ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we revisit Neisser’s classic publication on John Dean’s memory (1981). For those unaware of the article, a brief summary is in order. When John Dean, Counsel to President Nixon, testified at the Watergate hearings, he was unaware that the conversations he had with Nixon had been tape recorded. In his formal testimony and during the subsequent interrogation, Dean provided an incredibly detailed account of these conversations, in particular, the conversation of September 15, 1972, in which he reviewed progress in the Watergate affair with Nixon and Haldeman, Nixon’s Chief of Staff. This meeting was important to the Watergate hearings because it provided insight into the extent to which Nixon understood that his staff was engaged in illegal activities. The committee spent much effort in trying to determine through careful interrogation whether Dean was telling the truth or falsely recollecting the substance of the meeting. The existence of the tape recordings surfaced only after Dean had finished his testimony, but once the Watergate committee discovered them, they knew that the tapes would provide a perfect means of verifying Dean’s testimony. After comparing the testimony with the tapes, the general consensus was that Dean had told the truth.
