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Blind Ambition: The White House Years Paperback – December 20, 2016

by John W. Dean (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 737 ratings
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A six-month New York Times bestseller: “Not only the best Watergate book, but a very good book indeed” (The Sunday Times).

As White House counsel to Richard Nixon, a young John W. Dean was one of the primary players in the Watergate scandal—and ultimately became the government’s key witness in the investigations that ended the Nixon presidency. After the scandal subsided, Dean rebuilt his career, first in business and then as a bestselling author and lecturer. But while the events were still fresh in his mind, he wrote this remarkable memoir about the operations of the Nixon White House and the crisis that led to the president’s resignation.
 
Called “fascinating” by Commentary, which noted that “there can be little doubt of [Dean's] memory or his candor,” Blind Ambition offers an insider’s view of the deceptions and machinations that brought down an administration and changed the American people’s view of politics and power. It also contains Dean’s own unsparing reflections on the personal demons that drove him to participate in the sordid affair. Upon its original publication, Kirkus Reviews hailed it “the flip side of All the President’s Men—a document, a minefield, and prime entertainment.”
 
Today, Dean is a respected and outspoken advocate for transparency and ethics in government, and the bestselling author of such books as The Nixon Defense, Worse Than Watergate, and Conservatives Without Conscience. Here, in Blind Ambition, he “paints a candid picture of the sickening moral bankruptcy which permeated the White House and to which he contributed. His memory of who said what and to whom is astounding” (Foreign Affairs).

 
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  1. Print length
    504 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  4. Publication date
    December 20, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 1.26 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1504041011
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1504041010
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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“Before you know it, you are turning the pages of Mr. Dean’s book as if you are reading about Watergate for the first time. And by the time you have finished, you are convinced that no previous book about the scandal—not even those by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—has begun to tell the inside story as this one does.” —The New York Times
 
“A lively chronicle of megalomania and deception . . . Eminently readable . . . Dean is particularly good at reading the intricate network of White House power relationships, which he once climbed so surely.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“The best and most enduring book written from inside the Nixon White House . . . A classic of lost illusions.” —Sidney Blumenthal, New York Times–bestselling author of The Clinton Wars
 
“Rare indeed is a memoir so utterly lacking in self-righteousness, false piety, and special pleading. It is a sobering reminder of the perils of ambition.” —Stanley Kutler, author of The Wars of Watergate

 

About the Author


John W. Dean (b. 1938) served as White House counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1970 to 1973. During the Watergate scandal, his Senate testimony helped lead to Nixon’s resignation. Dean has written about Watergate in his New York Times bestsellers Blind Ambition and The Nixon Defense. Among his fourteen other books are the national bestsellers Worse Than Watergate, Conservatives Without Conscience, and Broken Government. A retired investment banker, Dean is now a columnist, commentator, and teacher in a continuing legal education program for attorneys, the Watergate CLE. Most recently, Dean held the Barry Goldwater Chair of American Institutions at Arizona State University. He is currently consulting on a Watergate television series under development for ABC Entertainment.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media; Reprint edition (December 20, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 504 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1504041011
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1504041010
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.26 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1.26 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 737 ratings

About the author

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John W. Dean

John W. Dean

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John Dean served as Counsel to the President of the United States from July 1970 to April 1973. Before becoming White House counsel at age thirty-one, he was the chief minority counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives, and an associate deputy attorney general at the US Department of Justice. His undergraduate studies were at Colgate University and the College of Wooster, with majors in English Literature and Political Science; then a graduate fellowship at American University to study government and the presidency before entering Georgetown University Law Center, where he received his JD with honors in 1965.

John recounted his days at the Nixon White House and Watergate in three books: Blind Ambition (Open Road 2016), Lost Honor (1982) and The Nixon Defense (2014). After retiring from a business career as a private investment banker doing middle-market mergers and acquisitions, he returned to full-time writing and lecturing, including as a columnist for FindLaw's Writ (from 2000 to 2010) and Justia’s Verdict (since 2010). Donald Trump’s election and presidency resulted in John’s 12th book by return to American authoritarianism, which he examined earlier New York Times best-sellers Conservatives Without Conscience (2006), because authoritarianism is on the ballot in 2020. Thus his study with Bob Altemeyer, Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers.

John held the Barry Goldwater Chair of American Institutions at Arizona State University (academic years 2015-16), and for the past decade and a half he has been a visiting scholar and lecturer at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communications. John is a CNN News contributor and analyst, and teaches continuing legal education (CLE) programs examining the impact of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct on select historic events from Watergate and the Trump presidency with surprising results – see www.WatergateCLE.com

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Top reviews from the United States

Dan Beaudry
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2024
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I was born in '75 and always wondered at the details of Watergate. This book gripped me from the beginning and held me til the end. Fantastic. It certainly pulled the curtain back on the details of Watergate for me, but beyond the historical education, you can feel the power of the white house and the intimidating characters who make it there. A chess match at the highest level. This book is a great example of how non-fiction can be as dramatic as any made up story. Loved it.
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bboz
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating inside look at Watergate
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018
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It was obviously very difficult to cram such a complicated subject into a single book. I had a hard time keeping track of which characters did what. But the story was still riveting. I watched Watergate unfold when I was in high school and hence didn't really understand a lot of what it was happening. Now I have much better insight into what actually went down. I'm reminded of a quote that I read recently saying power does not corrupt it's simply attracts the corruptible. So true.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good telling of the Watergate scandal.
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
I remember Watergate from when it happened. I did not know a lot about it except what I read back then. This is great narrative of all the events that happened. It was very readable and interesting. John Dean writes in a style that keeps your attention. I enjoyed the book.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Revival of the chaos of Richard Nixon
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023
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As a college student during the Watergate era, I listened intently to the hearings on the radio and black and white TV. Reading John Dean’s book for the first time 50 years later gave me some faith that, while politics is ruthless, stepping over the line into criminal activity can be thwarted by a sense of purpose and honesty.

While John Dean faced up to his complicity in the coverup, he chose the brave and difficult task of surfacing the truth among the major Watergate players. I only hope that in these times of TRUMP, some people will find the courage to take a similar and unpopular path to set the record straight on the serious crimes committed and help to redirect the interest of the country to the betterment of the people as opposed to the advancement of powerful egos.

This book is a testament to how power corrupts and how a single person can make a difference. It’s great read!
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Eric R. Futterman
3.0 out of 5 stars Important if not Engaging
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017
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This is a more important book than a book that's a great read. John Dean spends a lot of time going into fine detail of meetings and phone calls in quite a dry manner. He's a lawyer afterall.

Having said that this is truly an important book for anyone who wants a government as free of corruption as possible. What's tragic and interesting at the same time is that, throughout all the discussions of the Watergate coverup, none of the major players ever questioned whether they made gross ethical errors. That was never an issue for them.

It was all about tactical movies to cover up a crime about which no one felt any remorse.

Dean does at the end and over time and he's done a great job of reminding us of what we must look out for, especially in the Trump era.

Speaking of, this book is also and instructional way in how to imagine what is going on behind the scenes of the Trump Administration as the Russia probe puts them into ever shrinking corners.
3 people found this helpful
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Jellycat
5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2021
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Blind Ambition is a satisfying tale of wrong put to right. It also is a dark coming of age story. Dean was 32 when he was hired as White House Counsel - counsel to the President. Lofty stuff! He drove a Porsche, had a dream job, and appeared to be a Golden Boy with a lustrous career ahead of him. Except.

Except that his boss, President Nixon, was a crook and had hired two talented thugs Haldeman and Ehrlichman to be his right hand men. It became clear to Dean from his first assignment - to dog down the Democratic opposition in some petty fashion - that the Dream Job was going to be, despite the trappings of the White House, a sordid one.

Very quickly, Dean got caught up in not just borderline, sordid, petty political machinations, but illegal ones that added up to the Watergate scandal. To the outside world, Dean was a huge winner. In reality, he was sweating bullets, fearing jail, and hitting the bottle hard to cope with the extreme stress and anxiety of his “dream job.” Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman, it turned out, utilized a loathsome pair of criminals - G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt, to carry out illegal acts that Nixon believed would ensure his re-election and help him crush his political opponents.

The 1970’s, when all this was transpiring, were times of greater moral clarity for the American public and their elected representatives. As Nixon’s wrongdoing came to light, the vast majority of the public and the leaders of his own party, as well as of the Democratic party, of course, called for his resignation. Nixon was forced to resign.

In subsequent years, as more and more evidence came to light, it became crystal clear how toxic Nixon and his crew were. Dean’s book, written so soon after the events, remains a testament to an America capable of self-correction and renewal, a process that played out in Dean’s life as well. The book is a treasure, and so is Mr. Dean. I wish him well.
12 people found this helpful
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Karen Schwarz
4.0 out of 5 stars Liked it
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2014
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This is one of the few non-fiction books I've read (I'm almost done with it) that kept my attention. It's written in novel form with dialogue (I don't know how he remembers the details as they are written). I struggle with remembering the players - that's an idiosyncrasy of mine regardless of the book - but the index at the back makes it easy to find the information. I find myself fairly emotionally drawn in - a difficult thing to do for a non-fiction book. Overall, I like it, and believe I have a much better insight into the Watergate mess than before.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

John Eric Pollabauer
5.0 out of 5 stars The John W. Dean Watergate Story
Reviewed in Canada on August 23, 2018
Verified Purchase
The incredible inside story of the actors involved in the Watergate Cover-Up fiasco, and how the lives of the winners and the losers changed as a result of the struggles to get and keep the powers that only the very select few people in the White House could ever possibly experience leaving the rest to only dream what the White House experience would be like. After reading the book, you will feel like you were involved in the drama and have a much better understanding of what working for the President of the USA in the White House Administration must really be like and leave you wondering if you would be up to all the challenges
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Dave Sheldon
5.0 out of 5 stars If you're interested in Watergate. Read It !!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
Fantastic Inside Account Of What Really Happened. But not why, andb not revealed till Halderman's diary was publshed after his death.
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Ian James
4.0 out of 5 stars Readable Book From A Watergate Criminal
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is an engrossing account of John Dean's central role in Watergate, how he was involved through his intelligence role as Counsel to the President before the break-in and afterwards covering the crime up. It's insightful, dramatic and less self-serving as other Watergate accounts. It's an engrossing and easy read.
2 people found this helpful
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RWS
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2018
Verified Purchase
A well written diary of the events of Watergate
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Robert G McPherson
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Inside Story!
Reviewed in Canada on December 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
There was much that should have been learned from Watergate that wasn't. John Dean's account has much to say about an out of control White House. Memories should be refreshed and this is a good place to start.
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