president the bed and johnson lifted his bed and swished it underneath the bed referring to the listening devices kennedy installed under the dead and he said dick they are voice activated and i said that must have been an unbelievable scene. >> host: another quote. durgan is sucking up the power. clinton will be making a huge mistake if he thinks he is there to help him. he is there to help himself. he can handle the media. some say he pulled me, ford, and reagan to the center but he did nothing of that kind. >> ms. crowley: he respected him in dealing with the media and crafting an image for the public

to see but thought politics being the business it was he was an opportunity and didn't fault him for that. >> host: he didn't like jim baker at all. correct me if i am wrong. >> ms. crowley: no, he did not. >> host: why? >> ms. crowley: he thought james baker had no business in foreign policy, no training in foreign policy and he often said about people engaged in foreign policy is they don't know anything and what they do know is wrong. he thought baker was preventing him from giving foreign policy advise to bush. he thought baker resented the fact he had bush's ear. >> host: what is your ultimate goal personally? >> ms. crowley: i am working on a second volume of this and

continue writing and observing for politics. >> host: do you ever want to run for office? >> ms. crowley: i don't rule out any office. >> host: if you ran for one which one appeals to you? >> ms. crowley: i think an ex executive position perhaps governor. >> host: here is what the book likes like. "nixon off the record" and our guest has been monica crowley. thank you very much. >> the redesigned book notes website features over 800 authors interviewed about their books. you can view the programs, see the transcripts and find links to the authors blogs and twitter feeds. a great tool and way to watch and enjoy the authors and their books. >> booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading.

>> my summer pile consist of three books. i love historic fiction. particularly 20th century new york so i am rereading a book by kevin baker called "dream land" that captures coney island in new york city at the 20th century with the immigrant si situati situation, criminal gangs and loves between people. i am a history buff as well. so i am reading joe ellis' cortets. telling us about the revolution we know about and there was a second revolution going from the articles to the con federation to the constitution as we know it. and then last but not least my all-time favorite book is one i wrote. it is a shameless self

promotion. i wrote a book called the global war. it got wonderful reviews. i wrote it and i will have to read it again and again. that is my summer reading list. >> booktv wants to know what you are reading this summer. tweet us your answer at booktv or post it on our facebook page at facebook.com/booktv. >> this is booktv on c-span2. television for serious readers. evan thomas remembers the life of america's 37th president richard nixon. and at 8:15 allen west talks with booktv about guardian of the republic. and then we talk about white coller crime cases and how they are prosecuted. and then charles murray thoughts on reducing the power of the

government on technology. and a look at japan as tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the u.s. bombing of the city there in japan. that happens next on c-span2's booktv. >> now from politics and powells bookstore in washington, d.c., evan thomas, former bureau chief for news week recalls the life of america's 37th president, richard nixon. good evening, i am