ABSTRACT

The chapter examines character assassination in the Nixon White House through the lens of archival documents from the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, and online via the National Archives and Records Administration catalogue. Unlike memoirs, these documents provide authentic and ‘in-the-moment’ records of the 37th presidency that reflect genuine attitudes and actions toward creating and responding to character assassination attacks. The chapter illustrates a presidential media preoccupation, an extensive use of surrogates for White House-authorized attacks, and enacted patterns of media rewards and punishments by the executive branch.